In the words of GK Chesterton, when asked why he became Catholic: there are 10,000 reasons to be Catholic and the all boil down to one- it is True. That the Church shows us the meaning and value of suffering in this life, is one of those 10,000 reasons.
One of the most striking thing about the lives of the Saints is their attitude towards suffering- an actual desire for it. It is not a masochistic, perverse desire for pain and bad things to happen, but rather it is a desire to become closer to Christ by sharing in what He has gone through. This uniquely Catholic ideal is firmly rooted in, and always tied to, a personal relationship with Christ. The irony is that Catholics are often criticized by evangelical protestants for not having personal relationship with Christ but being rigid and legalistic, cold and dogmatic. But here in the heart of the Church- in the lives of the Saints- we discover such an intimate personal relationship with Christ that it manifests in a desire to suffer with him. As Chesterton said, the Church is far larger inside than it appears on the outside and it is supernaturally attacked for the opposite things- a sure sign of the Truth.
So, does suffering draw us closer to the person we suffer with? There is a scene in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings that illustrates this reality. The quest is over, and Frodo has just woken up, safe in a warm bed in Gondor. He is filled with wonder and delight as he opens his eyes and sees Gandalf sitting by his bed. One by one his friends from the original fellowship come into the room- Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Pipin and Merry- and there is great joy and rejoicing among the friend’s reunion. Finally, amidst the merriment and laughter, Sam enters, his most faithful friend who remained with him to the end. As Frodo’s gaze meets Sam’s there is something deeper than joy that passes between them, something that is beyond words. There is an intimacy between these two friends that doesn’t exist between Frodo and the others. They will never understand what Frodo and Sam have been through together. They will never fully understand the despair and fear they shared sitting on the verge of Mount Doom. Together they endured hunger, darkness, cold. Fear that gripped their hearts and weariness that sapped their strength. Sam had stayed with him through battles, slander, starvation, despair.
The look that passes between Frodo and Sam in the movie is a glimpse of the reason that we want to suffer. Sam’s bond with Frodo is on a different level. Sam was adamant that he would never leave his Master and this was a free decision that was born of love, to suffer with Frodo. There is an intimacy that is forged in the fires of suffering that cannot be fabricated in good times. There is something mystical here, a mystery: Suffering, undertaken willingly and out of love forges a special bond.
Of course, suffering doesn’t necessarily lead to a closer union. There are countless examples of terrible suffering that results in animosity, cruelty, and alienation. The necessary ingredients are free will and love and where these are present the suffering inevitably leads to a weaving together of two people’s lives in an unbreakable chain of being. Christ has many who want to be with Him in the good times, in the resurrection in the glory of heaven. But His truest friends are those who (in my wildest dreams, I imagine) He will look at intently in the same way that Frodo looked at Sam, amidst the loudness of rejoicing. And there will be more bliss in that painful intimacy than could ever exist in an eternity of good times. And that is why I want to suffer with Him. And this is a mystery of suffering. If we suffer together in love, then our lives are woven together.
There are indeed 10,000 reasons to be Catholic, and finding meaning in suffering is one of them.
+Vivat Chistus Rex!
Comments