Selected quotes of Pope Benedict XVI offered daily for prayer and reflection….

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Suffering
 


Let us allow ourselves to be invaded by the light of the paschal mystery even in God’s apparent absence, even in God’s silence, and, like the disciples of Emmaus, let us learn to discern the true reality beyond appearances, recognizing humiliation itself as the way to exaltation, and the cross as the full manifestation of life on earth. Thus, replacing in God the Father all our trust and hope. In every anxiety we will be able to pray to him with faith, and our cry of help will be transformed into a hymn of praise.

 
General Audience
Paul VI Audience Hall
14 September 2011

 
 
 
Suffering
 


“By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pt 2:24)
I invite everyone to contemplate Jesus, the Son of God, who suffered and died but is Risen. God radically opposes the overbearing-ness of evil. The Lord takes care of human beings in every situation; he shares in their suffering and opens their hearts to hope.

 
Angelus Address
St Peter's Square
6 February 2011

 
 
 
Suffering
 


We can try to limit suffering, to fight against it, but we cannot eliminate it. It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.

 
Encyclical Letter
'Spe Salvi'

 
 
 
Suffering
 


Christ, who took upon himself our afflictions, is well acquainted with the mystery of human suffering and manifests his loving presence in those who suffer. They, in turn, united to the passion of Christ, share closely in his work of redemption.

 
Address
World Youth Day Prayer Vigil
Madrid, Spain
20th August 2011

 
 
 
Suffering
 


Jesus truly suffered and He did so for us. He was the Son and had no need to learn obedience, but we do, we needed it and we will always need it. Thus the Son assumed our humanity and, for us, allowed Himself to be 'educated' in the crucible of suffering, he allowed himself to be transformed by suffering, like the seed which to bring forth fruit must die in the earth.

 
Homily
Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Basilica of St. John Lateran
3 June 2010

 
 
 
Suffering
 


We experience a joy that does not ignore suffering but understands it. In this way, the sick and all those who suffer are, in the Church, not just objects of care and attention but, even more so and above all, participants in the pilgrimage of faith and hope, witness of the prodigies of love and Paschal joy.

 
Homily
St. Peter's Basilica
World Day of the Sick
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
11 February 2010

 
 
 
Suffering
 


In each person suffering from illness it is He (Jesus) Himself Who awaits our love.

 
Address to the Sick
San Matteo Hospital
Pavia, Italy
22 April 2007

 
 
 
Suffering
 


How many people, in the silence of their daily lives, unite their sufferings with those of the Crucified One and become apostles of a true spiritual and social renewal! What would man be without Christ? Saint Augustine observes: “You would still be in a state of wretchedness, had He not shown you mercy. You would not have returned to life, had He not shared your death. You would have passed away had He not come to your aid. You would be lost, had He not come”. So why not welcome him into our lives?

 
Via Crucis
Good Friday
Colosseum, Rome
10 April 2009

 

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