He says: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. So whether he lives and suffers, leading to the resurrection for himself and others, or dies and shares in the resurrection himself alone, he will be united to Christ and be an example for all.Īnother dimension of Paul’s thought on the meaning of suffering is his conception of suffering as a means for sanctification, keeping pride at a minimum and trust in God at a maximum. He says, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” (Philippians 1:24) Also, to die is gain because if he were to die he would share in the resurrection of Christ. Further, to live is gain because while Paul lives he can spread the faith and be an example for the Christian community. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:19-21).įor Paul to live is gain because while he suffers in this life he is imitating Christ and becoming more Christ-like.
BORN SICK MEANING FULL
He says: “For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I shall not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. We see elsewhere in Philippians this notion of imitating Christ being gain for Paul, whether in death or life. Because we are being saved through the death and resurrection of Christ we must participate in his Passion to obtain salvation. Through his suffering, Paul sees himself as participating in the Passion of Christ. Suffering is his way of “becoming like him (Christ) in his death” so that he “may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). Suffering is a participation in the mystery of Christ and is the way Paul can become like Christ. He gains righteousness not through his own power but through Christ’s. However, he now considers this gain to be loss and refuse, compared to gaining Christ through his sufferings. This passage follows a text where Paul speaks about all he had gained according to the flesh, being a Hebrew and a Pharisee. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11) Paul says: “Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul understands that the suffering he endures serves as a way to be like Christ, as well as it being for Christ’s sake. In the next column we will consider his outward focus, namely, his view on how his suffering affects others. In this column we will consider Paul’s inward focus, the way in which he sees himself, through his suffering, as participating in salvation, especially the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. Paul writes so much on suffering: “The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help – just as it helped him – to understand the salvific meaning of suffering” (Salvifici Doloris, 1). Paul’s writings we find a greatly developed meaning of suffering. There is one person who stands out above all to give an answer to these deepest of questions, namely St. Two questions have plagued the minds of Christians and non-Christians alike: why is there suffering? Why does God allow suffering?
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