Pope: In Christ, suffering is transformed into love

In the face of suffering and pain, human beings can either withdraw within themselves “to the point of despair or rebellion,” or welcome it “as an opportunity for growth and discernment of what really matters in life, to the point of an encounter with God.” The latter, Pope Francis said, “is the vision of faith we find in Sacred Scripture.” The many miraculous healings Jesus performs are a sign that “God has visited His people and that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, so that the Cross of Christ becomes the pre-eminent sign of God’s solidarity with us and, at the same time, the possibility for us to join Him in the work of salvation.”
The Biblical view of suffering is neither “banal and utopian” nor “fatalistic.” Instead, “the biblical man feels invited to face the universal condition of pain as a place of encounter with the closeness and compassion of God, the good Father, Who, with infinite mercy, takes charge of His wounded creatures to heal them, raise them up, and save them. In Christ, even suffering is transformed into love.”
(Source: Vatican News)




