A Radical Act Of Faith

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"Offering it up," a profoundly Catholic practice, is not a naive act of spiritualizing away our pain, but rather a radical act of faith that finds its deepest meaning in the cross of Christ. As worshipers of the crucified Son of God, Christians uniquely understand that all our sufferings receive their ultimate meaning and purpose only in His passion. God Himself enters fully and freely into our sufferings, branding them his own; through his suffering and resurrection, he suffuses our suffering with hope. All our questions of “Why?” are taken up in Christ’s cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). Suffering is not a puzzle to be solved but a cross to bear—one that plants us within the redemptive wounds of Jesus. It is in this act that we discover suffering can actually make us less, so that there might be more room for Jesus in us.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke eloquently about this mystery, emphasizing that our pain, when united with Christ's, becomes a source of redemptive power. We discover, with Jacob, that as we limp away from our wrestling matches with God, we are given a sacred trust: We are called to be good stewards of our scars as we show compassion to those suffering around us. In this way, our Father, in conforming us more and more to the image of his Son, images his Son to those around us through our service of love. By offering up our suffering, we are not simply enduring hardship; we are participating in Christ's work of salvation, making our own small contribution to the redemption of the world.

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