Why does the Church focus so much on suffering?

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returninghome31 said:
I have attended many non-Catholic churches, and while they have their own set of issues, there’s never that excessive focus on suffering, suffering and more suffering.

I just want to learn and understand and would appreciate some insight into this. Perhaps I’m missing something or not grasping it correctly.

Does anyone else feel as I do? Am I the only one?
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Before coming back into full communion with the Catholic church, I, too was part of other churches. There has been a shattering of the faith. First with the schism of East and West, then the further shattering of the West with the reformation. The broken pieces all have some truth, each lacks a piece of the other. The beauty of tradition and deep spirituality I found in Orthodoxy. Our rich Judeo-Christian history from our sacred text is emphasized in protestant churches. The fullness of our faith resides in Catholicism, albeit now fractured, a shadow of its former self. it does seem it has dwelled on suffering. It is suffering itself. I find joy and beauty in the ancient rites. I myself am now an Eastern Catholic. More joy there.
 
The Church really doesn’t focus so much on suffering.

Very few people actually know what the Church teaches on suffering.

It’s talked about so little.

It’s only in contrast to everyone else talking about the “health and wealth gospel” that the Catholic Church seems to “focus so much on suffering”.

What the Church actually says on suffering is quite simple, brief and beautiful: We must learn to sanctify even suffering, because suffering is a reality of the human condition, and in that condition we can meet God.
 
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Oh my gosh, I had this problem a couple of years ago. It took me months to figure out what “offer it up” meant! I was literally begging God to just tell me what that meant. Why all the secrecy? Eventually I heard a podcast that actually said, “do THIS. Say THIS.” I think it was this one. I’m sorry if this link isn’t the right one, it’s been a while.

Suffering is just something meaningless that happens to you, until you invoke your freedom to accept it. Then you can give it to Jesus. Jesus, please accept this suffering as an offering of love to you. That’s the easiest way I’ve found to do it. If you’re a little more in control at that moment or have a little more energy, you can pray to him, Jesus, please accept my suffering and join it to your suffering on the cross, for the benefit of x. x being any person or situation you want.

I will confess that I’ve been doing this for a while, and I haven’t found any of the joy that’s supposed to be in it. On the other hand, the heavy, dark, immobilizing part of the suffering always lifts, and I can generally go about my day within minutes. Just my experience.

Have you ever read Consoling the Heart of Jesus? It wasn’t a good fit for me, but before I put it down, I did see quite a few tidbits on how Jesus uses our suffering. You might take a look.
 
Suggestion…don’t look for the joy…don’t do the “self-inspection”.

Seek instead to please Him with your unity.

The goal is no self-inspection whatsoever, no concen or even awareness at all about whether the pain of suffering is dulled by our union with Him. Seek only to please Him with your desire for ever greater unity.
 
That’s very good advice, and I appreciate your respectfulness. I’ve experienced a huge amount of trouble with this, and I know it’s contrary to the official line. Thank you for seasoning my post with a more orthodox perspective.
 
“Let us repeat it: Jesus Christ did not want to suppress pain. It is so beautiful, so fruitful, so full of hidden delight. He performed a more prodigious work than if He had destroyed it. He enfolded it in divine sweetness and brought forth from its bosom both joy and consolation.”
From “True Devotion to The Holy Spirit” by Archbishop Luis M Martinez.

Jesus was completely united to the Father while suffering through His passion. What remarkable joy and peace He had doing the Father’s Will perfectly. There is great wealth in suffering when united to Him.
 
Not the only one. Some of the saint stories truly turn me off honestly. I feel you on the glorification of suffering.
 
Brittany said:
If any one of us are unwilling to pick up our crosses and follow him, we are not worthy to be children of God.
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This is the part I always have struggled with. Of course we are always worthy to be children of God. He supposedly created us. I have never been able to accept this teaching. And a lot of people teach it. I don’t think Jesus ever really taught it, though. Could be wrong. I don’t know every page of the bible.

I would never tell my child she wasn’t worthy of being my child just because she didn’t do what I expected of her. And I am a mere mortal. I don’t believe God would ever say this to any of us.
 
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Well it may be the theme of the bible, as interpreted by the Church. However, there are a lot of themes in the Bible.
 
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Good one. Taking up the crosses of Jesus of course can include suffering but when he said it to the rich young man, Jesus was not yet crucified. So following Jesus is more in putting him first in our lives; and if there are things that hinder it, like attachment to others things, then they must be discarded. When we do that, it invariably include suffering as too there are real sufferings that we encounter as we follow Jesus, and we are called to accept them.

Not according to our will but His. Not that we can take them up but by His strength. Not that we are worthy, but we are made worthy by His grace on the cross.

God bless.
 
Brittany said:
Allow me to add on to my comment from earlier, if I may.

We as human persons have inherent worth/value as human persons. It is our fall feom grace that has deemed us unworthy and undeserving.
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Yes, I know that is the teaching and I understand it. I just intended my remark to convey understanding to OP that there are some aspects that I don’t believe, either. It is a struggle when you see a faith that is so good on some levels but then teach something that you find astoundingly preposterous (no disrespect intended, of course). It is a real problem. Because you would like to believe, but on an intellectual level…well…you just can’t.
 
Everybody wants the Resurrection, but nobody wants the suffering.–Jim Caviezel

When we suffer we must accept that cross and unite it with Christ’s cross. When we do that we honor what Christ went through for us. Our prayers of suffering can be united with the suffering of the poor souls in Purgatory.
 
I see the Catholic focus on suffering as both a good thing and a bad thing.

A good thing in the sense that suffering people can feel more welcome in a Church such as the Catholic Church rather than they would for example in somewhere like Hillsong.
The Catholic Church doesn’t place importance on material success,image,good looks etc or tell people that they aren’t healed because they aren’t displaying enough faith.

On the other hand I see it as a bad thing as sometimes some people’s suffering never ends and it seems like it’s Gods plan for it to never end, so those people can end up very depressed and feeling very lonely.

When we suffer we are told to offer it up and join it with Christs suffering for mankind but does it really help anyone?
Are you just being delusional and having a “saviour complex” or does God really use your suffering in some “mysterious way” to help someone?
 
@JimR-OCDS Yes, that’s exactly how I feel about it. Thank you for sharing this story. It really embodies the impression I have and puts into context. And that glow! That’s the glow I have noticed in other religions that I rarely see in Catholics.
 
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