The one thing we all have in common is suffering. From the moment of our conception, we are joined into this imperfect world where things go wrong, they aren’t put together correctly, there is pain and sadness, and death. Sounds wonderful, right? Well, even though we all share in awful common thread, it is how we respond to suffering that defines who we are. Some suffer with grace, others it drives them to do things out of character. How does God want us to respond? Mark Giszczak sets out to show us in Suffering: What Every Catholic Should Know. Let’s see the Catholic response to suffering.

It is from evil

God did not want us to suffer, yet suffering was the result from the fall. Even if we live the most virtuous life, we can still suffer (look at what happened to Jesus). It happens to us all and we are all affected by evil. It is how we face suffering that makes the difference.

Suffering tests us

We all know someone who has faced great suffering with grace and someone who spiraled out of control due to suffering. We don’t need to rely only on ourself when we are sad, depressed, or don’t know how to move forward. Ask Jesus to guide you to get the help you need, don’t blame or curse the Lord. The test is who do we turn towards, ourselves or Jesus.

Jesus knows suffering

God Himself does not suffer. He is God. But God as man in Jesus does know and understand suffering. This relatability is the perfect reason why we need to turn to him in our suffering—he totally gets it! He lived like us from conception to death. He knows the pain of loss, physical pain, and death. Reach out to him and he will guide you through.

Suffer with Jesus

Jesus suffered for all on the Cross and His suffering redeemed us. While this is complete, we can join our suffering with Jesus’ which gives us grace to deal with our suffering and the opportunity to join in a very small way with the sacrifice of Jesus. It can be a source of redemption and make the purposeful just as Jesus’ suffering on the Cross was purposeful. He also suffers with us. He doesn’t want us to be hurt or sad, but allow him to join you in your suffering, to comfort you.

Transformative suffering

We all have witnessed someone destroyed by suffering. We do everything we can to help, but it just isn’t enough. We are called to be transformed by suffering when we join our suffering to Jesus’ suffering on the Cross. It is a way of emptying ourselves in the same way Jesus emptied Himself. We also have seen this those who suffer with grace and humility. We wonder how they are at peace with the burden of suffering, and that is only by the grace of God.

There is so much to glean about suffering in Mark Giszczak’s Suffering: What Every Catholic Should Know. It brings new and fresh understanding of what it means to suffer and to suffer well. While many don’t understand why we suffer, or try to relive suffering in extreme ways, as Catholics we are called to view suffering differently.