Pain, suffering, affliction, trials and tribulations are primal mysteries, as ultimately unanswerable as the whys of life itself, including the whys of pleasure, joy and love as well as the negative. Yet the issue can plague us: Why do we suffer? To truly understand the why of suffering, we would need to understand what if anything preceded and will succeed this life. It is possible that the positive fruit of suffering will not be seen here but in what is to come. That is the Church’s position; Jesus said our reward for suffering would be great in heaven. Paul said, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
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