The recent health difficulties of Pope John Paul II are a visible reminder to us of the existence of human suffering in the world. So, too, are the victims of the recent tsunami. When one experiences or witnesses human suffering, one instinctively asks: “Why does suffering exist?” Our Holy Father treats of this in his Apostolic Letter of 1984, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering (Salvifici Doloris). “In suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace.”(No. 26) Indeed, Christ, “himself is present in this suffering person.” (No. 30)

During Lent, we ponder the sufferings of Jesus, and those of mankind in general, and we continue to pray for Pope John Paul II. In Salvifici Doloris, the Holy Father explains that to comprehend the reason for suffering “we must look to the revelation of divine love, the ultimate source of the meaning of everything that exists. Love is also the richest source of the meaning of suffering, which always remains a mystery: we are conscious of the insufficiency and inadequacy of our explanations. Christ causes us to enter into the mystery and to discover the ‘why’ of suffering, as far as we are capable of grasping the sublimity of Divine love.” (No. 13)

We begin to understand human suffering by contemplating the mystery of Christ’s suffering. Reflecting on the well-known passage from John’s Gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16) Pope John Paul II observes that the word “gave” underscores that salvation, which is liberation from evil, is brought about by the only-begotten Son through his own suffering. The Holy Father explains that man truly dies when he loses “eternal life.” Therefore, the opposite of salvation is not merely temporal suffering, but eternal, definitive suffering which is the loss of eternal life. For this reason, then, the “only-begotten Son was given to humanity primarily to protect man against this definitive evil and against definitive suffering.” (No. 14)

By Christ’s death on the Cross, each of us “is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has been redeemed. In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption.” (No. 19) Thus, we are all invited to participate in Our Lord’s suffering. When we unite our sufferings with those of Christ, or take on penitential practices during Lent, we are accepting Jesus’ invitation to share in his suffering. The invitation to share in Christ’s suffering comes in many different forms. Certainly, in the writing of Salvifici Doloris, the Pope drew from his brush with death in 1981 when he was almost assassinated in St. Peter’s Square. More recently, he witnesses to the world with great dignity as he accepts patiently the sufferings of Parkinson’s disease.

As you know, I have been dealing with health difficulties myself. As I wait for a liver transplant, many of you have expressed your concern, prayers and support. I would like to report that I am still doing fairly well, even though the negative effects of the liver disease worsen and multiply. I continue to keep a limited office schedule and have been waiting patiently for the medical screening process to be completed and a date for surgery set. I have finally been informed that surgery will take place on April 1. I am told that full recuperation will take between three and six months. I want to thank you all for the great outpouring of prayers and support and for the many letters, notes and cards. Please continue your prayers as I prepare now for surgery. Pray especially for the very generous person who is donating to me a major portion of his liver. While the liver regenerates, the surgery is not without risk. Yet, trusting in God’s mercy and providence, and the power of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection, I am confident that all will be carried out according to God’s will.

Your prayers and concern qualify each of you (especially the living donor) to be called a Good Samaritan. Our Holy Father notes: “The name ‘Good Samaritan’ fits every individual who is sensitive to the suffering of the other, who ‘is moved’ by the misfortune of another … We could say that suffering … is also present in order to unleash love in the human person… and in a certain sense man owes to suffering that unselfish love which stirs in his heart and actions.” (Nos. 28-29)

Pope John Paul II sums up: “Suffering is present in the world in order to release love, in order to give birth to works of love toward neighbor, is order to transform the whole of human civilization into a ‘civilization of love’.” (No. 30) I would say that no one understands the paradox of suffering better than Pope John Paul II.

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