Mental Illness and Redemptive Suffering

[Miserissima]

I was reading this thread and it reminded me of Father Serpa’s comments on CAL. Oftentimes he says that mental illness is a special cross to bear for our Lord, and brings us closer to Him. Also, he will tell a caller (who says he/she is coping with mental illness) that he or she is “very close to our Lord” and that his or her prayers are very powerful.

How is someone close to Jesus through their mental suffering? For the sufferer, it is difficul to imagine that offering up their suffering can bring grace to themselves or others – especially if the victim isn’t aware of how efficacious their prayers can be!

Mental health issues can come from chemistry, environment, poor coping skills, abuse, societal factors that all interplay. Treatment is no picnic, either…it’s just that mental diagnosis and its social stigma are enough to bear, that the victim may not know their suffering may benefit others. But no one I know would choose to suffer if they knew what it was like.

Can someone help me to link mental illness with redemptive suffering? I’m just looking for a little more insight. Quotes from the CCC, armchair apologists, Catholic therapists, and personal experiences are most welcome.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Any kind of suffering, small or great, in Grace is redemptive. St. Paul to The Colossians:

24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church:

It is a stupendous thought that anything could be wanting in the sufferings of Christ and yet St. Paul tells us this is so, and that our own sufferings united to His fulfills the redemption…hence part and parcel of the vocation of the baptized is suffering united to Christ and no human being is exempted from some form of sufferings somewhere, and at some time, in life. Christ has, through His own passion, made these sufferings redemptive.

Mental Illness is particularly close to the sufferings of Christ as it is to suffer mentally and very deeply, as Christ did in Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood, so extreme was his mental anguish, and also on Calvary “My God, why have you forsaken me”. Mental illness is also particularly marked often by another suffering of Christ … ignomy and stigma, rejection, failure. Some who suffer mentally also experience a feeling of abandonment by God and friends, of ignomy and stigma, rejection.

I agree wholeheartedly with you that if non sufferers knew the living nightmare mental illness can be, it sure would never be chosen.

To suffer a mental illness is a particular call from God to be united to the crucified Christ in His sufferings as it is not chosen, rather permitted by God. Probably most of us who do suffer MI have said at some time or may still say “Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” and “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Have you read this document…in parts it makes heavy reading but is the read…
http://cathnews.com/news/602/doc/10wds2.htm

The Mentally Ill Patient: A Faithful Image of God

Javier, Cardinal Lozano Barragán
**President of the Pontifical Council **
for Health Pastoral Care,
Vatican City

Therefore, once the mental illness has caused such a disorder as to take away from the mentally ill patient any responsibility for his actions, qualifying them as separation from the divine will -as a sin- the mental patient cannot separate from God. In other words, the image of God in him cannot be distorted. In this case his knowledge or his volitive option are no longer sufficient to motivate any human action that separates him from God. His bodily and psychic conditions do not allow him to commit a grave sin, given that in his state of disequilibrium he does not have that full knowledge and ability of assent required to sin.

If we approach the argument from this point of view, whereby the mentally ill patient does not have the knowledge or the faculty of full consent required to commit a mortal sin, his is not a deformed image of God, since that image can only be deformed by sin. Certainly, it is the suffering image of God, but not a deformed image. He is a reflection of the mystery of the victorious Cross of the Lord. Inspired by the image of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 53, 1-7) we are drawn to a conscious act of faith in the suffering Christ.
In Christian thought it is said that these severe mental illnesses reduce man to sad conditions, like a deformed image of God, which is compared to the suffering servant of Isaiah (Is 53,1-7). Yet, apart from that deformation, or rather due to it, the mentally ill person resembles our Lord on the cross; and since the cross is the only way to the resurrection, the mentally ill person, has so to say a superior level, is worthier and reaches such a level of excellence because of the magnitude of his love and the suffering he endures.9

 

[spauline]

.

To suffer a mental illness is a particular call from God to be united to the crucified Christ in His sufferings as it is not chosen, rather permitted by God. Probably most of us who do suffer MI have said at some time or may still say “Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” and “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Have you read this document…in parts it makes heavy reading but is the read…
http://cathnews.com/news/602/doc/10wds2.htm

The Mentally Ill Patient: A Faithful Image of God

Javier, Cardinal Lozano Barragán
**President of the Pontifical Council **
for Health Pastoral Care,
Vatican City

God bless you, Barbara Therese, please let me share my testimony in brief.

