Suffering
Is there any sense in suffering? Not only are there those who lead evil lives and suffer, but there are also those who lead good lives and suffer. What therefore is the essence of suffering? At the foot of the Cross there are good lives, the best of lives - particularly that of the Blessed Mother Mary. Well we may ask "why should I suffer? what evil have I done?" Well what evil did Mary ever do? What evil did our Lord do? As there is no answer to these questions, how then do we go about suffering ?  Meaningful participation may be an option! Yes, responding to the call to share in the redemption of our Lord.....As St Paul says filling up in one's body the sufferings that are wanting to the passion of Christ..... Victim souls, souls that willingly accept and participate in the sufferings of Christ, for whose sake?... Like Christ suffered for the sake of his body, which is the Church, victim souls also share in the sufferings of Christ not for their own sakes but for others. If we live with him, we shall die with him and if we die with him we shall also be raised with him. If we participate in his humiliation we shall also share in his exultation. We are only able to make some meaning out of our own suffering in the light of the suffering of Christ on our behalf.  As members of the mystical Body of Christ, we share and carry the suffering of each other in our body. When my little finger hurts, the big toe of another also hurts so I can choose despite my tiny pain to offer it and or unite it to that of Christ so that he can dispense of it as he wishes. Only in the end without any veil shall we ever know, if necessary, the names of all  those who carried their suffering on our behalf. It's therefore possible to find meaning in suffering if  I can, by his grace, allow the Lord to use it in his own way to save souls, mine included.