How is it that some people have everything so perfect, and some people have so much suffering?

[missal]

Hi,
I recently had some one ask me this question and I am looking for some solid answers for her. I answered, first of all …All of our sufferings is the consequense of Adam & Eve’s disobedience. So, while we are here on earth, we make decisions, and choices which are sometimes consequences which affect our lives, our families, and our descendents.
I tried to explain we are victims and sometimes we are recipients of choices humans make, decisions humans make, consequences from human actions.
What else can I reply? Am I on the right track?
Thank everyone for their responses.

 

[spauline]

There is a much more positive answer:

suffering that initially entered the world because of man’s fall has now been redeemed as a means in assisting with the Redemption of humanity. Here is the meaning: It is not merely Jesus who suffered what He did not deserve to save us, but Christ can give US the power to suffer and help redeem others.

If we are suffering from physical or moral evil, we can offer it up to Christ, and by His grace, He will give graces to anyone we ask on account of our suffering.

hence, the terminally ill do not have useless stage in life. By uniting their sufferings to Christ, they can merit graces for anyone they wish. In this way, suffering in this life is a treasure.

This is the response to give to those who are suffering and nothing can be reasonably done about it.

If you are not suffering and blessed with the necessities of life and even a surplus, you are called to actively offer yourself in love and service.

Hence, to paraphrase St. Paul, if I live, I live for Christ, and if I die, I die for Christ. IOW, we can offer ourselves in love whether in health or sickness, in good time and in bad.

hope this helps. I also have an article on suffering if you would like to read it, missal.

 

[Camron]

There is a much more positive answer:

suffering that initially entered the world because of man’s fall has now been redeemed as a means in assisting with the Redemption of humanity. Here is the meaning: It is not merely Jesus who suffered what He did not deserve to save us, but Christ can give US the power to suffer and help redeem others.

If we are suffering from physical or moral evil, we can offer it up to Christ, and by His grace, He will give graces to anyone we ask on account of our suffering.

hence, the terminally ill do not have useless stage in life. By uniting their sufferings to Christ, they can merit graces for anyone they wish. In this way, suffering in this life is a treasure.

This is the response to give to those who are suffering and nothing can be reasonably done about it.

If you are not suffering and blessed with the necessities of life and even a surplus, you are called to actively offer yourself in love and service.

Hence, to paraphrase St. Paul, if I live, I live for Christ, and if I die, I die for Christ. IOW, we can offer ourselves in love whether in health or sickness, in good time and in bad.

hope this helps. I also have an article on suffering if you would like to read it, missal.

This was excellent spauline.

 

[spauline]

This was excellent spauline.

Thank you, Camron, for the compliment. This was one of the most beautiful lessons in life that i ever learned.

It was this difficult question that kept me from opening up to God, before i had my reversion many years ago.

 

[tobias]

Hi,
I recently had some one ask me this question and I am looking for some solid answers for her. I answered, first of all …All of our sufferings is the consequense of Adam & Eve’s disobedience. So, while we are here on earth, we make decisions, and choices which are sometimes consequences which affect our lives, our families, and our descendents.
I tried to explain we are victims and sometimes we are recipients of choices humans make, decisions humans make, consequences from human actions.
What else can I reply? Am I on the right track?
Thank everyone for their responses.

 I would be very reluctant to assume others had things 'perfect'. To have everything 'perfect', so to speak, to me, is to will the good in all things. 
 To paraphrase Augustine ( hopefully not to badly); One gains a happy (blessed) life by willing the good and the very willing the good as God desires from us, is how one attains a happy (blessed) life. There are many who appear to have all that they desire and to be happy, but under the surface are lowly and destitute because they do not will what is good, but merely what they desire.
  So to put it simply, having your will resigned to the will of God 'is' to have everything perfect. We should in no way wish to have the plastic perfection that the world offers, for it may hide the wretchedness of a maleformed will.
 To have your will resigned to God's and to have plenty, I believe is truly a test of ones will, and we should not wish to be tested beyond our means. 
 Sure there are those camels who find their way through the eye of the needle, but only God knows which camels can do so.

 

[ilovekittens]

What is really meant by the “fall” of man? Why in the world should we be held responsible for the act of Adam and Eve? They were not real people anyway, were they?

If suffering is good and redemptive, why do people generally not choose to suffer? Why take medicine for headache, why treat cancer? What good comes, in any possible way, from the suffering of a five year old boy with painful bone cancer?

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I think it difficult to assess how much trouble another has. Years back my wife and I worked as team on a weekend for couples. It was amazing the troubles that some apparently happy, successful couples were quietly coping with

 

[Al_Masetti]

Some years ago, I happened to make the acquaintance of some folks who had everything.

