Sunday, July 25, 2004
Why do Catholics like suffering?
Because it feels good.
Dubium:Why do some Catholics seem to have a preoccupation with suffering and death? I sometimes get the impression that Catholics focus more on the suffering of Christ than on His resurrection. The crucifix, the Flagallents (sp?) of the Middle Ages, corporeal mortification, and Gibson's The Passion are a few examples that come to mind of a focus on pain and suffering.
Responsum:My first thought is that when compared to NO emphasis on suffering and death, ANY amount of emphasis is perceived as excessive.
Our culture has the general attitude that suffering has no value whatsoever and is to be feared, avoided and ashamed of.
Protestants in general have a very deficient theology when it comes to the concept of redemptive suffering; the teaching that to be a follower of Jesus one must pick up their cross every day and follow him, and that we all participate in some mysterious but secondary way to Christs' suffering (Colossians 1:24). To illustrate, I would challenge anyone to find a Protestant book or a sermon that presents suffering as either a character building test, or, among pentecostals, as a lack of faith.
Dubium:Why do some Catholics seem to have a preoccupation with suffering and death? I sometimes get the impression that Catholics focus more on the suffering of Christ than on His resurrection. The crucifix, the Flagallents (sp?) of the Middle Ages, corporeal mortification, and Gibson's The Passion are a few examples that come to mind of a focus on pain and suffering.
Responsum:My first thought is that when compared to NO emphasis on suffering and death, ANY amount of emphasis is perceived as excessive.
Our culture has the general attitude that suffering has no value whatsoever and is to be feared, avoided and ashamed of.
Protestants in general have a very deficient theology when it comes to the concept of redemptive suffering; the teaching that to be a follower of Jesus one must pick up their cross every day and follow him, and that we all participate in some mysterious but secondary way to Christs' suffering (Colossians 1:24). To illustrate, I would challenge anyone to find a Protestant book or a sermon that presents suffering as either a character building test, or, among pentecostals, as a lack of faith.
