|
APOSTOLIC LETTER - JOHN PAUL II SALVIFICI DOLORIS ON THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF HUMAN SUFFERING READ Paragraphs #9 through #12 . . . LINK . . . Summery Notes: ·
The questions: Why is there suffering - Why does
evil exist? - Why is there evil in the world? ·
For, whereas the existence of the world opens as
it were the eyes of the human soul to the existence of God, to his wisdom,
power and greatness, evil and suffering seem to obscure this image, sometimes
in a radical way, especially in the daily drama of so many cases of undeserved
suffering and of so many faults without proper punishment. ·
People can put this question to God with all the
emotion of his heart and with his mind full of dismay and anxiety; and God
expects the question and listens to it, as we see in the Revelation of the Old
Testament. In the Book of Job the question has found its most vivid expression. ·
The opinion expressed by Job's friends manifests
a conviction also found in the moral conscience of humanity: the objective
moral order demands punishment for transgression, sin and crime. From this
point of view, suffering appears as a "justified evil". ·
Job however challenges the truth of the
principle that identifies suffering with punishment for sin. His suffering is
the suffering of someone who is innocent and it must be accepted as a mystery,
which the individual is unable to penetrate completely by his own intelligence. ·
From the introduction of the Book it is apparent
that God permitted this testing as a result of Satan's provocation. For Satan
had challenged before the Lord the righteousness of Job: "Does Job fear
God for nought? ·
In order to perceive the true answer to the
"why" of suffering, we must look to the revelation of divine love,
the ultimate source of the meaning of everything that exists.
· This answer has been given by God to man in the Cross of Jesus Christ. For Reflection: · Familiarize yourself with the Book of Job. ·
Does suffering cause you to question why, if God
is all loving? ·
Are you satisfied with the answer “because they deserve
it” as an answer for suffering? ·
Do you believe God punishes – has God punished
you – when and how and why? ·
What do you think of the idea of “testing” as an
explanation for some sufferings?
·
The suffering of the Cross of Jesus Christ – How
do you see it? |
This series of posts is a journey in prayer through the days of Lent and Holy Week using the Ignatian Approach to Contemplation | |||||
HolyWeek 2 | |||||
No comments:
Post a Comment