Do you think that the more you suffer in this life, regardless of why you suffer and how you suffer, it would make heaven more special or rewarding ?..Like would you appreciate the after life more, since you were in alot of pain in this life?..ex: a person who has a terminal illness or say an innocent person who is being tortured for political beliefs.
I’m not sure suffering per se is meritorious so no is my opinion.
Suffering for the sake of Christ is meritorious and will though
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Bishop Sheen had a thought-provoking bit that went—
"There’s nothing more tragic in all of the world than wasted pain. Think of how much suffering there is in hospitals, among the poor and bereaved.
Think also of how much of that suffering goes to waste. How many of those lonesome, suffering, abandoned, crucified souls are saying with Our Lord at the moment of Consecration: "This is my body, take it?"And yet, that is what we should be saying at that second. "Here is my body, take it! Consecrate it! Offer it ! Offer it to the Heavenly Father with yourself, in order that He, looking down on this great Sacrifice, may see only you, His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Transmute the poor bread of my life into your life; thrill the wine of my wasted life into your divine Spirit; unite my broken heart with your Heart; change my cross into a crucifix. Let not my abandonment and my sorrow go to waste. Gather up the fragments, and as the drop of water is absorbed by the wine at the Offertory of the Mass, let my life be absorbed in you. Let my little cross be entwined with your great Cross so that I may purchase the joys of everlasting happiness in union with you…
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i think pain offered to Christ is definitely different than painsuffered without offering it up. This said, I also think the parable about the poor man and Dives suggests that Jesus will console those who suffered innocently, regardless of whether they “offered it up” or not. But I think those who suffer innocently AND offer it up may be particularly close to the [pierced] heart of Christ in heaven.
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It is also a good practice to offer up one’s suffering in union with Our Lord’s suffering for souls that need the grace of repentance to be saved.
I think of St. Jacinta and St. Francisco who offered up their sufferings for the souls of sinners.
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