Dominica III post Pascha - Your Sorrow Shall Be Turned into Joy

PRESENTATION: Sorrow turned to Joy

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 16

20 Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

21 A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

22 So also you now indeed have sorrow: but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice. And your joy no man shall take from you.

At the Last Supper, Our Lord reminded His apostles that they would soon experience great suffering when He was taken away from them at the Crucifixion. That sorrow would very quickly transform into joy at His Resurrection.

This is the model for the Christian response to suffering, that even amid great trials and pain, we can find, in Christ, the way to transform that suffering, that pain, into joy.

ILLUSTRATION: Mother D’Youville sings the Te Deum

Soon after the capture of Montreal by the British in 1760, English-speaking merchants began streaming in, chiefly from the American colonies. They were looking for new opportunities, and among these new arrivals, it seems, was a man named Leveston, or Levingston.

He was a frugal man, so frugal that even his fireplace ashes were not to be wasted. Leveston would store them in the attic of premises he rented at the corner of Notre Dame and St-François-Xavier Sts., for use in making soap.

Such frugality was a recipe for disaster, and disaster duly struck on May 18, 1765.

That afternoon, a fire broke out in the attic, thanks to some still-glowing cinders. A strong wind was blowing, and the fire quickly spread. Soon a considerable part of the tightly packed town was in flames.

The heart of Montreal was enclosed by walls erected during the French regime, though one of the town’s most important institutions lay just beyond them to the south, at Pointe à Callière. This was the Hôpital-Général, run by Mother Marguerite d’Youville and her Grey Nuns. The stone structure was not a hospital in the modern sense but a sanctuary for the destitute, for abandoned children, for those fragile in body or mind, and for others cast off by society.

Mother d’Youville thought the walls would act as a firebreak, making any special measures to protect the Hôpital-Général unnecessary. She even sent a few men into the town to lend what help they could.

She was wrong. Because of the strong wind, sparks soon flew over the town walls and landed on the building’s cedar-shingle roof. “In no time at all we were burnt to ashes,” she wrote a goddaughter three weeks later.

The nuns were able to get the Hôpital-Général’s inhabitants, all 118 of them, safely outside. They managed to rescue a considerable amount of furniture, linen and other articles (only to see much of it stolen after it was stacked nearby). And, remarkably, they chose to view the destruction of the building not as a calamity but as a welcome test of their faith. The ruins still smouldering, they fell to their knees and sang the Te Deum, the great Christian hymn of praise and thanksgiving.

IMPLICATION: The Christian Response to Suffering

How should we respond as Christians when we encounter suffering and pain?

Response #1: Abandonment

The first response to suffering involves an abandonment to God’s providence. The French spiritual writer Jean Pierre de Caussade is well–known for his classic work Abandonment to Divine Providence. He focuses on a holy resignation to God’s will as a means to sanctity. Much like Our Lord, who abandoned himself to the will of the Father on the night in which he was betrayed, disciples of Christ are to abandon themselves to God’s will, especially in times of need. After all, if God controls everything by his providence, it is comforting to know that one can rest in God’s providential will.  

Summarizing the apologetic for such a holy resignation, de Caussade says: 

Do you know better than God? As he ordains it thus, why do you desire it differently? Can his wisdom and goodness be deceived? . . . …Do you imagine you will find peace in resisting the Almighty? (Abandonment to Divine Providence, p. 10-11). 

As anyone who has practiced abandonment to God’s providence knows, there is an incredible liberation from suffering in the knowledge that nothing happens without God’s permission, and if a good God permits it, who are we to contest it? Having considered this, perhaps the next time we encounter a hopeless situation, we can find comfort in abandoning ourselves to God’s will.  

Response #2: Redemption

The second way a Christian should respond to suffering involves the concept of redemptive suffering. One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is that it transforms suffering into a means of redemption! This is because of the work of Christ, who used the atrocious act of crucifixion to bring about the salvation of the world. On the cross, Christ transforms suffering into a means of redemption, and thus, he takes a gruesome symbol of torture and transforms it into a symbol of eternal life.  

Moreover, since Christians are members of the body of Christ, it is fitting that they emulate what the head of the body did amid suffering. This means that God has also graciously allowed human acts of suffering, if united in intention to Christ’s suffering, to be a means of redemption for ourselves and others.  

