Endless suffering-redemptive or just pointless torment?

[Elena321]

My suffering has no end or relief.
I’ve tried “offering it to join Jesus cross” numerous times for certain intentions for others/the world but it’s seems to have no effect I guess because while I’m baptised ,I haven’t made first communion,don’t go to Church,don’t see myself as a sinner and have done mortal sins.
So…is the suffering of people like me (or agnostics etc) just bad luck and that’s it??

 

[the_phoenix]

The prayers of suffering people can be so immensely helpful to others.
Offering to join your suffering with that of Jesus on the cross is wonderful!
I hope you will go to Church, and receive the Sacraments (Confession and Communion).

I’ll pray for you.
Will you pray for me?

 

[Elena321]

The prayers of suffering people can be so immensely helpful to others.
Offering to join your suffering with that of Jesus on the cross is wonderful!
I hope you will go to Church, and receive the Sacraments (Confession and Communion).

I’ll pray for you.
Will you pray for me?

Thanks.Yes I’ll pray for you too.
I don’t know how effective with God my prayers will be though.

 

[esieffe]

Misery is often due to the choices we make. There is, IMO a natural proclivity to sin based on original sin, though our resistance to this is greatly increased and sins forgiven in baptism.

There are many religions on Earth. And yes, there are atheists and agnostics. Most people agree from all groups that we are the architects of our own happiness or misery. Call it karma, call it the weight of sin, call it reaping what you sow, call it the negative vibrations of what you put out in the universe,call it a point of view, call it the law of balance, the end result is what we put out, is what we get back. I should know. I have been a very unhappy camper for quite a while. For me, this is the weight of sin, the harvest of my actions. While I can be and do get forgiven, I still have to live with my choices, and wait for the good stuff from my positive choices to take effect.

This is simply my take on what is going on. Strange. All most of us want is simply happiness, yet it seems to be the hardest state of all to achieve. It is something we have to plod along with a day at a time. First and foremost, we have to understand that there are no shortcuts or free rides. We simply have to accept responsibility for our actions, forgiven or not, and move on and do the right thing.

The good news is God, or whatever you want to call it, will supply us with the strength to endure these burdens, provided we always struggle to do the right thing in the right way, and we ASK for that help and are willing to humble ourselves.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

Do yourself an enormous favor. Go to your nearest Catholic Rectory or Parish Office and ask to see a priest. If you can find a Jesuit or Dominican Parish, all the better!
When you meet with the priest, outline your doubts and misgivings about your faith and ask for his help. His response will amaze you, and you will feel much better after your meeting.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I would second those who encourage you to draw to the faith. I would also say this –*whether or not our suffering in innocence has any “effectiveness” is not dependent on our ability to identify its effectiveness. I do hope and pray that God extends a foretaste of heaven’s light your way. But if not, I would remind you of what I said above. And I am sorry for the darkness that seems to overwhelm you - it is not pleasant.

 

[Cathoholic]

Your suffering isn’t pointless Elena321!

You said:

Endless suffering-redemptive or just pointless torment?

I’ve tried “offering it to join Jesus cross” numerous times for certain intentions for others/the world but it’s seems to have no effect I guess because while I’m baptised ,I haven’t made first communion,don’t go to Church,don’t see myself as a sinner and have done mortal sins.

Thank you for offering your sufferings Elena321.

We all benefit from your courage (read 1st Corinthians chapter 12).

Keeping in mind what you said about:

. . . while I’m baptised ,I haven’t made first communion,don’t go to Church,don’t see myself as a sinner and have done mortal sins. . . .

Why not ask your local Catholic Priest to come to your home, hear your Confession, Confirm you (if you have not yet received Confirmation), receive the Anointing of the Sick, and receive Jesus Himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar?

I will pray for you and offer some of my own trials for you Elena321 and you please pray for me too.

God bless.

Cathoholic

 

[Elena321]

Your suffering isn’t pointless Elena321!

You said:

Thank you for offering your sufferings Elena321.

We all benefit from your courage (read 1st Corinthians chapter 12).

Keeping in mind what you said about:

Why not ask your local Catholic Priest to come to your home, hear your Confession, Confirm you (if you have not yet received Confirmation), receive the Anointing of the Sick, and receive Jesus Himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar?

I will pray for you and offer some of my own trials for you Elena321 and you please pray for me too.

God bless.

Cathoholic

I never received first communion when I was young so now as an adult I don’t think you can do confession.Thats what a priest told me a few years ago.

 

[Techno2000]

My suffering has no end or relief.
I’ve tried “offering it to join Jesus cross” numerous times for certain intentions for others/the world but it’s seems to have no effect I guess because while I’m baptised ,I haven’t made first communion,don’t go to Church,don’t see myself as a sinner and have done mortal sins.
So…is the suffering of people like me (or agnostics etc) just bad luck and that’s it??

catholictreasury.info/books/eternal_wisdom/ew14.php

 

[quinone]

I never received first communion when I was young so now as an adult I don’t think you can do confession.Thats what a priest told me a few years ago.

so do you have any plans of taking your fist communion and then confirmation? i am confused since a priest already told you about it…then why not do something about it if you feel undertaking these sacraments will make offering your sufferings more acceptable?

at the start you said, “My suffering has no end or relief.”
do you feel that offering it will make it go away?

