Staying Calm Before Our Unavoidable Suffering and Death

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT Christ knew that he would be betrayed by one of those close to him and thus suffer the consequences—his passion and death on the cross (cfr. Mt 26,14-25)—should remind us that we too would be betrayed, if not by others then by our own selves—and that we too would have to undergo our own suffering and death.

We should not be surprised by this turn of events in our life. What we should rather do is to prepare ourselves for it, making every effort to adapt the very mind and spirit of Christ in facing this eventuality.

If we believe in Christ and follow what he has taught and shown us, we will realize that there is nothing to be afraid of suffering and death, and all the other negative things that can mark our life.

He bore them himself and converted them into our way for our own salvation. Yes, even death which is the ultimate evil that can befall us, an evil that is humanly insoluble. With Christ’s death, the curse of death has been removed. “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15,54-55)

So, we just have to be sport and cool about the whole reality of suffering and death. What we need to do is to follow Christ in his attitude toward them. For Christ, embracing suffering and ultimately death, is the expression of his greatest love for us. We have to enter into the dynamic of this divine logic and wisdom so we can lose that fear of suffering and death.

Thus, we have to understand this very well. Unless we love the cross, we can never say that we are loving enough. Of course, we have to qualify that assertion. It’s when we love the cross the way God wills it—the way Christ loves it—that we can really say that we are loving as we should, or loving with the fullness of love.

By uniting our suffering with the passion and death of Christ on the cross, the vital link between suffering and loving is established. The sting of suffering and death is removed, and the guarantee of our resurrection and our victory over death, sin and all forms of evil that cause us suffering is made.

We just have to learn to be sport about our unavoidable condition of suffering in this life and adapt the proper attitude and reactions that should be inspired by our Christian faith. We have to educate our senses, feelings and emotions according to the indications of our faith and the recourse to the sacraments. By developing a life of authentic piety, we can hack it.

There, in fact, can be joy in suffering only if we identify ourselves with Christ. With Christ, suffering becomes an act of selfless love that can take on anything. Only in him can we find joy and meaning in suffering. With him, suffering loses its purely negative and painful character, and assumes the happy salvific character.

We need to process this truth of our faith thoroughly, always asking for God’s grace and training all our powers and faculties to adapt to this reality. That’s why Christ told us clearly that if we want to follow him, we simply have to deny ourselves, carry the cross and follow him. There’s no other formula, given our wounded human condition.

Indeed, there can be joy in suffering only if we identify ourselves with Christ.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com