When I was 24,I went into the hospital for schizophrenia. I have many times in my life been rejected so to speak. Socially awkward, I think I may have aspergers. For I have always been extraordinarily intelligent, but many times in my life highly socially inept, and have experienced this abandonment, social frustration, rejection, ridicule, heartache. It has been a great cross, and yet, I do not complain, for by it I have been brought to the Lord so close, it is incomprehensible. In the depths of my being, I feel extraordinary closeness, and great compassion for the outcast. It was mental healht crisis that brought me to Jesus, and taught me my dependence upon God, so much so, my story was put in This Rock in October of ;99.

But, admittedly, it is a hard cross, but perhaps i am able to say now that i can handle it and am greatful, simply because I guess I’ve become used to being socially awkward.

I think Jesus cradles the mentally ill, and in these times of spiritual darkness, they are some of the dearest souls to Him.

I hope my brief testimony can give hope to those who suffer with this, and for those who must bear to watch their loved ones suffer it, which is perhaps, even the greater cross.

In Her Love,
Scott

St. Dymphna, Pray for us.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

God bless you, Barbara Therese, please let me share my testimony in brief.

When I was 24,I went into the hospital for schizophrenia. I have many times in my life been rejected so to speak. Socially awkward, I think I may have aspergers. For I have always been extraordinarily intelligent, but many times in my life highly socially inept, and have experienced this abandonment, social frustration, rejection, ridicule, heartache. It has been a great cross, and yet, I do not complain, for by it I have been brought to the Lord so close, it is incomprehensible. In the depths of my being, I feel extraordinary closeness, and great compassion for the outcast. It was mental healht crisis that brought me to Jesus, and taught me my dependence upon God, so much so, my story was put in This Rock in October of ;99.

But, admittedly, it is a hard cross, but perhaps i am able to say now that i can handle it and am greatful, simply because I guess I’ve become used to being socially awkward.

I think Jesus cradles the mentally ill, and in these times of spiritual darkness, they are some of the dearest souls to Him.

I hope my brief testimony can give hope to those who suffer with this, and for those who must bear to watch their loved ones suffer it, which is perhaps, even the greater cross.

In Her Love,
Scott

St. Dymphna, Pray for us.

Thank you very much for sharing your story! It can take courage to do this and can be the means of lifting the load from other shoulders as they insight that another too shares their sufferings.
Good to read that your story was shared in This Rock.

I hope this thread, intitated by Miserissima, will bring encouragement and indeed a sense of dignity and self worth, spiritual renewal, to those who do suffer mental illness…which is an illness along with diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc. The brain remains an organ of the body along with all other organs and can develop medical problems just as any other organ can…be these due to nature or nurture - to biological or environmental problems…or a mixture of same.

Blessings…Barb
PS I hope too that this thread and others on the subject of mental illness will serve to educate non sufferers on some truths, realities and facts, about mental illness and those who suffer such.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

How is someone close to Jesus through their mental suffering? For the sufferer, it is difficul to imagine that offering up their suffering can bring grace to themselves or others – especially if the victim isn’t aware of how efficacious their prayers can be!

That is why it is so important to let sufferers know the spiritual value of their suffering, so that they can voluntarily offer it to God in union with the sufferings of Christ.

But no one I know would choose to suffer if they knew what it was like.

The sufferings and penances that come to us “uninvited,” and that we endure patiently as coming from the loving hand of God, are more meritorious than those that we choose for ourselves. There is often a little bit of pride involved when we do a penance voluntarily, but that is not the case when one has been “chosen” for us.

 

[Miserissima]

I hope this thread, intitated by Miserissima, will bring encouragement and indeed a sense of dignity and self worth, spiritual renewal, to those who do suffer mental illness…which is an illness along with diabetes, cancer, heart disease etc. The brain remains an organ of the body along with all other organs and can develop medical problems just as any other organ can…be these due to nature or nurture - to biological or environmental problems…or a mixture of same.

Totally agreed, and each piece feeds into another as we act and react to and within our environment. Some have limited choices, reasonings, or abilities at times.

