Lenten Series - 2021 - Session Four

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.

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This series of posts is a journey in prayer through the days of Lent and Holy Week using the Ignatian Approach to Contemplation
Part One	Part Two	Part Three	Part Four	Part Five	Part Six
Part Seven	Part Eight	Part Nine	Part Ten	Part Eleven	HolyWeek 1
HolyWeek 2	HolyWeek 3	HolyWeek 4	HolyWeek 5	HOME

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Lenten Series - 2021 - Session Three

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?

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This series of posts is a journey in prayer through the days of Lent and Holy Week using the Ignatian Approach to Contemplation
Part One	Part Two	Part Three	Part Four	Part Five	Part Six
Part Seven	Part Eight	Part Nine	Part Ten	Part Eleven	HolyWeek 1
HolyWeek 2	HolyWeek 3	HolyWeek 4	HolyWeek 5	HOME

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Lenten Series - 2021 - Session Two

For this Lent I have put together a series of reflections and meditations on the role suffering plays in our lives. The main resource is Pope John Paul II's 1984 Apostolic Letter "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering" New Posts will be posted  on Sundays & Wednesdays.

APOSTOLIC LETTER - JOHN PAUL II SALVIFICI DOLORIS ON THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF HUMAN SUFFERING   READ Paragraphs #5 through #8 . . . LINK . . . Summery Notes: ·         Man suffers in different ways, ways not always considered by medicine, not even in its most advanced specializations. ·         The distinction between physical suffering and moral suffering is based upon the double dimension of the human being and indicates the bodily and spiritual element as the immediate or direct subject of suffering. ·         Physical suffering is present when "the body is hurting" in some way, whereas moral suffering is "pain of the soul". ·         The vastness and the many forms of moral suffering are certainly no less in number than the forms of physical suffering … moral suffering seems as it were less identified and less reachable by therapy. ·         In the vocabulary of the Old Testament, suffering and evil are identified with each other … thus the reality of suffering prompts the question about the essence of evil: what is evil? ·         Man suffers on account of evil, which is a certain lack, limitation or distortion of good. We could say that man suffers because of a good in which he does not share, from which in a certain sense he is cut off, or of which he has deprived himself. ·         Considering the world of suffering in its personal and at the same time collective meaning … it happens, for example, in cases of natural disasters, epidemica, catastrophes, upheavals and various social scourges.- ·         One thinks, finally, of war … the world which as never before has been transformed by progress through man's work and, at the same time, is as never before in danger because of man's mistakes and offences. For Reflection: ·         Consider your own understanding of the difference between physical and emotional (spiritual) suffering. ·         How has your own or others moral failure caused you suffering? ·         Covid-19 is causing the world to suffer in our time, how is it affecting you? ·         How is human failure adding to the suffering caused by Covid-19?

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This series of posts is a journey in prayer through the days of Lent and Holy Week using the Ignatian Approach to Contemplation
Part One	Part Two	Part Three	Part Four	Part Five	Part Six
Part Seven	Part Eight	Part Nine	Part Ten	Part Eleven	HolyWeek 1
HolyWeek 2	HolyWeek 3	HolyWeek 4	HolyWeek 5	HOME

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Lenten Series - 2021 - Section One

For this Lent I have put together a series of reflections and meditations on the role suffering plays in our lives. The main resource is Pope John Paul II's 1984 Apostolic Letter "On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering" New Posts will be posted  on Sundays and Wednesdays.

APOSTOLIC LETTER - JOHN PAUL II SALVIFICI DOLORIS ON THE CHRISTIAN MEANING OF HUMAN SUFFERING   READ Paragraphs #1 through #4  <. . . LINK . . .>   Summery Notes: ·      “Declaring the power of salvific suffering, the Apostle Paul says: "In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church"(Col. 1, 24.1). ·      "suffering" seems to be particularly essential to the nature of man. It is as deep as man himself, precisely because it manifests in its own way that depth which is proper to man, and in its own way surpasses it. Suffering seems to belong to man's transcendence. ·      Suffering happens, as we know, at different moments in life, it takes place in different ways, it assumes different dimensions; nevertheless, in whatever form, suffering seems to be, and is, almost inseparable from man's earthly existence. ·      Human suffering evokes compassion; it also evokes respect, and in its own way it intimidates. ·      Special respect for every form of human suffering … the deepest need of the heart, … and the deep imperative of faith … for man, his suffering remains an intangible mystery.   For Reflection: ·         Consider your own history of suffering. ·         How has this affected the development of your faith – faith crisis – faith assurance? ·         Is there a specific kind of suffering you fear most? ·         What are some of the questions around suffering you would like to have answered?

This series of posts is a journey in prayer through the days of Lent and Holy Week using the Ignatian Approach to Contemplation
Part One	Part Two	Part Three	Part Four	Part Five	Part Six
Part Seven	Part Eight	Part Nine	Part Ten	Part Eleven	HolyWeek 1
HolyWeek 2	HolyWeek 3	HolyWeek 4	HolyWeek 5	HOME

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