When we go through moments of pain and difficulty, it is easy to blame God or feel abandoned by Him, so in this post, I want to talk about those moments in which pain makes us feel confused.
When I was about seven years old, I was playing at home, running, until I fell down the stairs. I remember that I kept crying and my whole body hurt, immediately my mom took me to the doctor, they did several tests to rule out a fracture and finally, they gave me painkillers that helped relieve the pain. Feelings of shame, loneliness, and anguish came to my mind, but all the pain left when my mom came over and gave me a big hug.
Only then did I understand that there are physical pains that are cured with medicine and there are much deeper pains that do not heal with a pill, but with a spiritual gesture and are usually the most difficult to heal.
It is true that the cause of pain in the world and in our own lives can sometimes seem a mystery, something difficult to explain. One of the biggest mistakes we can make, if not the greatest, to alleviate human pain is to ignore it: What do I feel? Why does it hurt? How do I react to pain? Do I ask others for help?
The video that I share next inspired me to think about Christian pain, the one that we all have to face at some time in our lives.
*Turn English Subtitles On
God is also moved by our pain
In each one of us, there is a divine spiritual imprint, since we were made in the image and likeness of God, and although it is hard for us to accept it: He is also moved by our suffering because we are His children. He does not abandon us.
My mom’s gesture healed something that no doctor in the world could heal, it cured my inner pain with a gesture of love that could only come from the love of God.
We know very well that we live in a world where the perception of pain, accompanied by the Cross of Christ, it’s very far from the Christian view. Some people do not really know pain because they live in a bubble apart from the great human sufferings; some people do not see the pain of others because they are too immersed in theirs, which makes it impossible to see, perceive or share the pain of our neighbor.
We have to understand our pain and that of others
We often hear in our closest circles of friends or family, such sayings as “stop suffering”, “suffer no more, stop complaining. Life is made to be enjoyed”. It seems “forbidden” to experience pain in our society like ours. Has it ever happened to you? Let’s not be afraid to try to understand pain! Do not settle for hiding our pain or ignoring the pain that others live.
Let’s think about this question for a moment: Might pain be an opportunity that God gives us to learn how to love our neighbor? Many pains of the heart are healed by giving ourselves to others. We are social beings by nature and although sharing the pain with another person may relieve the burden, it will not disappear completely. But if that pain is shared with Christ, by His grace, we will be healed.
The biggest mistake we can make is to remain locked inside ourselves, to become stagnant water that does not run, gets dirty and finally ends up losing its initial purity. I invite you to offer all your sufferings to God and to be more willing to give yourself to others when you see them in the midst of pain or anguish.
Act as a balm to comfort the heart of that brother who needs you.
This post first appeared on Catholic-Link Spanish and was written by Santiago Benavidez.
