Do Catholics really think suffering is good?

A Reflection for Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

There is a popular tweet from a few years ago that reads: “protestants think that pleasure is bad while catholics think that suffering is good. subtle distinction.” This particular tweet has made the rounds in secular circles and many of my more irreligious friends have brought it up to me on a number of different occasions, often independent of each other. I often assume the role of “token Catholic” among my friends, which means that I field questions on my faith whenever something related to Catholicism emerges in the zeitgeist, whether it is something as big as the recent papal encyclical or as small as this viral tweet.

To be clear, I do not think that the lines between Protestants and Catholics can be drawn quite so cleanly as the tweet says, nor is the “subtle distinction” all that fair to either side. The virality of the tweet, however, suggests that people (especially young people) are becoming more aware of the nuanced way that Catholics view suffering. Of course, the “hidden” joke of the tweet is that Catholics tend not to abandon having a good time when we go about our lives, regardless of the various sacrifices that naturally come with the Christian life. But I’d like to focus more on the suffering in this particular reflection, at least for the moment.

In this passage from Matthew, Jesus is making something very clear: To be a follower of Christ is to have a difficult life. You could even die in the process: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Jesus references the cross directly in this passage, but some important context is that immediately beforehand Jesus had been telling disciples that he would soon suffer and die in Jerusalem. Peter had objected to this, which led Jesus to respond: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

We often think as human beings. It is natural to do so. We like to avoid conflict and pain as much as we can in our lives. It makes total sense to act in this way. But to do good, we often have to endure sacrifice, and that means suffering. Emulating Christ is an incredibly difficult thing to do. That is why he says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” We are invited to join Jesus, but that means taking up our cross and enduring the ugliness of life. In that ugliness are the poor and suffering and abandoned masses of the world, and loving those people is how we most clearly see the face of God.

At the same time, of course, love also means that we have good times with our friends, families and neighbors. So many of the Gospel stories feature Jesus at various gatherings: eating with sinners, dining with Levi and tax collectors, and of course celebrating at the wedding at Cana, where Jesus ensures that good wine is had by all. Suffering may define the Christian life, but that does not also mean we cannot love and enjoy each other at the same time. It is in that nuance that we as Catholics live.

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