The passion of our Lord

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aazucena

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Hi all,

There is a question I am struggling with. As I understand, people in suffering are encouraged to seek comfort in the passion and suffering of our Lord. He, who experienced a most painful death he did not have to can help deal with our own things. However, it seems to me that a lot of people in this world have suffered a whole deal more than the days of our Lord’s passion, e.g. people who live with severe cancer or chronic conditions, who live in excruciating pain for many years. How can I reconcile these two ideas? How can a person who is going through a years and years of suffering find comfort and healing by looking to to the suffering of the passion, which after all, lasted for a few days only?

I do not mean to be disrespectful or anything on the choice of topic, but this is a question that has been on my mind for a while and I do not know how to answer it.
 
The difference is that our Lord had foreknowledge of every second of his suffering—for years.

Imagine knowing your suffering in your last moments down to, say, the last 10 seconds…

you hit the 10 second mark, knowing with each heart beat that the end is 1 second closer; knowing exactly the intense pain you would suffer at each moment.

Since I came to realize this, I also came to realize that Jesus is not the wimp Jesus sometimes portrayed, but the stud/hero/really loving Jesus. He knew each second, and still loved us enough to go through it, and for that matter, to go through with his whole life.
 
May God’s Peace, Love, Mercy, Graces and blessings be with you and to all!

We have to remember that Our Good Lord Jesus Christ is God Himself which makes Him infinite, endless, limitless, not bound by time or space. While we humans on the other hand are only finite. In order for us to be redeemed from our sins, our Good God had to become man, like one of us, in order to redeem us for no other human being can do it. Even if we combine all the holiness, merits, prayers, sacrifices, fasting, penances, good works of all the saints, all holy men and women that ever have, do and will exist 'till the end of time, it would not even satisfy or atone a single sin. For sin is committed against God who is infinite and only somebody who is infinite, ONLY God Himself can make that satisfaction due to our sins. In short, ONLY Our Good Lord Jesus Christ can redeem us.

With that said, Our Good Lord Jesus took on ALL sins, suffering, pain, abandonment, loneliness, rejection etc. that ever have, are currently existing and will exist 'till the end of time. So, even though His suffering on the Cross may not seem long enough or even severe in our eyes, compared to others who suffered for days, years or even their entire lifetime, it was enough to take on ALL sins, all sufferings etc. With Him being God, a single a drop of His Most Precious Blood was enough to wipe out all our sins.

The amazing part is, Our Good Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, decided to become like one of us, suffered and died in order to redeem us mere human beings instead of redeeming the angels who have disobeyed Him. And for that I am eternally grateful!

Take care & God bless you all!

Praying for you and for all!
 
Christ’s suffering did not last “for a few days only”. The French Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal said that “Christ is on the Cross until the end of the world”. Doesn’t the experience of St Paul prove this? - Acts 9: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me…I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting”. The suffering of Christ is still inextricably bound up with the sufferings of others, and the sins of others - and this will be the case until the end of the world. When those whom Christ loves suffer, Christ Himself suffers. The Cross and the suffering of Christ can most certainly comfort those who are suffering - the Cross is not some distant event that happened once 2,000 years ago: the Cross is “happening” today.
 
We need to unite our sufferings with those of our Lord.

Say, Jesus, I offer you this suffering as a sacrifice, I unite it with your most sorrowful passion, for the conversion of sinners and relief for souls in purgatory.

No, the pain will not be diminished, but your heart will be full of joy. Unfathomable. Because now your suffering has turned into a blessing for other souls.

You can learn how to do that in the diary of St. Faustina Kowalska -
saintsworks.net/books/St.%20Faustina%20Kowalska%20-%20Diary.pdf

Or you can visit my website: everycatholicblog.blogspot.com

Do not be discouraged, sufferings are blessings from our lord, so that we can free souls from purgatory and save sinners from hell, and also, as a penance for our sins, if we unite it with His infinite merits in His sorrowful passion. Because He is God, his merits are infinite. If we unite our acts with him, our acts can have infinite merits before the Father.
 
aazucena said:
Hi all,

There is a question I am struggling with. As I understand, people in suffering are encouraged to seek comfort in the passion and suffering of our Lord. He, who experienced a most painful death he did not have to can help deal with our own things. However, it seems to me that a lot of people in this world have suffered a whole deal more than the days of our Lord’s passion, e.g. people who live with severe cancer or chronic conditions, who live in excruciating pain for many years. How can I reconcile these two ideas? How can a person who is going through a years and years of suffering find comfort and healing by looking to to the suffering of the passion, which after all, lasted for a few days only?

I do not mean to be disrespectful or anything on the choice of topic, but this is a question that has been on my mind for a while and I do not know how to answer it.
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In seeking comfort and encouragement in the Passion of Our Lord, meditate on His Passion, but not in a comparative manner, comparing His passion with the sufferings of others. Meditate on His attitude which is very important.

" He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will”…

" Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, " My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!"…
Matthew 26:39, 42
These prayers show us that Jesus prepared Himself in prayer, accepted the suffering that awaited Him and submitted to the Father’s will. That I think is the crux of the matter, that we would learn from Him and likewise accept what God has allowed to befall us. Remember that whatever happens to us, good or bad, God has allowed it to happen. It is His Will.
 
odhiambo said:
In seeking comfort and encouragement in the Passion of Our Lord, meditate on His Passion, but not in a comparative manner, comparing His passion with the sufferings of others. Meditate on His attitude which is very important.

" He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will”…

" Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, " My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!"…
Matthew 26:39, 42
These prayers show us that Jesus prepared Himself in prayer, accepted the suffering that awaited Him and submitted to the Father’s will. That I think is the crux of the matter, that we would learn from Him and likewise accept what God has allowed to befall us. Remember that whatever happens to us, good or bad, God has allowed it to happen. It is His Will.
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From the Passion, we also learn the need to turn to constant prayer in times of crisis.
 