This is why St. Paul states in his letter to the Colossians:

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 1

24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church

In other words, if we take our sufferings, unite them to the sufferings of Christ, and ask to apply them to someone we care about, God will use these holy acts of piety to bring about their redemption.  

What an incredible miracle this is: the God who made the universe out of nothing can take human suffering and transform it into something salutary! Perhaps the next time someone persecutes and slanders us, we should offer our sufferings from such injustices for their redemption! 

Response #3: Good from evil

A third Christian response to suffering recognizes that God brings good out of evil. The book of Genesis is filled with fantastic stories that would make any movie scriptwriter envious.  

One such story concerns the life of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. Though he became a slave and was later imprisoned in Egypt on false charges, he trusted God and was eventually elevated to the right hand of the Pharaoh. Upon meeting his brothers many years after their act of betrayal, he told them:  

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 50

20 You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

In other words, Joseph recognized that the God who brought the universe out of nothing can bring good out of evil. This is a principle that St. Paul later confirms in his letter to the Romans, where he says:

Douay-Rheims Bible Chapter 8

28 And we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good: to such as, according to his purpose

Consequently, Christians can always maintain hope that God will bring good out of evil and suffering. It may not readily be apparent how this may happen, much as Joseph may not have seen God’s intentions when he was sold into slavery. Still, there is a divine promise that he will most certainly do so. This is why, for instance, parents who witness their children lose their faith and live profligate lives can hope that God will bring about good from the child’s bad decisions.  

Response #4: Free will

The fourth response to suffering concerns rejoicing in God’s triumph over all evil, including human suffering. So far, we have seen how faithful Catholics are to respond to their own experiences with suffering. But what about friends or even family members who do not follow God and end up separated from him for all eternity? Is there any purpose in their suffering, and if so, how are Christians to respond to it?  

These might be some of the most challenging questions to answer, and before we attempt to do so, it’s helpful to try to understand why a person would spend eternity separated from God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: 

Catechism of the Catholic Church (U.S. Edition with Glossary and Index) IV. Hell

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”

In other words, those who are separated from God in hell are there by their own free choice. Tragically, they have chosen to isolate themselves from God for eternity due to an inordinate love of self and hatred for God and neighbour. Thus, it is not the case that people in hell are there because an angry God has damned them; instead, they are there by their own free will.  

Yet, some may ask, what is the proper response of faithful Christians to the sufferings of those who spend eternity in hell, especially if some of its occupants are revealed on the day of judgment to be friends or family members? It most certainly can be said that the righteous do not rejoice directly in the sufferings of the damned. However, those who love God rejoice in God’s condemnation of evil. After all, if God is good and loves that which is good, he must hate evil, as should his followers.  

This is why Sacred Scripture refers to the smoke of the torment of those who rebel against God as ascending before the angels and the righteous in heaven rejoicing over God’s just judgment (see Revelation 14:9-11, 18:20, 19:3). The righteous do not rejoice in the condemnation of the wicked, as such, but in the condemnation of the wickedness that evil people committed.  

St. Thomas Aquinas confirms this distinction, saying:  

Summa Theologica (English) Third Article: Whether the Blessed Rejoice in the Punishment of the Wicked?

A thing may be a matter of rejoicing in two ways. First directly, when one rejoices in a thing as such: and thus the saints will not rejoice in the punishment of the wicked. Secondly, indirectly, by reason namely of something annexed to it: and in this way the saints will rejoice in the punishment of the wicked, by considering therein the order of Divine justice and their own deliverance, which will fill them with joy.

It is in this way that God triumphs over evil. When the saints see his mercy magnified by his justice, they will rejoice at their gracious salvation from sin. Stated differently, in the same way, the beauty of a diamond is more evident when examined against a black background, so it is also that God’s mercy for sinners is more radiant to the saints when considered against his justice. In this way, an apprehension of the glorious radiance of God’s mercy leads to rejoicing in God’s triumph over evil. Perhaps the next time we witness the downfall of a wicked person, we should delight not in the death of the wicked but in God’s gracious sparing of our own lives. 

It is certain that in everyone’s lives, there are times of trials and suffering to come. When they arrive, we may wonder how a good God could allow evil things to happen to us or the ones we love. The Christian response to suffering is not to despair but rather to practice a holy resignation to God’s will, apply their sufferings for the redemption of others, be hopeful that God will bring good out of evil, and rejoice in God’s eschatological triumph over evil. If we do these things, we will find the sweet joy of God’s comfort amid pain.