“It all just feels so pointless.”

A few days into Lent, a good friend shared these words with me about the practices she decided to adopt for the season. This friend, enduring a time of trial in her life, felt incapable of doing anything grand for the penitential season, and the small sacrifices she chose to better follow Jesus during Lent seemed, to her, lame in comparison to the great offering of Jesus on the cross.

I think my friend is not alone in feeling this way. Another Lent, another round of giving up scrolling or chocolate or late-night TV. Penances aimed at our perennial bad habits can seem stale over the years, and the demands of life can wear down our already thin willpower so that there isn’t much left for additional sacrifice. At the heart of it all is the question:

Does our sacrifice have meaning? Or is it, as my friend lamented, pointless?

Thankfully, the Church has answers for our big questions like this. And this big question isn’t just about Lent; it’s about all of the hardships of our lives: the job losses and the unexpected illnesses and the disappointments. The Church looks at our sufferings, whether undertaken by choice as in Lent or happening to us in our lives, not as pointless but as redemptive.

The Church’s teaching on redemptive suffering can sound intimidating by the title, but is actually a profound treasure in our spiritual lives that flows directly from Christ’s passion. Understanding this teaching won’t take away the pain of suffering, but it might be a remedy for some of the annoyance, and it might even change your view of suffering for good.

For most people, when we suffer, it feels like a pause, an obstacle, a detour from the way life is “supposed” to go. And in some sense, this is true: with the echo of Eden in our hearts, we feel the weight of the truth that death is unnatural, suffering unfair, and humanity meant for eternal happiness. On the other hand, our modern culture of convenience and instant gratification has become nearly allergic to suffering. An inability to suffer small things certainly leads to an inability to suffer bigger things.

The Church’s Teaching On Redemptive Suffering

In the midst of these two dynamics, the Church’s teaching on redemptive suffering speaks this truth: our suffering, whether chosen or unchosen, big or small, profound or lame, is not wasted time and energy but can be infinitely valuable. This is because Jesus chose to redeem the world not by a commanding word or an overthrow of power but by suffering and dying.

The great Pope St. John Paul II explored this theme in his 1984 apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris, just six years into his pontificate. In the letter, he reflects on some of St. Paul’s perplexing statements about rejoicing in suffering—in Romans 5 and 2 Corinthians 12, for example. St. Paul explains that suffering can teach us about our dependence on God and help us grow in virtue. The pope also points particularly to the book of Colossians, where St. Paul identifies a great mystery in regard to his view on suffering: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Col. 1:11).

This can be a mystifying statement. First of all, St. Paul points to the reason for his joy, in this case, not coming from what he himself receives or learns from his suffering, but from what it means for someone else. How can one person’s suffering be good for someone else? Secondly, St. Paul claims that there is something lacking in the sufferings of Christ that he himself makes up for. Wait a minute! Is this true? At first glance, this seems to be an anti-Christian claim! Surely Christ’s sacrifice of love on the cross, which atoned for every sin ever committed and that would ever be committed, could not be lacking in any way. But then what did St. Paul mean?

The wise pope offered this explanation, which gives us the key to unlock the treasure of this teaching. First of all, he affirms that Christ’s salvific act on the cross is sufficient for the salvation of every person, namely by destroying the power of sin and death and reconciling all people to God, thereby opening the possibility of eternal life for all. It is not Christ’s act on the cross in itself that is lacking anything.

Rather, John Paul II explains:

“In the mystery of the Church as his Body, Christ has in a sense opened his own redemptive suffering to all human suffering. In so far as man becomes a sharer in Christ’s sufferings—in any part of the world and at any time in history—to that extent he in his own way completes the suffering through which Christ accomplished the Redemption of the world.”

Christ’s suffering is sufficient but open to receiving the suffering we offer and unite to Him, as the world is continually being brought to redemption through the passage of time and the continued salvation of individual souls.