I loved the article you posted, BarbaraTherese. I do take exception with one piece, though:

Regarding the prevention of mental disorders, it is interesting to note that disorders hardly appear in age band of 0-16 years; hence, it is in this stage that prevention can be much more effective.

Some babies are born physically addicted to drugs such as crack, and there are studies that indicate that bi-polar (and it’s relative oft-missed diagnosed, temporal lobe epilepsy) can and does start in childhood. However, the depressive episodes don’t appear as anger turned inward, but destructive behavior and irritability as anger turned outward.

Also, from the article,

Some scholars believe that the level of technology in Psychiatry is indeed low, in fact the therapy used is not technological but interpersonal.7

This is why more folks should start to see neurologists, neuropsychologists, and neuropharmacologist soon after any diagnosis has been made, as opposed to psychologists and psychiatrists. It goes back to BarbaraTherese’s statement that the brain is an organ.

I don’t have much courage to share my story just yet. But I had a difficult time in making that bridge between the worth of suffering and drawing closer to the Lord. But this part I am going to put on my home shrine:

In Christian thought it is said that these severe mental illnesses reduce man to sad conditions, like a deformed image of God, which is compared to the suffering servant of Isaiah (Is 53,1-7). Yet, apart from that deformation, or rather due to it, the mentally ill person resembles our Lord on the cross; and since the cross is the only way to the resurrection, the mentally ill person, has so to say a superior level, is worthier and reaches such a level of excellence because of the magnitude of his love and the suffering he endures.9

“To suffer a mental illness is a particular call from God to be united to the crucified Christ in His sufferings as it is not chosen, rather permitted by God.”

Wow. **So we are special victims whom God has chosen? We are allowed to experience a part of the agony of Christ’s Passion in a subjective, personal way? Our lives are like victim souls for Him? This just blows my mind, to be honest. It’s comforting, it’s humbling. It doesn’t relieve the symptoms, but that certainly reminds me to offer it up.

Spauline, I noticed that you have “St. Dymphna, pray for us” in your sig. Have you heard of a place called the Colony of Gheel in Belgium? It’s a place where different levels of care are given and steps are made to recover mental health and move people back into society, if possible. From primary intake to half way houses, to patients living with peasants who take the patients into their homes – sometimes teaching a trade or other life skills, but always gently and with great care. It’s the first deinstitutionalized institution for mental health, and quite a revolution for its day (and also by today’s standards, if I do say so myself).

This whole thread is filled with compassion and I want to thank everyone. It’s like a little Gheel on the Internet.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting Miserissima:

Some babies are born physically addicted to drugs such as crack, and there are studies that indicate that bi-polar (and it’s relative oft-missed diagnosed, temporal lobe epilepsy) can and does start in childhood. However, the depressive episodes don’t appear as anger turned inward, but destructive behavior and irritability as anger turned outward.

I agree that mental illness can begin earlier than 16yrs…by far the majority however seem to occur in later life. Of course environmental factors pre 16yrs could be partial cause of mental illness symptoms in later years. I have been quite shocked by the number of quite young teenagers on psychiatric wards and far more than 20 or 30 years ago for sure…in fact nowadays in the wards I have visited it seems the majority are teenagers to early 20’s.
Undoubtedly research into mental illness is still a baby science as with psychiatry.

Wow. ***So we are special victims whom God has chosen? ***We are allowed to experience a part of the agony of Christ’s Passion in a subjective, personal way? Our lives are like victim souls for Him? This just blows my mind, to be honest. It’s comforting, it’s humbling. It doesn’t relieve the symptoms, but that certainly reminds me to offer it up.

We are allowed by God to share in a quite intimate manner in The Passion of Christ. This can indeed be something of a consolation and a most humbling one, while the very painful sufferings of mental illness are not diminished.
There used to abound in the Church a ministry known as The Apostolate of The Sick which was very close to the contemplative vocation in that sufferings (endured as best one was able) and prayer were offered for the whole Church and mankind. I dont hear of it nowadays post V2…rather only of ministry TO the sick and not the fact that it illness is a ministry (or apostolate as it used to be called pre V2) in its own right. Sad!..and quite remiss and a great loss to ministry in The Church, I think! I did do a seach on the internet some time back without finding a direct reference to The Apostolate of The Sick per se.

