Understanding how our crosses, our sufferings, fit into our Christian faith

Trigger warning: the topic in this article can trigger very distressing feelings in brothers and sisters with deep psychological pain; my intent is never to harm anyone or brush off any very real suffering being experienced. Please, if at any time you feel distressed at reading this article, I ask that you please discontinue reading, and if you feel like harming yourself, please call 911 for immediate medical assistance or go to your nearest hospital emergency room (or if outside the USA, please call your local emergency police/medical authorities).

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, peace, and I pray that God deliver us all promptly from all trials and tribulations that can become heavy sufferings.

I desire to share a bit on what it means to carry our cross in our Christian life, and when I say cross I refer to sufferings in our life, similar to how Jesus carried His cross and suffered for the salvation of the world. And though our sufferings can be great – challenges with family members, in important relationships, at school or work, financially, in our health, because of a great injustice, and other serious situations – God is always close to us, and encourages us to understand the purpose of the cross, a means for sanctification and to participate directly in God’s work of redeeming the world. By understanding deeper, we can defeat some of the greatest enemies we can have in our spiritual life: discouragement, dissatisfaction, and despondency.

To begin, it’s important for me to mention that in our suffering, God views us with great compassion; in a conversation with St. Faustina about a great suffering occurring in the world, His eyes were full of tears of compassion (Diary of St. Faustina #286). And it’s not that God can’t do anything about our suffering; He can do any and all things (Gospel of Matthew chapter 28), but God has ordained the cross as an instrument of sanctification and salvation; and He is our example by being the first to carry one.

When Jesus tells us Christians “I am the way,” (Gospel of John chapter 14) we are able to understand what our path through life will be like by looking at His life, the reasons for different events, and the results. We know Jesus carried His cross as part of His passion, and the purpose of the cross was for the forgiveness of sins. So, when we have similarly difficult sufferings, these are crosses, and we can conclude, among other reasons, they’re also for the forgiveness of sins, ours and others. The Catechism mentions that crosses are the sure way to make up for our past sins (Catechism of the Catholic… #1435); they sanctify us. In addition, though Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all for the redemption of humanity, our crosses help those around in us in our day, like St. Paul says: they add to Christ’s redeeming work for those around us (Colossians chapter 1).

Speaking of how crosses help us do penance for our past sins, at the end of the article I would like to talk a bit about indulgences so that we are sure that we are minimizing the weight of the crosses due to our own sins; but of course, since our crosses also help others, this doesn’t mean we will remove all crosses from our life. Plus, as I will expand in this text, the cross has many purposes.

One of the main reasons God allows crosses in our life is so that we can get to Heaven; in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus mentions that we must be like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (chapter 18); children are obedient, trusting, and dependent. When we suffer a cross patiently, like a prince or princess, we are crowned with these virtues: we grow in humility and docility before God our King, accepting these challenges he has allowed us to experience; we grow in trust in His plan for us and promises of future glory (Gospel of Matthew chapter 23), despite our pain; and we grow in our dependence on Him to grant us grace in these situations. As these virtues grow together in us, we become more and more open to God and His plan for us and the world, which we know only leads us to true and eternal happiness and satisfaction (Gospel of John chapter 6). Viewed in this way, the sanctification that results from our crosses is a gift from the loving hand of God.

From another perspective, we spoke that carrying our cross is similar to the path that Jesus walked. Viewed in this sense, and when we consider that the same way that Jesus saved us each individually with His cross and suffering, our crosses also are this consequential for others: if we didn’t faithfully carry our cross, souls in our life wouldn’t be saved from sin and death. Our cross is this impactful! To consider all the details, when we carry our cross, as Jesus did, we atone for sins, and so God the Father, with His justice satisfied, meaning with sins atoned for, pours out blessings and graces on humanity and those around us and those we pray for. Sins carry punishment so without them being atoned for by faithful and generous Christians, God’s perfect justice requires that the net result be punishment, not blessing. So without our cross, God’s light, mercy, and forgiveness wouldn’t shine as brightly on our neighbor, or at all. So, we are each cooperating with God in the redemption and salvation of the world – this is likely why the first disciples rejoiced at being able to suffer for the sake of Jesus and His Kingdom (Acts of the Apostles chapter 5).

Furthermore, God in His goodness not only allows us to help save souls, He rewards us! Praised be Jesus Christ! God’s servant, by humbling himself before Him and His will, will be exalted; God will grant us a place to dine with Him at His table (Gospel of Luke chapter 17). And this exaltation, since God is outside of time, isn’t only in the next life and in Heaven, but as soon as God decides.

Something of important note is what the Saints discover – that Jesus in the Eucharist is the source of our good works (Catechism of the Catholic… #1324). In the midst of our challenges, Jesus wants us to receive Him in the Eucharist more so we can have Him and His strength in us more; let us consider receiving the Lord in Communion at least one day per week besides Sunday when things are very challenging for us.

And also a word of joyful hope: God reminded St. Faustina that He can do all things, so He can deliver us from any situation in one instant: “You see, I can give you everything in one moment. I am not constrained by any law” (Diary of St. Faustina #1153). Should we not get delivered in one instant though, let us continue to move forward; our call is to continue to carry our cross, in light of the understanding I’ve shared in this article. Similarly, we can consider that Jesus Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed to His Father to remove his cup of suffering: “…Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will” (Gospel of Mark chapter 14). We are encouraged to pray the same, but should they not be removed, we are encouraged to continue to trust in the Lord.

In terms of indulgences as I mentioned earlier, the Church has provided a way through God’s mercy to atone for our sins, so that punishments due because of them are reduced or even removed completely, as in the case of plenary indulgences. I’ve shared details here, but in summary, if you are in a state of grace, something like praying a rosary at a church or in a group meeting for good purpose, or 30 minutes of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, combined with confession (if necessary) and receiving Holy communion within a couple weeks before or after, and saying one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the Pope’s intentions, will reduce or eliminate any punishment in God’s eyes for past sins, and thus reduce or remove crosses directly due to our own sins.

Brothers and sisters, God bless you abundantly as you carry your crosses, which often are very trying and painful…but let us remember that it is the way that God has chosen for our sanctification and that of the world. Through them we participate in God’s primary work of saving souls, and we are made perfect for God and Heaven.

Abundant blessings to you and yours,

Juan