Suffering (Mystery of)

“ ‘The extreme greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that it does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering, but a supernatural use for it.’ May our afflictions be few, but may we learn not to squander them.” (Scott Cairns, Simone Weil)

“It’s important to understand that there’s no point in looking for a trouble-free life, because no such life exists. The question is whether the problems you have will lead you to something, whether your suffering has meaning for you. And this is what gives us spiritual life in Christ—it makes sense of suffering, gives meaning to human pain, leads a man to Christ, to God, to his deep self, to his neighbor, and so on. So pain is an opportunity for human development. Just imagine: Behind the big and radical changes that take place in our lives, there’s always pain; behind charisma there’s a cross; behind achievements there’s human fatigue; behind success there are a thousand failures…There’s always a trial, with pain. Thus, the pain in our lives helps us develop. It leads us somewhere, and it’s important to choose where we want it to lead us. Pain is an opportunity to see our values again, no matter how we lived before. Only pain, only a catastrophe will help do this. And therein lies the mystery of God’s silence.” (Fr. Charalampos Papadopoulos)

“….we are so sated, so satiated, so preoccupied with our problems that we can no longer lift up our heads and look up at God. Therefore, sometimes when God sees that a person does not recognize any of His gifts and His goodness, He allows distress and sorrows, which are a warning and a call from God. He calls us to Himself, and we begin to see meaning in everything. But if not, we get depressed.” (Protosinghel Galaction Dominte)

“Every moment that God gives us is perfect, even if what we’re going through is the most miserable thing we’ve ever experienced. Try to understand what I’m trying to say, because it’s not easy to explain. Every difficulty is perfect. Why? Because God is everywhere. So if in the time of a great, unbearable difficulty, we turn our eyes to Christ, to God, and say a heartfelt prayer, everything can disappear; and if it doesn’t, it’s for a reason. Every single second of our pain is perfect because it helps our maturity, it helps us to go to the next step.” (Bishop Emilianos)

“Our media treats us as spectators of the world's suffering. But we are not immune to it. All of us have our share of hardships and trials. Yet, our outlook differs from those who doubt that anything can correct the world's struggles and wayward course. Yes, we also groan with the world as it staggers under the weight of sinfulness and death. Yet Paul teaches us to view the agony of the world as the travails of childbirth. We do not despair because we believe that good will be born from this present evil.” (Fr. Basil)

“There is a mystery in suffering – by which I mean to say that there is more to it than meets the eye. This is evident in the crucifixion of Christ. It is evident in how the tradition speaks of it. The story in Genesis, all that we call the “Fall” points to an understanding that there is something within suffering that begs for an explanation. The book of Job is perhaps the most complete example in the Old Testament that explores the topic – though it does not exhaust it or complete an explanation. In the Gospels, there is a different approach. There is no attempt to explain (even as our imagination thinks that explaining solves things). In the Gospel, we are presented with a different central point: the loss of communion with God. In the Genesis story, that loss of communion is the beginning of suffering. In the Gospels, the restoration of communion does not end suffering – it transforms it. The crucifixion gathers all suffering into one, and in that one, becomes the means of communion with all.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“Sickness, suffering, and death are the inevitable result of the separation between God and humanity that took place when humanity disobeyed God’s command, when it chose to please itself rather than God. Sickness, suffering and death are the lot of all humanity in this fallen world—we all share the same fate, saint and sinner, young and old. Even Jesus Christ, who was totally without sin, shared our fate when He condescended to suffer and die – this is the very essence of the mystery of the incarnation.” (Paul Meyendorff)

“St. Ephraim the Syrian, once wrote: “Let us patiently suffer hardship, in order to avoid the hardship of empty suffering.” Because despite all the false promises of the modern world — despite even its many wonders of science and medicine and technology — nevertheless it is absolutely certain that our lives in this fallen world will always and inescapably remain full of suffering and pain and death. In fact, the modern world proves to us beyond any doubt that the more we try to insulate ourselves from external suffering, the more our inward suffering inexorably increases — eventually becoming all but impossible to bear. No, my brothers and sisters, the profound words of St. Ephraim remind us of the great truth that the choice we face is by no means whether or not to suffer, but rather whether or not our suffering will have any meaning.” (Hieromonk Gabriel)

“Man had been created to desire God, the Uncreated Source of his joy. But, in falling in love with himself he had instead begun to desire created things. Because of all this, God allowed suffering to enter the world. He did this not out of vengeance, but out of love for man, so that through suffering arising from self-love, sensual pleasure, and the resulting desire for created things, man might see through the illusion of his self-sufficiency and return to his original designation: the state of pristine simplicity and communion with the Way.” (Hieromonk Damascene Christensen)

“Suffering, our own and that of others, is an experience through which we have to live, not a theoretical problem that we can explain away. If there is an explanation, it is on a level deeper than words. Suffering cannot be “justified,” but it can be used, accepted—and, through this acceptance, transfigured.” (Metropolitan Kallistos Ware)

#FatherStephenFreeman #PaulMeyendorff #HieromonkGabriel #HieromonkDamasceneChristensen #MetropolitanKallistosWare #ScottCairns #SimoneWeil #FrCharalamposPapadopoulos #ProtosinghelGalactionDominte #BishopEmilianos #FrBasil