Does Suffering have a purpose?

‘Offer it up’ was a phrase much used by my Mum as a response to any suffering I experienced as a child. I didn’t understand it, and I am pleased that there are clergy who don’t care for this expression either. The Catholic author Peter Kreeft writes that God can ‘use our suffering to help us and others’. While not suggesting that God wants us to suffer, it is a concept I struggle with.

I do believe that God is with us in our suffering, but also that I have a duty on a basic human level to help others who suffer. Volunteering can be very rewarding, and a recent initiative in our parish to encourage others to help those in need, produced an excellent response in about 10 different areas both in the parish and outside it.

Lent is the season when Christians remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, ending in the joyful celebration of His Resurrection at Easter. This Lent there are three talks entitled ’Suffering in the Old Testament’ by The Reverend Canon Kevin Walton, on Wednesday March 11, ‘The Role of Suffering in the whole Salvation History’ by The Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey John, on Friday March 20, and ‘Reconciliation and Restorative Justice’ by Mgr. Malachy Keegan on March 25. All the talks begin at 8pm in the Parish Centre, SS Alban & Stephen Church, Beaconsfield Road St Albans, preceded by tea and coffee at 7.30, and are open to all.