St Paul to the Rescue When Work Makes You Suffer
Does your work ever make you suffer? St Paul has encouraging words for you if it does.
What do we mean by "suffering" at work? Try working for a really nasty boss, for instance. You need the job, so you put up with what amounts to abusive behavior by this guy or gal. Angry outbursts, blaming you for what amounts to their failures. Unfortunately, I've been in this situation and I can tell you - and I'm not whining or complaining here, just describing - it can be a source of real suffering. Thank God I was able to get other employment without being driven over the edge. But for some of us, that's not the easiest thing to do. And so we suffer, usually in silence.
Or maybe you work with people whose personal traits or behavior not only annoy you, but absolutely unnerve you: having to sit through meetings listening to that blowhard endlessly opine about his successful sales efforts (most of which are figments of his imagination meant to impress); squirming in your seat while a presenter reads the text of Powerpoint slides, clearly not having taken the time to understand what they're reading. Okay, maybe it's not really suffering, as much as it's insufferable, but it does get to you when it happens over and over again, doesn't it?
But we Catholics get an edge here, don't we? First, we can "offer up" any suffering or even inconveniences. We can unite ourselves to Our Lord in the suffering He Himself offered for our salvation, most especially when we, as the Church Militant, turn our suffering into a prayer for those souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering. I hope you've disciplined yourself to do this. Once you get the habit, any inconvenience or suffering will become a kind of gift from God, a way for you to be an instrument of His Mercy. How wonderful suffering can be when we remember to offer it up! And it's only our Holy Catholic Faith that teaches this profound way to make something good out of suffering.
But there's also a kind of personal benefit that comes with suffering. St Paul describes this in Romans 5: 3-5:
So next time that nasty boss barks, or your colleague's annoying, repulsive, or manipulative behavior absolutely crawls under your skin or drills right through your skull into your head, remember to offer it up, and remember St Paul's words. You'll help others by offering your suffering up, and your suffering will help you grow closer to God each time you do.
What do we mean by "suffering" at work? Try working for a really nasty boss, for instance. You need the job, so you put up with what amounts to abusive behavior by this guy or gal. Angry outbursts, blaming you for what amounts to their failures. Unfortunately, I've been in this situation and I can tell you - and I'm not whining or complaining here, just describing - it can be a source of real suffering. Thank God I was able to get other employment without being driven over the edge. But for some of us, that's not the easiest thing to do. And so we suffer, usually in silence.
Or maybe you work with people whose personal traits or behavior not only annoy you, but absolutely unnerve you: having to sit through meetings listening to that blowhard endlessly opine about his successful sales efforts (most of which are figments of his imagination meant to impress); squirming in your seat while a presenter reads the text of Powerpoint slides, clearly not having taken the time to understand what they're reading. Okay, maybe it's not really suffering, as much as it's insufferable, but it does get to you when it happens over and over again, doesn't it?
But we Catholics get an edge here, don't we? First, we can "offer up" any suffering or even inconveniences. We can unite ourselves to Our Lord in the suffering He Himself offered for our salvation, most especially when we, as the Church Militant, turn our suffering into a prayer for those souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering. I hope you've disciplined yourself to do this. Once you get the habit, any inconvenience or suffering will become a kind of gift from God, a way for you to be an instrument of His Mercy. How wonderful suffering can be when we remember to offer it up! And it's only our Holy Catholic Faith that teaches this profound way to make something good out of suffering.
But there's also a kind of personal benefit that comes with suffering. St Paul describes this in Romans 5: 3-5:
"...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."St Paul puts it so succinctly. How blessed we are to suffer! It may not seem so at the time, especially when our suffering is great. In the midst of intense suffering, we naturally focus on ourselves, on what we're experiencing, and maybe we even feel sorry ourselves or cry out to God for relief. All perfectly natural and understandable. But if only we could remember that God has given us this suffering as a gift, as a way to become more holy in His sight.
So next time that nasty boss barks, or your colleague's annoying, repulsive, or manipulative behavior absolutely crawls under your skin or drills right through your skull into your head, remember to offer it up, and remember St Paul's words. You'll help others by offering your suffering up, and your suffering will help you grow closer to God each time you do.
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