Blessings…Barb

 

[bullfrog543]

i have a difficult time reading so didnt read the whole thing though have schizophrenia and would never want to be cured of it even though i hear evil voices like satan because it is so blessed. mind you living a poor life isnt easy and not healthy. i have learned without people like joan of ark there would be no quebec ect she had a prime case of schizophrenia a role model of mine.

 

[spauline]

Spauline, I noticed that you have “St. Dymphna, pray for us” in your sig. Have you heard of a place called the Colony of Gheel in Belgium? It’s a place where different levels of care are given and steps are made to recover mental health and move people back into society, if possible. From primary intake to half way houses, to patients living with peasants who take the patients into their homes – sometimes teaching a trade or other life skills, but always gently and with great care. It’s the first deinstitutionalized institution for mental health, and quite a revolution for its day (and also by today’s standards, if I do say so myself).

.

dear Miserissima,

thank you for sharing. I had not heard of this place in Belgium, buti it is comforting to know it exists. I have been able to function> They no longer think I am schizo, but rather OCD. I work at Intel and for my dad part time as a web developer.

So i have had a reasonable amount of success despite my illness.

But thank you for sharing. and God Bless you.

scott

 

[Miserissima]

It’s a blessing when we can take our quirks and use them to be effective at our jobs (or in any other role).

I was subscribed to this thread which got into redemptive suffering. There’s some good encouragement there.

It’s so difficult sometimes to find joy in the pain, until the depression lifts. There is no formula prayer to make it go away.

What do you use as your Spiritual Medicine when you have a bout of un-wellness?

Have you had an EMHC come to your house because you coudn’t get to Mass?

Have you found a priest or spiritual director who can guide you through this? How does one find a person like that?

Sorry for all the questions. Just thinkin’.

 

[Oz_Girl]

My brother has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia and right now I am leaning very heavily on my faith to get me through. It is so comforting to know that there are people out there who are getting better and are able to live a normal live (as in not wanting to hurt himself to get the voices out) because after everything I have heard in the doctors appointments etc in the last 2 weeks had left me thinking that he would never be able to live a happy and healthy life.
If anyone can recommend a saint or a pray for me say for my brother it would be very helpful. I’m only a new Catholic and so I don’t know very much yet. Though I have been praying to St Jude and I know it is because of him and God of course that my brother rang me two weeks ago asking for help instead of killing himself.

 

[RWMorris]

I’ll share my story. At the age of 39 I experienced a sudden traumatic circumstance. Within weeks I was experiencing suicidal thoughts and placed for the first time in a psychiatric hospital. After my release, while on anti-depressants, I began experiencing hallucinations and delusions (dead people, blood everywhere, demons, visions of hell). I began exhibiting strange behaviors, such as packing suitcases in the middle of the night and doing things that I later could not remember doing. I was placed again in a psychiatric ward, this time for a longer period to be stabilized. After my release from the ward, I was given over to extensive and exhaustive therapy. Social Security put me on disability because there was no way I could work (I am a music teacher). I felt as though my inner core of identity was shattered. I felt as though I were nothing but a shell. My visions of demons, angels, and apocalyptic images continued for another two years. It was a living nightmare from which I could not awaken.
Through it all, I imagined that I was holding to the feet of Jesus on the cross,
I slowly began getting better two years ago. It has now been one year and nine months since my last hallucination. My meds are working, my therapy is working, and best of all, I converted to the Catholic Church during this time for the coolest reason: I was tired of being outside and wanted to come home!
During my illness, which has now been four years going, I can truly say that I can feel the love of God fold me in HIs presence. I have felt a special grace during this time that I have never experienced prior to getting sick.
I think the mentally ill do receive a special grace; at least, I have.
Thanks for reading my story and God bless.

 

[Miserissima]

I thank everyone who has been brave enough to share their story. May I ask, how and when have you felt closer to Christ?

If you are aware of an “episode” to come or is happening, what prayers do you pray? Do you say, “Father, I offer this up for xxx,”? Or, Christ, I may not feel you close to me while I go through this, but I trust that you are there?"

For bipolar folks, how do you reaffirm that trust during a depressive phase?

For the first time, I fired a doctor. It wasn’t the medication, it was how she prescribed 125mg one week and 5000mg the next. It was intensely terrifying and I even started to lose my hair from it.

