+JMJ+
I am so confused on redemptive suffering. I honestly don’t understand the concept at all. Can someone, in very plain English describe to me the basic concept?
Well, I can try.
First of all, all suffering is evil. That is the most basic concept. Suffering after all is an awareness that something is wrong. That is why it is horrid to ask somebody to remain in an abusive relationship. And of course, to
cause suffering is just plain evil.
But here is the second thing about suffering: all sufferings, while evil, also have some goodness in them. Remember what I just wrote: “Suffering after all is an awareness that something is wrong.” Suffering brings us awareness of a truth, that something somewhere is wrong, and that truth is good. When we are aware of a wrong, we can do something about it. Also, allowing us to suffer is God’s punishment to us for original sin, and God’s actions are always just and thus good.
That is the thing we must remember about evils in this world: almost all the things we know to be evil also have some goodness in them. Floods bring fertile soil; seismic events that cause earthquakes and volcanoes also have given us the land to live on, fertile soil, and things like geothermal power and hot springs; accidents reveal flaws in engineering; even death has been made to be our gateway to heaven.
There is only one exception, the only truly evil thing that has no redeeming goodness in it: sin. And even then God always brings out good from sin, the pinnacle of which is His Son’s unjust suffering and death on the Cross, through which man’s punishment for sin is paid fully.
And it is this Passion of Jesus Christ that transforms our suffering into an even greater good: with us as His Body, we can unite our sufferings to Jesus’ own Suffering on the Cross, and thus we can participate in the salvation of man.
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Colossians 1:24
So what ultimately is redemptive suffering? It is to maximize the goodness of suffering, by (1) removing the evil of suffering by taking action to alleviate it especially of others, (2) uniting one’s own suffering to Jesus’ own (this second way is what is commonly called “offering up” one’s own suffering), and (3) not purposefully causing suffering except to trade it for a greater good or to alleviate/prevent a greater evil, and even in this it has to be done with care.
With these conclusions on redemptive suffering we can answer your other questions.
Also, how does this relate to intentional mortification of the flesh? Aren’t our bodies supposed to be temples of the Holy Spirit?
Here we can use the third conclusion on redemptive suffering: trading suffering for a greater good or to alleviate/prevent a greater evil. We can do this because suffering, though always evil, also always has some good in it. Thus, we can use the suffering of hunger through fasting to help us fight the evil of sin. “But this kind [of demon] never comes out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). We can also mortify ourselves by suffering through not doing all that we want to do.
This is also something that is common in the secular world: “No pain, no gain.”
However, mortification can easily be abused. That is why we are only advised by the Catholic Church to follow the liturgical fasts she has prescribed for the year as well as the fast before Holy Communion. Minor mortifications such as periodically depriving ourselves of pleasures of games or buying something can be easily added of course. Anything more rigorous, especially that of corporeal mortification (causing pain to one’s self through bodily injury), must be **strictly supervised by a spiritual director.
**
Finally, I have heard of cases where someone is experiencing domestic abuse, and they are told to “offer it up.”
Again, redemptive suffering is all about maximizing the good we can get from suffering. Thus, it will always be appropriate for someone in an abuse situation to “offer up” his or her sufferings, to unite them with the sufferings of Christ.
However (and I cannot stress this highly enough) we must not forget the other conclusion about redemptive suffering: “removing the evil of suffering by taking action to alleviate it.” As I said, the main good about suffering is that we receive the truth that something is wrong. To not do something about the truth revealed to us by suffering is to commit evil against that truth.
Therefore it is not right to just suffer through a headache without doing anything: you must know why you are having it. If the cause is not serious you can just leave it be if it is not affecting your work, or you may take a rest or take an mild pain reliever. If you are not sure about the cause or if the pain is severe you go to the doctor. Either way you can offer up your suffering of your headache as you wait for it to be relieved.
Going back to the abuse question, from this discussion it is apparent that it is evil to let oneself remain in an abusive domestic environment. Such is to commit evil against the truth revealed by suffering. Moreover, it will be counterproductive to just advise the victim to “offer up” the abuse because the misunderstanding about the term is widespread, and to explain it would more likely cause more confusion and suffering for the victim (remember: do not purposefully cause suffering). It will be best to bring up the case to professionals.