When we suffer, we have the opportunity to participate in the salvation of the world. Therefore, when we suffer and offer it to Christ to be united with His suffering, we have the opportunity to love—to love those we are praying for through our suffering and to love the whole Body of Christ, the Church, which continues to journey toward Him through time. This is what St. Paul meant by his mysterious statement to the Colossians. He rejoices in his own suffering for others’ sake because he knows that his suffering, when united to the cross, can have redemptive value.

Our suffering is a treasure, almost a sort of “currency” by which to “purchase” more grace for our loved ones, for those who need it, and for the Church. Now, that analogy only goes so far, because God is not a vending machine, and grace can’t be quantified or transactional; but the comparison can be helpful to wrap our minds around the mystery of redemptive suffering. And it is a mystery! This teaching does not mean that God wants us all to suffer or that we should never pray for an end to our suffering. The opposite is true! God never causes suffering and desires to heal us of our suffering; the many healings Christ performs throughout the Gospels testify to this. 

However, we know that suffering is inevitable in this life; and this teaching shows us that God does not abandon us during our suffering but rather that He can bring good out of anything, even suffering. Even when we suffer to the point where our ability to pray or do good works or even to move around or speak is affected, we can still unite our suffering to Jesus’ suffering on the cross and direct it toward an intention or a purpose. In this way, our small penances, our heartaches, our illnesses, and our persecutions can be acts of love.

To make this offering can be as simple as a short prayer: “Jesus, I accept this suffering and I offer it to you for [name your intention]. Your will be done. Thank you for this opportunity to love as You loved.” 

An Example Of Redemptive Suffering: Michelle Duppong

A great example of redemptive suffering in our time can be found in the life of newly declared Servant of God Michelle Duppong. Michelle passed away from a yearlong battle with colon cancer in 2015 at age 31, and her cause for canonization was opened in 2022. Michelle had a missionary heart and spent many years pouring out her time and energy for people to know Jesus as a missionary and diocesan Faith Formation Director. She understood deeply the need for people to know Jesus, and she offered many small sufferings during her many years of ministry for more people to know Him and for people to know Him more.

When she was then diagnosed with cancer, she had built up this “muscle” of offering her suffering for others. Her offering was simple: After her first chemo treatment, Michelle told a friend who was caring for her, “If Jesus wants it, I want it too.” Michelle offered much of her sufferings of her year-long battle with cancer for others—for conversions in her family and among her friends, for people who didn’t know Jesus to be brought to know Him, and even for world leaders at the time. Offering her suffering in this way allowed Michelle not to see her cancer as a pointless interruption to her life but as an offering of love, an offering which so transformed her that people were shocked by the joy and the kindness that she exuded throughout her treatment. 

In addition to praying in the moment, another beautiful way to cultivate a repeated habit or disposition toward redemptive suffering is to pray the Morning Offering prayer. This traditional prayer of the Church doesn’t wait for suffering to strike to offer it up; instead, it prepares the person who prays it to offer the day ahead of time, full of whatever lies ahead, and unites it to Christ from the very start of the day:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

I have often relied on this prayer in difficult seasons, when all other types of prayer felt too difficult or when I didn’t have the words to pray. By beginning my day with this prayer, I could trust that my sufferings would not be wasted. I often add my own intentions to the list as well: for those who will die alone this day, for friends who are still praying for their vocations, for the deeper conversion of specific coworkers and family members, and for all discerning priesthood and religious life. There is consolation in the fact that offering our suffering does not depend on elaborate words or strenuous actions but simply on the intention of the heart.

So, this Lent, perhaps you’d like to add a Morning Offering to your Lenten penances to offer them for some specific intentions. Perhaps you’d like to learn more about redemptive suffering by reading Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter or about the saints (and potential future saints, like Michelle) whose insights on suffering can strengthen your faith. Or perhaps you’d simply like to spend some time reflecting on the areas of suffering in your life, big or small, and ask Christ to help you see them as opportunities to love. I have a feeling that that’s a prayer He would love to answer.

For more on redemptive suffering, check out Stephanie and Patti Maguire Armstrong’s recent book, Michelle Duppong: Hope in the Depths of Suffering, recently published by Sophia Institute Press.

Image: Photo by Road Trip with Raj on Unsplash