I wanted to submit myself to her authority in obedience, but the last straw came a month later (yes, I suffered for a month on this medication) when she told me I was supposed to be off of a different medication on the 26th, but that was the date she gave me a refill. Let’s say she was flaky, inconsistent, and didn’t demonstrate a good handle on pharmacology, so I moved on.

PS - while we may mention medication, let’s not get into mentioning names of medications, names of doctors or therapists, start suggesting meds or therapies, or dispensing medical advice. I don’t want this thread closed as others have been before.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

My brother has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia and right now I am leaning very heavily on my faith to get me through. It is so comforting to know that there are people out there who are getting better and are able to live a normal live (as in not wanting to hurt himself to get the voices out) because after everything I have heard in the doctors appointments etc in the last 2 weeks had left me thinking that he would never be able to live a happy and healthy life.
If anyone can recommend a saint or a pray for me say for my brother it would be very helpful. I’m only a new Catholic and so I don’t know very much yet. Though I have been praying to St Jude and I know it is because of him and God of course that my brother rang me two weeks ago asking for help instead of killing himself.

St. Dymphna is the patron saint of those who suffer mental or nervous disorders and stress…Her national shrine in the USA can be located here

Welcome to Catholicism and the quite ‘motley crew aboard the ship’! Dont be too concerned about “don’t know very much yet”…every last one of us probably still is learning and on many different levels. I posed a question that puzzled me into the Apologetics Forum this morning and I’ve been Catholic for near on 63yrs and still very much learning.

Will be keeping your brother in prayer and all those suffering mental illness, especially those posting into this thread. I suffer Bipolar Disorder.

Blessings and regards…Barb

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting Miserissima

If you are aware of an “episode” to come or is happening, what prayers do you pray? Do you say, “Father, I offer this up for xxx,”? Or, Christ, I may not feel you close to me while I go through this, but I trust that you are there?"

Once I had started to hear voices in the early years of my illness, I would pray “The Our Father” over and over and over again to drown out the voices. After that, I got into the habit of praying “All for Thee, oh Sacred Heart of Jesus, oh My Saviour all for Thee”, which is an aspiration I learnt as a child. It is now totally habitual during the day.

For bipolar folks, how do you reaffirm that trust during a depressive phase?

During an episode of Bipolar, either manic or depressive, I find it impossible to pray let alone meditate, but I can rustle up sufficient to pray the above aspiration with conviction, for at least the length of that aspiration. I think that in “good patches” of mental health, one can pray to The Lord and offer up those times when one may become ill and be unable to frame one good thought, and that this offering covers it all in the future when one is too unwell to think one good thought.

I wanted to submit myself to her authority in obedience, but the last straw came a month later (yes, I suffered for a month on this medication) when she told me I was supposed to be off of a different medication on the 26th, but that was the date she gave me a refill. Let’s say she was flaky, inconsistent, and didn’t demonstrate a good handle on pharmacology, so I moved on.

Good move not to submit yourself in obedience. I think we need be careful to whom we do submit ourselves in obedience. It may be different in a religious order or the priesthood since they are canonical/sacramental states of life with vows to obedience to their superior or bishop, but we laity are gifted the freedom to choose to whom we will submit and wise to move prayerfully asking wisdom and prudence.

PS - while we may mention medication, let’s not get into mentioning names of medications, names of doctors or therapists, start suggesting meds or therapies, or dispensing medical advice. I don’t want this thread closed as others have been before.

Good to mention this and thank you. A few threads connected to mental illness have been closed due to the above and it is very wise to advise the moderator if anyone is suicidal or tending that way rather than trying to advise and assist.

Blessings and regards…Barb

 

[spauline]

It’s a blessing when we can take our quirks and use them to be effective at our jobs (or in any other role).

I was subscribed to this thread which got into redemptive suffering. There’s some good encouragement there.

It’s so difficult sometimes to find joy in the pain, until the depression lifts. There is no formula prayer to make it go away.

What do you use as your Spiritual Medicine when you have a bout of un-wellness?

Have you had an EMHC come to your house because you coudn’t get to Mass?

Have you found a priest or spiritual director who can guide you through this? How does one find a person like that?

Sorry for all the questions. Just thinkin’.

My spiritual medicine is my faith and knowledge of doctrine, the rosary, and my friends and loved ones in the faith.

