Question
Dear Father Angelo,
First of all, thanks for your precious Service.
My doubt has to do with the role of human suffering.
I read the witnesses of some mystical Christians, recognized as such by the Church, about the souls of Purgatory.
Purgatory is described by Natuzza Evolo, for instance, as a dimension of huge pain where the departed must stop for specific periods of time before they can access Heaven, in order to atone for the non-mortal sins that were committed in life.
I understood (correct me if I am wrong) that the duration of this stay and the intensity of the sufferings can be mitigated for these souls by God only if the living on earth pray for them and offer holy services for their souls or devote their own earthly sufferings to them.
What I struggle to understand is the meaning of the “necessity” of pain as sine-qua-non to see the Father.
So is the real “lucky one” only the one suffering?
Consequently are physicians, healthcare and social workers that try to reduce people’s pain actually distancing their patients from the real Joy?
Instead, are those causing suffering to their brothers, are they, in spite of themselves, from the victims’ perspective, the real “good” ones who should even be thanked for this?
What degree of penance awaits one who leads a long healthy peaceful life committing non-mortal sins?
Through which mechanism are the earthly pleasures, mediated by our miserable and overly limited physiological senses, paid for with detachment from the Supreme Pleasure (the vision of the Celestial Father) whereas the earthly sufferings are rewarded with increased proximity to the Light?
For the sake of argument, if tomorrow morning scientists claimed to have found the panacea, the cure-all, what should the suffering christian do? Should he refuse it?
If one day somebody finds a drug, herb or a cerebral microchip that is able to make everybody “happy” (from the point of view of the senses, mood and “flesh”) for all their life, and without the side effects of today’s known substances, will this represent a spiritual threat for men?
Yet, miracles of physical recovery do exist.
As you can see, Father Angelo, I am rather confused.
Thanks again.
Mario
The Priest’s answer
Dear Mario,
1. The vision you are describing is more Buddhist rather than Christian. According to the Buddhists, and other believers also, our current life is a life of purification, where you reincarnate several times to be perfectly purified and enter the so-called Nirvana.
Instead, the Christian life is a life where you can grow more and more in the love of God, in the communion of life with Him and your brothers.
2. Of course, there is also suffering in life.
But this is precious only in as much as it helps you grow in love.
The Christian life is not a life of suffering nor is it mainly a life of purification, although this is essential for our love to become more and more pure and holy.
3. It is clear that if you consider only Purgatory, I can agree with you that the meaning of that state of life is the purification of our love, our charity.
However, just as it is not right to look only at prisons, and to conclude that the meaning of life is atonement, so it is not right to look only at Purgatory, when understanding the sense of human life, and even more so of Christian life.
Especially since some people do not even pass through Purgatory to go to Heaven.
4. You also write: “I understood (correct me if I am wrong) that the duration of this stay and the intensity of the sufferings can be mitigated for these souls by God only if the living on earth pray for them and offer holy services for their souls or devote their own earthly sufferings to them”.
Since you say “correct me if I am wrong”, I will gladly correct you.
The sufferings of Purgatory are not mitigated by God, instead it is the very soul that purifies itself by embracing the charity that it receives from those still living. It’s being gradually peeled off to purity.
5. Moreover, the living can help souls in Purgatory only by means of the charity that includes prayers, the offering of their own works, their acts of love for God and for neighbours, the celebration of the holy service…
This charity also embraces afflictions, sufferings, if they are lived in conjunction with Christ’s atoning sufferings.
But if the sufferings are not lived in union with Christ and therefore as an act of love, they are useless.
6. You also add: “Through which mechanism are the earthly pleasures, mediated by our miserable and overly limited physiological senses, paid for with detachment from the Supreme Pleasure (the vision of the Celestial Father) whereas the earthly sufferings are rewarded with increased proximity to the Light?”.
What you affirm, although with a question mark, is totally wrong.
Why do you have to pay for earthly pleasures?
Didn’t God, our Creator, want pleasure as a state of satisfaction of our necessities?
Why should the celebration of a victory, a degree, the passing of an exam or the recovery from an illness be evil?
Why should the consumption of three meals a day be an evil you should pay for?
As you can see, it is not compliant with the Gospel, what you erroneously consider to be evangelical.
7. A whole different story, instead, are the disordered pleasures. These, yes, are evil and require medicine and a corrective action.
8. If one day all sufferings are cancelled, we could just rejoice.
However, this would not solve the root problem of human life, which is given to us to get ready for Heaven through a deeper and deeper communion of love with God and our neighbour.
In the hope of having taken away some confusion, I will offer you my prayer (which is not a source of suffering but joy) and I bless you.
Father Angelo
24th July 2020 | A priest answers – Moral Theology- Essential Morality
Translated by Irene Visciano
