APOSTOLIC LETTER - JOHN PAUL II SALVIFICI DOLORIS ON THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF HUMAN SUFFERING READ Paragraphs #14 through #17 . . . LINK . . . Summery Notes: ·
Salvation means liberation from evil, and for
this reason it is closely bound up with the problem of suffering. ·
The mission of the only-begotten Son consists in
conquering sin and death. He conquers sin by his obedience unto death, and he
overcomes death by his Resurrection. ·
At the basis of human suffering, there is a
complex involvement with sin. ·
But death primarily involves the dissolution of
the entire psychophysical personality of man. ·
Even though the victory over sin and death
achieved by Christ in his Cross and Resurrection does not abolish temporal
suffering from human life, it nevertheless throws a new light upon this
dimension and upon every suffering: the light of salvation. ·
"For God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal
life". Christ goes toward his own suffering, aware of its saving power. ·
In his suffering, sins are cancelled out
precisely because he alone as the only-begotten Son could take them upon
himself, accept them with that love for the Father which overcomes the evil of
every sin; in a certain sense he annihilates this evil in the spiritual space
of the relationship between God and humanity, and fills this space with good.
· Human suffering has reached its culmination in the Passion of Christ. And at the same time it has entered into a completely new dimension and a new order. For Reflection: · To what extent do you think of suffering as a disconnect with God? · Have you experienced a troubled conscience - thought of it as cutting you off from God? (St. Ignatius calls this desolation.) · Do you find that you tend to excuse yourself when your conscience troubles you? · In a court of law, "do the crime, do the time ". Is this how you see it? · Why would Jesus take upon himself the punishment you deserve? · During Lent ask for the grace to understand your personal connection to the suffering Jesus took upon himself. |
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 | |||||
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