 

[Elena321]

so do you have any plans of taking your fist communion and then confirmation? i am confused since a priest already told you about it…then why not do something about it if you feel undertaking these sacraments will make offering your sufferings more acceptable?

at the start you said, “My suffering has no end or relief.”
do you feel that offering it will make it go away?

No,I dont feel that offering it would make it go away.
Why would I think that?

I’m not able to get the first communion for personal reasons which I don’t want to discuss over the internet.

 

[Elena321]

catholictreasury.info/books/eternal_wisdom/ew14.php

From what I could understand regarding the link,is that God gives people suffering to make them want his ways as opposed to being interested in worldly things.
At the same time though,didn’t God create things like beaches,natural beauty etc?
Some people’s suffering,like severe Dementias etc can make it that they can’t even perceive these little things in life so isn’t this kind of suffering unbearable and shouldn’t we want them to have a life of basic happiness like everyone else?

Or another example,a person that’s blind,perhaps God made them that way to focus on being a Christian instead of being distracted by “worldly stuff” ,but does that then mean that’s all there is for them?
Like is it against Catholic focus on “the greatness of suffering” to want to create new medical inventions that would give them the gift of sight so they could experience the wonder and beauty of seeing their children or their husband/wife etc?

There can come a point in suffering where it no longer brings you to God but away.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

What kind of suffering are we talking about?

Physical pain? Mental pain/confusion? Being marginalized or scorned? Grieving a loss of a loved one? Impossible situation or feeling expected to do the impossible?

You don’t have to be specific, or disclose anything you’d want to keep personal. But if it’s anything other than just plain physical pain I might have more ideas how to help.

MS

 

[Cathoholic]

I never received first communion when I was young so now as an adult I don’t think you can do confession.Thats what a priest told me a few years ago.

Go to a Catholic Priest (again). There are MANY “reverts” here.

You may want to watch this “revert” discuss his “reversion” to the Catholic faith (Jeff Cavins here).

Here my Bishops (USA) have on their website how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (here).

It takes a mere 7 or 8 minutes a day to pray (unless you prefer to draw it out more, i.e. with a video prayer, with mediation between prayers, etc.).

Here are a couple of videos of people praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (here or here).

History behind “The Chaplet” here.

I pray this prayer every day and love it.

Go to a Catholic Priest (again).

Also see “Catholics Come Home” here.

There’s an old saying that goes, “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.” Maybe you have been away from the Church for a little while or for quite some time, but now you feel a tug at your heart calling you back to the Catholic Church. Listen to that tug. It’s your Heavenly Father reaching his arms out to you, the Holy Spirit whispering in your ear, hoping to draw you home.

We hope you accept this as your invitation to rediscover the truth, wonder and mystery of the Catholic faith. As your brothers and sisters in our worldwide Catholic family, we want you back. We’ve missed you, and our Church is not the same without you.

Regardless of why you left or got out of the habit of going to Mass, you can always come home and return . . . .

Tell the Priest you want to come home back to the Church in its fullness. He will help you.

 

[Techno2000]

From what I could understand regarding the link,is that God gives people suffering to make them want his ways as opposed to being interested in worldly things.
At the same time though,didn’t God create things like beaches,natural beauty etc?
Some people’s suffering,like severe Dementias etc can make it that they can’t even perceive these little things in life so isn’t this kind of suffering unbearable and shouldn’t we want them to have a life of basic happiness like everyone else?

Or another example,a person that’s blind,perhaps God made them that way to focus on being a Christian instead of being distracted by “worldly stuff” ,but does that then mean that’s all there is for them?
Like is it against Catholic focus on “the greatness of suffering” to want to create new medical inventions that would give them the gift of sight so they could experience the wonder and beauty of seeing their children or their husband/wife etc?

There can come a point in suffering where it no longer brings you to God but away.

Its just saying that there is merit in suffering and the more suffering you had to go through in this life, the more Glory you get in Heaven, God will repay you.

 

[oldgraymare2]

Hi Elena,

I am so sorry that you are suffering.

I have ended up with some unexpected health conditions, that I didn’t see coming.

Some of them cause a great deal of personal/physical suffering for me, too. I try to do the best that I can however, with taking care of myself, so that I can try and alleviate as much pain and discomfort as possible.

Anyway, I “offer up” my suffering, too. You can even ask the good Lord to use your suffering as your Purgatory while here on Earth. That is what I do.

 

[quinone]

Elena, sorry about my earlier comment. i misunderstood your post as finding relief from your pain via offering it to God.

i agree with the people here that this question in your mind maybe God’s way of calling you to a deeper relationship with Him.

i would recommend reading St. Faustina’s diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. when i first read it, i felt it was too long for me, so i scanned the material and just read those in bold, which are the words of Jesus Christ to her. after that i was encouraged to read everything. she speaks a lot about suffering and how to offer it to God, and many other things that encouraged me to deepen my spiritual life.

though some suffering we experience might be because of our poor choices in life, bear in my that everyone is given a different cross to bear.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Its just saying that there is merit in suffering and the more suffering you had to go through in this life, the more Glory you get in Heaven, God will repay you.

James 1:2-3
2 Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,** 3 for you know that the testing[c] of your faith produces perseverance. 4 And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.**