Why does God want strong souls?

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We talk glibly about suffering being good for the soul but do we voluntarily suffer to reap it’s benefits?

And why would God want souls which have been tempered by the flame of suffering?

How heavy a cross should we be willing to bear?

Are we actually willing to be saints or do we simply talk the talk?
 
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Life for most of us seems to bring enough suffering without us having to impose a lot more on ourselves. There are enough people on this forum struggling with bad family situations, physical ailments of themselves or their loved ones, grieving a death, having financial difficulties etc.

Small daily penances are fine but I think the Church cautions against us self-imposing big punishments like self-flagellation and starving ourselves and what not. That stuff can get out of hand in a lot of ways.

Also, why do people always ask questions like “are we actually willing to be saints or do we simply talk the talk?” It seems like there’s some unspoken assumption that everybody who tries to be holy is a Pharasaical hypocrite until proven otherwise. How about giving people the benefit of the doubt that they’re doing the best that they can? Especially on a forum like this, that people don’t even join unless they’re seriously working hard on being holy. I sincerely doubt anyone on here is just posting and reading to show off.
 
Because in suffering we imitate Jesus and suffering helps us detach ourselves from the things of this world.
‘but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities.’ - 2 Cor 6:4
 
Simply choosing to be Catholic can open you to lots of ridicule as you and I both know.

We don’t have to seek out suffering when it is found in abundance in this fallen world. Suffering seeks us out. To bear all of that without losing our faith is the challenge.

Also we are supposed to help each other with our burdens. I doubt very much if any of us here have extremely soft and easy lives. We all have our scars even if it is not apparent to others.
 
I have the impression that people are willing to put up with some inconveniences but they draw the line pretty quickly.

I’ve suggested finding the intrinsic values of suffering instead of simply bailing out as soon as it gets tough and people generally don’t like that idea, including you by the sound of it.
 
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Bye and thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
Sincerely…
 
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Excellent and terrible question at the same time. (I only mean terrible in the sense that some of us have such a strong natural inclination to recoil from suffering. It’s such a hard thing for some of us to accept gracefully.)

I’ve been reading a book on your questions…a good one.

True holiness, from what I can surmise, reaching it’s pinnacle in the degree to which we have conformed our will to God’s Will.

We have to consent to carry the crosses that God gives us, as best we are able. But Therese once said that God did not give her heavier crosses until at that point she had the strength to bear them.

Some wiser person, I forget who said this. “A saint is a person whose life is about one thing.”
 
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Lee1 said:
We talk glibly about suffering being good for the soul but do we voluntarily suffer to reap it’s benefits?
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I would never tell anyone that suffering is good for their soul .

For starters I have yet after many years to find an acceptable description of the word “soul” .

But more importantly Jesus didn’t have such ideas . On the contrary “there came to him great multitudes, having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others: and they cast them down at his feet, and he healed them” .
 
That’s interesting, thank you.

There must be a point when life is simply about one thing, when all else falls away, countries, cities, people, and all that’s left is you and God.
 
Thanks, I’m thinking though that Jesus did talk in terms of carrying the cross. In revelations some of which must have been passed by the Vatican, He has asked people to suffer in His name.

And there was Our Lady who sanctioned the suffering of the two children at Fatima.

For spiritual growth isn’t it necessary to mortify our fleshly and worldly desires which involves suffering in the process?
 
I have a quote to share that might be helpful for this topic. It’s one of my favorites, but also a difficult one to hear. (For me, at least.) …

“Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love.” (#57, page 29)

-St. Faustina’s Diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul”
 
Perhaps our struggles with our own crosses builds our resilience and willpower when it comes to avoiding temptations and sin, and instead following the will of God? That would be my thoughts
 
It’s all a matter of the will. Adam’s sin was not only a sin of foolishness but also of weakness. We’re here to learn of our need for God, which is wisdom, but also the stentgh or fortitude to persevere in that faith. Suffering can build character and discipline, along with the knowledge that we’re limited, created beings in need of relationship with God, ‘apart from whom we can do nothing’. John 5:15
 
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God wants strong souls because He created us in His likeness and image. To be fully human is to be as much as possible what He has created for us.
Lee1 said:
We talk glibly about suffering being good for the soul but do we voluntarily suffer to reap it’s benefits?
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Well, we live in a vale of tears, and are going to suffer anyway, so we might as well be sanctified by it! This is why it is said that we should not “waste” our suffering.
Lee1 said:
And why would God want souls which have been tempered by the flame of suffering?
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After the Fall, humanity fell under the sway of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Perfection through suffering raises us so that we are no longer enslaved by these things.
Lee1 said:
How heavy a cross should we be willing to bear?
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Any and all that in which we find ourselves.

“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
Lee1 said:
Are we actually willing to be saints or do we simply talk the talk?
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This is the question that we must encounter whenever we are in the midst of every painful suffering. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!
 
Possibly. I heard the quote indirectly from Fr. (Bishop) Barron. He did mention Kierkegaard somewhere in the book. 🙂
 
Lee1 said:
Thanks, I’m thinking though that Jesus did talk in terms of carrying the cross.
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Yes he did . "Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. "

The cross here is what entails life as a disciple of Jesus . He is not referring to suffering in its general sense .
 
Oh, okay thank you.

Sometimes I get a glimpse of why Jesus’ word was to set people against people. Then I may learn from that too.

Empathy is also something one can learn from suffering, it’s far easier to relate to someone’s suffering when you’ve suffered yourself.
 
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We can offer to God our sufferings so he can redeem it.

There are some aspects of ourselves that can only be developed through adversity. I do some strength training in order to keep my muscles in shape. The key is to work the muscle to the point of failure, after which the muscle will be forced to adapt to the extra demands placed on it.

I remember listening to my parish priest give a homily on adversity. Adversity is like a forest fire. At first glance, it is incredibly destructive. Forest rangers at first took all sorts of precautions to prevent forest fires only realizing that the population of endangered trees that they wanted to grow was not growing at all. It turns out that the seeds of those trees will only sprout in the presence of fire. With us it is the same thing. Adversity helps strengthen us and better yet helps us grow.

However, we have to bear in mind, constant and unrelenting adversity is also bad. Referring back to strength training, it is in adequate rest, that the body can regrow the muscle to better cope with future demands on it. We need both challenge and rest.
 
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