When I was married in Prague and in the hospital after two months of marriage, I was so sick, that as I was doing the First Fridays, a good priest by the name of Pater Tadeas came and gave me communion on the First Friday. That was the only time had communion brought to me ever in my life. Or maybe one more time was in the hospital when I got sick the first time in my life.

I kind of get a little direction from my parish priest, he is a good guy, but i am not an expert on getting a spiritual director, as I’ve never really used anyone other than the priest at my local parish.

God Bless you, Misserissima

 

[natedagw824]

Wow, this is a really awesome thread!

I’ll share my story:

In December of 2004 I was put on an anti-depressant; paxil. The reason I was put on paxil was to control the physical pain that I’m having from a chronic pain disease I have called Fibromyalgia. From December 2004 to March of 2005 I was feeling good. REALLY GOOD! My physical pain was subsiding and I had a really great outlook on life. However, something was starting to go wrong…

In May of 2005 three of my friends and myself went on a road trip and I had an amazing time. I was doing things that I would not normally do. I was talking to girls and being really REALLY outgoing. Needless to say, I was acting kind of weird. We were up in Traverse City, Michigan for 4 days then we came back home. A few months later things took a terrible turn…

On July 19th 2005, I had a psychotic break. I still remember the day it happened: I was very paranoid and extremely delusional. I smelt things that weren’t real and I was psychotic. Three firemen came up to my apartment and they carried me down three flights of stairs. I couldn’t even walk. I was hospitalized for 2.3 weeks. It was the most SCARIEST experience I have ever had. The main delusional thought that I had was I thought I was the anti-christ. I really believed it. So many other things happened when I was in that hospital, I can’t even explain…

I guess the really upsetting thing during all of this is that all my friends turned against me and they abandoned me. The other thing that makes me really upset and cheated is the fact that the PAXIL induced my breakdown. My M.D. told me that I have been BI-Polar all my life and when I started taking the paxil it “threw” me into mania. Thats why I was really happy and doing things I would not normally do.

All of this happened three years ago. Today, I am 26 and I guess I’m doing ok. As most of you have already said, this cross is not easy to carry. I too am very shy and I am afraid of social situations. I keep to myself most of the time. I take two antipsychotic meds; Invega and Seraquel. The other disease I have, fibromyalgia, also takes a lot out of me. I am in constant pain(physical). Then I have this darn mental illness that keeps me in a prison of depression.

To be honest with you all, I am beginning to doubt God and His power. I guess I’m an intellectual and I want to know how everything works(Including God). I try to pray but I don’t get anything out of it. Don’t know why. However, maybe I’m closer to God than I think I am. I just hate all this rejection and all this suffering.

Just thought I’d share my story with all of you.

What can I do to get closer to God? Offer up my suffering? Pray the rosary(even if i dont feel like it)?

Nathan

 

[jerry117711]

i always wanted to be a scychitrist for alot of years but decided i could never place a person in a rubber room. i dont have it in me. i believe all men have wills, choice, souls, jesus in their hearts, heaven and hell in their minds, and god baught our souls for us to call it the temple of god and i baught the internet for a penny lol a little humor goes along way for most. with these beliefes ill never have the idea of being satan or the anti christ ect. a good selection to believe according to your practice of religion for who know the next time you may need to believe

 

[Miserissima]

I am in constant pain(physical). Then I have this darn mental illness that keeps me in a prison of depression.

I will PM you later today with suggestions for your doc. I am sorry that you are suffering greatly and wish I could alleviate your pain. May the Divine Physician gant you relief soon.

To be honest with you all, I am beginning to doubt God and His power. I guess I’m an intellectual and I want to know how everything works(Including God). I try to pray but I don’t get anything out of it. Don’t know why. However, maybe I’m closer to God than I think I am. I just hate all this rejection and all this suffering.

God doesn’t work by cause-and-effect i.e. if you pray for a car, there’s going to be a Mercedes in your deiveway next week. Perhaps the pain is overwhelming you to the notion - no, the fact - that suffering isn’t a punishment. It is an opportunity to grow spiritually closer to Christ.