Over time, I got to know them. And I have to tell you. They don’t have everything. Never did.

Their lives were all filled with tragedies of the sort that I could never hope to deal with.

Some had at one or more times, lost every material thing … jobs, savings, homes, cars, bankruptcy, everything … and they moved in with others and just prayed and kept doing. I couldn’t understand that no matter what … they were so darned cheerful. "Oh, yes, well, we’re doing ok. We found other jobs hundreds of miles away and put our stuff in friends garages … ".

They just never gave up.

Winston Churchill once addressed a graduating class at West Point. He was very old and very tired. He had led England through one tragedy after another and persevered through the worst parts of World War II. And after victory, he was turned out. His speech was this: “Never give up.” “Never give up.” “Never give up.”

His whole speech … his whole summation of his whole leadership … was NINE WORDS.

What it was … was that they had in different ways offered up their personal sorrows to God and continued to live their lives.

These folks had children with lifelong crippling diseases that eventually took their lives. Some had only one child and some had as many as eight children. Some had personal illnesses and then were hit with other family tragedies … sudden deaths and financial devastation.

But … down deep … there was a kind of resilience.

A priest was recalling how he was assigned to a fourth-world country and was worried about becoming sick. He spoke to one of the senior priests and basically was given an exercise in resilience … to put himself in God’s Hands … to allow God to make him however God wanted him to be … and if that meant getting sick, then to accept it. And then to do whatever he could with that “raw material” of personal tragedy.

Basically, no matter what terrible situations befall you … you just accept it and continue on.

It really doesn’t matter how some people have it. [It’s probably not so perfect. There probably is some suffering … but they just don’t tell everyone.]

It’s all about taking what God has given you and with His Grace fabricating that “gift” into something wonderful.

This life is only very temporary … and our job here is to convince God that we are the kind of person that He would like to spend eternity with. At our last judgment, we will not be asked about what kind of car we drove. We will be asked what we did with those gifts, however limited, that we were given …

… even if we do nothing else, we can pray constantly for others … for people who this very second have their backs against the wall. Constantly. Every five seconds, say a prayer for someone else … for whoever needs it the most.

This very second, there is someone somewhere who needs prayers more than I need prayers … there is someone somewhere who needs help right now, more than I need help.

Someone, right now, is dying and they are not in the state of grace … how terrible is that! Their whole entire life of opportunity has been squandered or lost … and they need our prayers more than anyone else on this whole earth.

How lucky we are! That we are not in their terrible awful shoes right now.

Pray for them and pray that we will never ever be in that terrible awful situation.

 

[missal]

Ok … understand that suffering is redemptive, but why do only SOME people suffer and they don’t even Know it is redemptive, and their families and themselves ask "Why, why why?:

This person has five siblings and One is suffering and the rest are living it up! From the eyes of this suffering person looking on in agony, I can’t just reply, “Offer it up, suffering is redemptive!”
They want to know WHY IT WAS THEM and not one of the other siblings???

 

[rinnie]

I would tell them that we all get our share one time or another. Its just for some people they can hide their suffering better then others.

My dad always said suffering means you are the chosen people. Jesus was perfect and they crucified him, what do you think they will do to you.

He told me that mostly good people suffer, because this isnt their world. It seems the evil people who cheat, steal and lie have it made. He said they will this is their world.

But remember when you suffer in this world he said its okay, because this is the short world, all we have to do is obey God the best we can so we can be with him in the next world.

He said the next world, now thats the world we are waiting for thats eternity. Thats the one that last forever.

So tell them just pray, stay close to God, and it will be okay. He will never give us more than we can handle, it will just make us a better person, the more we suffer the more compasionate we become to others. Sometimes its a gift to make us more aware of how good we really do have it. ITs a state of mind really.

 

[Sam_Maloney]

Everyone suffers.

Everyone.

It is a fool’s errand to compare one person’s to another’s. We cannot know.

 

[rinnie]

Everyone suffers.

Everyone.

It is a fool’s errand to compare one person’s to another’s. We cannot know.

You are so right, how many times have you thought you had it so rough, and spent a week or two in the PERFECT persons life, and went home and said I am so sorry God. All is not what it seems.

It reminds me of the story

A man walked into to church and said Dear Lord please take away this cross i can not carry it anymore. So God said okay come in, he walked into a room full of crosses. Thousands of them, Huge cross’s everywhere. God said pick which one you want. Well that were all so so big except by the door this was this real little one. The man say Oh ill take that one. The Lord said that is the cross you walked in with!

 

[Al_Masetti]

Some years ago, a person I knew was sharply critical of someone else because the other person had a boat.