'One day Jesus Christ appeared to Sister Magdalene Orsini, who had been suffering a heavy affliction for a long time, under the form of a crucifix, to comfort her by the remembrance of his Passion, and to animate her to bear her cross with patience. She said to him: “But Thou, my Lord, wast only three hours on the cross, while I have suffered this pain for many years.” Then our Lord from the cross replied: “Ignorant creature that Thou art! from the first moment that I was in the womb of Mary I suffered all that I had afterwards to suffer in my death.” “Christ,” says Novarinus, “even in the womb of his mother, had the impression of the cross on his mind; so that no sooner was he born than he might be said to have the principality on his shoulders.”

So, then, My Redeemer, throughout Thy whole life I shall find Thee nowhere but on the cross: “Lord, I find Thee nowhere but on the cross,” said Dragone Ostiense. Yes, for the cross on which Jesus Christ died was ever in his mind to torment him. Even whilst sleeping, says Bellarmine, the sight of the cross was present to the heart of Jesus: “Christ had his cross always before his eyes. When he slept, his heart watched; nor was it ever free from the sight of the cross.”

. . .

‘But it was not so much the sorrows of his Passion which saddened and embittered the life of our Redeemer, as the sight of all the sins which men would commit after his death. These were the cruel executioners which made him live in continual agony, oppressed by such an overwhelming grief that pain alone would have been enough to make him die of pure sorrow. Father Lessius says that the sight alone of the ingratitude of mankind would have been sufficient to make Jesus Christ die of grief a thousand times.’

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
 
Thank you for asking this question! I want to take it one step further. I know that you should tell Jesus your intent to unite yourself and your sufferings with His Passion in atonement for our sins, for the salvation/conversion of souls, and for the poor souls in purgatory. But this was really bothering me - after you declare that intention… then what?? How does someone really unite themselves/their sufferings to the Lord’s Passion? It seems like something really significant, that should be active rather than passive. I feel like I’m missing something; like that’s too easy, you know?

Although I just learned about indulgences, and many of those seem too easy as well! Saying the rosary alone earns you three I think. 1) Praying the rosary 2) praying Hail Holy Queen 3) sign of the cross. catholic.org/clife/prayers/indulgw.php
You don’t earn the indulgences unless you intend to. However, all you have to do is will to earn them and they’re yours. So perhaps I’m making this harder than it needs to be. Any thoughts? Thanks and God bless you!
 
4loveofJesus said:
May God’s Peace, Love, Mercy, Graces and blessings be with you and to all!

With that said, Our Good Lord Jesus took on ALL sins, suffering, pain, abandonment, loneliness, rejection etc. that ever have, are currently existing and will exist 'till the end of time. So, even though His suffering on the Cross may not seem long enough or even severe in our eyes, compared to others who suffered for days, years or even their entire lifetime, it was enough to take on ALL sins, all sufferings etc. With Him being God, a single a drop of His Most Precious Blood was enough to wipe out all our sins.

The amazing part is, Our Good Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, decided to become like one of us, suffered and died in order to redeem us mere human beings instead of redeeming the angels who have disobeyed Him. And for that I am eternally grateful!

Take care & God bless you all!

Praying for you and for all!
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I’m reading a book written by Fr Michael Gaitley, “Consoling the Heart of Jesus”. Much of it is based on the Divine Mercy and St Faustina. Jesus told St Faustina in saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at the Hour of Great Mercy (three o’clock in the afternoon) to “Immerse yourself in My Passion, especially in My abandonment at the moment of agony”.
When is Jesus’ “abandonment at the moment of agony”, on the cross or after the apostle left Him in Gethsemane?
I try to “walk with Jesus” from Gethsemane to His death on the Cross as I’m saying the Chaplet but now I’m not sure if I doing as Jesus requested of St Faustina.
 
aazucena said:
Hi all,

There is a question I am struggling with. As I understand, people in suffering are encouraged to seek comfort in the passion and suffering of our Lord. He, who experienced a most painful death he did not have to can help deal with our own things. However, it seems to me that a lot of people in this world have suffered a whole deal more than the days of our Lord’s passion, e.g. people who live with severe cancer or chronic conditions, who live in excruciating pain for many years. How can I reconcile these two ideas? How can a person who is going through a years and years of suffering find comfort and healing by looking to to the suffering of the passion, which after all, lasted for a few days only?

I do not mean to be disrespectful or anything on the choice of topic, but this is a question that has been on my mind for a while and I do not know how to answer it.
Click to expand...
No one has suffered more than our Lord in the Passion. This I fully believe. His suffering was not just physical… and even on a physical level, it was MUCH worse than we typically imagine it to be. But His spiritual and emotional suffering was greater than anyone could go through - imagine a mother whose child turns away from her, though she loves them very much… but Our Lord loves infinitely, so His suffering is a hundred times worse than that. We really can’t imagine. Also people who are suffering are able to find comfort in Christ… but He did not have this

it’s not the duration of suffering we are talking about, it’s the level of it… and many private revelations tell us that Christ still suffers when souls are lost, despite His Passion 😦
 
So a few thoughts on offering up your suffering/uniting with His Passion as Chii mentioned. This is how I personally do it. I typically state my intention and then take a second to focus. If I am offering it up for a specific person then I focus on them, picturing them in my mind. Or if it is more broad I find something that I relate to whatever it is. Sometimes it is only a few seconds or other times it is longer, it all depends on the situation. If anyone else has some thoughts feel free to chime in.
 
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