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Black Belt in Suffering
The gradations of God’s trials
“Hear, O People; hear, O nations. I am warning you about the commandments of Christ using words that came from his own lips: We cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon trouble to attain a deep participation in the divine nature, the glory of the sons of God and perfect happiness of soul. If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.” (St. Rose of Lima)
Introduction
I was at mass one Sunday when I heard the priest talking about ‘good suffering’ and possibly ‘bad suffering’.
He mentioned that if one is able bodied and wants to visit the adoration room, but the elevator is not working, it is ‘good suffering’ that one finds his way up by the stairs. On the other hand, if one is wheelchair bound and the elevator was not working, and that prevented one from visiting the adoration room amidst many troubles at home, that may not be ‘good suffering’ willed by God.