I pointed out to my friend, that the boat owner had NOTHING ELSE. And that boat was a little 12-footer.

My friend had a great job, nice cars, a gorgeous house, great marriage, kids in excellent colleges.

But my friend was envious of a person with that little tiny boat.

 

[rinnie]

Some years ago, a person I knew was sharply critical of someone else because the other person had a boat.

I pointed out to my friend, that the boat owner had NOTHING ELSE. And that boat was a little 12-footer.

My friend had a great job, nice cars, a gorgeous house, great marriage, kids in excellent colleges.

But my friend was envious of a person with that little tiny boat.

Looks like your friend done missed the boat. (sorry i couldn’t resist)

 

[kmleo]

What good comes, in any possible way, from the suffering of a five year old boy with painful bone cancer?

Teaching prideful, greedy folks like me just how to be humble and thank the Lord for what I have.

The Lord works in mysterious ways and loves terminal children so much. He hates to see them suffer, but he knows that their true home is with him in heaven. I believe he uses them to reach us and teach us His compassion.

 

[Al_Masetti]

What is really meant by the “fall” of man? Why in the world should we be held responsible for the act of Adam and Eve? They were not real people anyway, were they?

If suffering is good and redemptive, why do people generally not choose to suffer? Why take medicine for headache, why treat cancer? What good comes, in any possible way, from the suffering of a five year old boy with painful bone cancer?

That little five-year old boy is on God’s payroll. He is there so that other people will have an opportunity to demonstrate their love of God. That little boy is a test for all those other people. God is testing those people. When he dies, that little boy will have a high place in God’s Kingdom. And, if they do their jobs right, and act properly, those other people will also be rewarded.

All of us live for one thing … and one thing only … and that is to be happy with God in Heaven … and one way of assisting God in deciding if we are good enough to merit heaven is to serve God by helping all those little five-year old boys of this world.

And all those Down’s Syndrome babies.

If you personally don’t want to believe that the fall of man was real … well, consider that you have free will … which is very rare for God’s creatures. Flowers don’t have free will. Polar bears don’t have free will. But humans do have free will.

Adam & Eve had free will and they had other benefits that we don’t have … and they screwed up. Whether it was damning or not … that’s up to God, the Judge, Himself.

But their trials and tribulations should be considered as warnings to those who “get it”.

And all these little tests are partly the way that allows God to decide if He wants so spend eternity with us.

If you choose to “tick God off” or insult His Mother or screw up and don’t regret it, or do some other negative thing, then it might indicate that you are not interested in sharing Eternity with the Infinite God.

 

[spauline]

What is really meant by the “fall” of man? Why in the world should we be held responsible for the act of Adam and Eve? They were not real people anyway, were they?

If suffering is good and redemptive, why do people generally not choose to suffer? Why take medicine for headache, why treat cancer? What good comes, in any possible way, from the suffering of a five year old boy with painful bone cancer?

I know of a very story of a little boy of five years old or thereabouts who, encouraged by a dear priest, actively offered up his sufferings for souls. This is indescribably beautiful.

Consider also, how in times past of pagan Rome, women and children many times endured tortures that terrified the strongest of men, as radio replies put it, and offered their incomprehensible sufferings for the conversion of their executioners.

Therefore, a world that falls but that is able to be forgiven, and even more so, by the love of victims for their enemies, is INFINITELY more beautiful than if man had never fallen.

Therefore, to say that suffering can never serve a legitimate purpose is insulting to the saints and martyrs.

St. Maximillian Kolbe VOLUNTARILY chose to starve to save another man. That is, he chose, FREELY, to take on horrible suffering that PARALLELS the five year old boys, and willingly offered it to save a man with wife and kids.

Was HIS suffering useless?

And what did St. Max do to deserve it? NOTHING. He was INNOCENT. He voluntarily died for another.

The power to love so much that you suffer for the ones you love, and even your ENEMIES, glorifies God and brings greater beauty than if the world had never fallen and lived without suffering.

Suffering, therefore, in the Catholic mystery of faith, is a means to LOVE greater than if we had never fallen. THAT is beautiful.

 

[missal]

Therefore, to say that suffering can never serve a legitimate purpose is insulting to the saints and martyrs.

How do you tell someone why they are suffering but not their sidlings???

 

[missal]

Therefore, to say that suffering can never serve a legitimate purpose is insulting to the saints and martyrs.

How do you tell someone why they are suffering but not their sidlings???

 

[spauline]

Therefore, to say that suffering can never serve a legitimate purpose is insulting to the saints and martyrs.

How do you tell someone why they are suffering but not their sidlings???

those who receive greater crosses are loved more, called to greater glory. God always gives enough grace. If one suffers more, it means they are special and God loves them more than their siblings.