“Whatever we may think of sin; however casually we may take sin; however we may minimize the gravity of sin; sin must be something terrifying in the mind of God–because God became man.”
The Jesuit saint and Doctor of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmine, told his fellow Jesuits, “Whatever we may think of sin; however casually we may take sin; however we may minimize the gravity of sin; sin must be something terrifying in the mind of God–because God became man.” To redeem us from the original sin it was necessary that God’s Mashiakh, Rabbi Yeshua, re-balance the moral order by obediently submitting himself to Crucifixion, a sacrifice so painful that when we pray the Five Sorrowful Mysteries 15:02 we nearly always mentally attenuate it.
Because Rabbi Yeshua is the Son of God and therefore both infinite and eternal, his suffering had infinite and eternal redemptive power. With the Fourth Cup he made his Final Sacrifice one with his Holy Eucharist, so that he could feed us during our entire lifetime to prepare us for heaven.
Without the Cross there is No Salvation
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” Jn 12:24. This is why we are baptized into Rabbi Yeshua’s death. Rom 6:3. Rabbi Paul explains: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Rom 6:4.
God revealed this to us in the very dawn of creation. Each autumn and winter are followed by spring. Each autumn the beautiful tree leaves fall. Then comes winter, a season when nature appears dead. But then spring comes, and the trees, nourished in part by the old fallen leaves, grow fresh new leaves. God made this great annual pageant to remind us that if we become spiritually beautiful before we fall to earth we will find resurrection.
Suffering is salvific if we offer up our suffering with love in union with Rabbi Yeshua’s suffering on the Cross. God created us in Rabbi Yeshua’s image and likeness Gen 1:26–27. Therefore, “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” Rom 6:5.
St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris teaches the power of salvific suffering, which is also called redemptive suffering.
So often Rabbi Yeshua gives us what we need and we do not know. The saintly Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked the prophet Elijah, Do the Just Suffer and the Wicked Prosper?
Catholic Answers on Suffering and Pain
Did Christ Have to Suffer? – Paul Thigpen
Why Horrible Suffering Does Not Disprove God’s Existence – Trent Horn
Bridge of Suffering – Toni Collins
The Problem of Suffering Reconsidered – Peter Kreeft
Was Mary Free from Labor Pain – Tim Staples
A Pope’s Answer to the Problem of Pain – Christopher Kaczor
Other Excellent Sources
Suffering – Venerable Fulton J Sheen 21:37
Offer it Up: Opportunities to Grow in Holiness Jeff Cavins 16:32