Review the book of Habakkuk: Habakkuk starts with Habakkuk crying out to God for an answer as to why God’s chosen people are allowed to suffer in this captivity (Habakkuk 1:1-4). The Lord gives His answer to Habakkuk stating, “you wouldn’t believe it if I told you” (Habakkuk 1: 5-11). Habakkuk then follows up by saying, “Ok you are God, but still tell me more about why this is happening” (Habakkuk 1: 17-2:1). God then answers him again and gives him more information then tells the earth to be silent before Him (Habakkuk 2:2-20). Then Habakkuk writes a prayer that is a psalm because it is set to music that expresses his strong faith in God, even through these trials (Habakkuk 3:1-19). [From http://www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Habakkuk.html”]here.]

I am going to suggest **this thread for you to read **(if you haven’t seen it already), from which I came here to ask more in-depth questions about how mental suffering (organic or psychic) can be linked to redemptive suffering.

What can I do to get closer to God? Offer up my suffering?

I like your question: “What can I do to get closer to God?” Honestly, I am learning that those who chronically suffer cannot get any closer to Christ. Getting closer (in this life, anyway) doesn’t mean an absence of suffering. In fact, the opposite is true. It’s being chosen to, or chosing to, share in the agony and Passion of Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at the Anima Christi:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ’s side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer [Allow] me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever, Amen

The line, “Passion of Christ, strengthen me” gets right to my heart every time. It’s not that we are viewing Christ’s suffering from the outside, but we are with Him in His suffering. We are hidden within his wounds.

When we are depressed, we are in the Garden of Gethsemane while Christ is crying drops of blood. Those with psychosis and neurosis are effectively wearing a very personal crown of thorns. Those who are suffering bipolar are lashed repeatedly, and then are exalted only to come back down again (if they aren’t stabilized). Those with social phobia are afraid of being mocked as Christ was mocked by the soldiers.

Think how close you are to Christ through your pain: you are allowed to experience His Passion for all, and share in the redemptive suffering of all mankind.

I would also like to offer you more comfort. There are many gems you can find in the following two threads regarding redemptive suffering:

First, this thread on Redemptive Suffering

and second, this thread: why do catholics pray, fast and offer sacrifices to attain certain petitions?

Remember David, though he “walked through the valley of the shadow of death,” had to keep going. God didn’t pluck him out of the fear, danger, or toil. And although David didn’t see God, David knew The Almighty was there with his rod and staff to comfort him. That’s faith.

Please don’t lose faith because you feel you’re not receiving answers to your prayer.

Pray the rosary(even if i dont feel like it)?

Prayer in any form is efficacious. You can say simple ejaculations such as, “Jesus, I trust in you,” or “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I have found great comfort in just listening to hymns and letting my mind focus on God until the hymns are in the background and I am in prayer. You don’t need a structured prayer. Rememeber, as St. Teresa of Avila said, “Prayer is simply a conversation with God.”

Marie Veronica said in this post

[Mother Angelica] said that “spiritual dryness” can be a true gift from God. When we pray… under those circumstances… we must put forth a huge effort to do so (because we don’t “feel” anything); It then becomes an extremely valuable thing… because in our difficulty… we are saying to God… “I love You”. So, praying with spiritual dryness becomes proof of our love for God.

I can’t put it much better than that regarding prayer.

Finally, I am sure there is a lot in the library at catholic.com proper and many articles from This Rock that can help you. You are in my prayers, Nathan!

 

[spauline]

Just thought I’d share my story with all of you.

What can I do to get closer to God? Offer up my suffering? Pray the rosary(even if i dont feel like it)?

Nathan

Dear Nathan,

I just wanna pour my heart out to you, I can sympathize so much. I have always been really shy with girls, socially teased, outcast, because of my social ineptness and mental illness.

I worked three years at Wendy’s doing nothing but register and being the laughing stock of the place behind my back (I walk funny and am socially depressed and serious and paranoid), all the while having a Masters Degree in Applied Math and having been covaledictorian in the Math Program of my bachelors degree at a university of over 45,000 students total population.

It was humiliating, but my faith got me throught it. I was in the hospital for terrible delusions of pain in my back in Europe for over two months.

I’m just saying, hang in there, you are dear to God, and as Barbara put, ALREADY close to Christ. Jesus values your trials, and you can be a great saint if you surrender your cross to Mary and have her help you.

you are not alone, I will place you in my general prayers.

Scott