More Sunday Thoughts About The "Sacrament" of Pain

Last Sunday we talked about something called the "Sacrament" of Pain. Fr. Francis LeBuffe served as our spiritual guide. We'll continue his thoughts today.

     “He (Christ) sanctified pain in its every form and made it what it is – a sacrament, a giver of grace, if we but receive it aright. And that we might receive it aright, He willed to bear it all Himself and have His Mother suffer, too. Did He not weep when He stood before the grave of His friend and thought of the sorrow that clouded that sacred home of Bethany? Did not tears of compassion moisten His cheeks as he gazed upon the city of His love, and in spirit saw it ringed with the thundering legions of Rome? And what of His sacred Passion, when every nerve of His body, every faculty of His soul was delivered up to torture? Until we grasp the Divine origin of pain, the Divine significance of pain, the mystery is insoluble. Why should I be in pain, when another scarcely knows what a day of sickness means? Why should my labors be thwarted, my studies be prevented, my works rendered fruitless by days of weary inactivity, or by the thwarting actions of my fellows? I want to do so much for God, I see so many splendid ways of furthering His glory and yet I may not. How little we realize God’s strange ways! Many a mother has attained to the height of Christian motherhood, sending her child a saint before her into heaven, because God has been so cruelly good enough to take her little one away from her before the world could besmirch it. Many a soul is in Heaven today because physical pain became its portion on earth and made it see the tawdry tinsel of the world’s great show. Many a man of high intellectual gifts has been saved from pride and all that pride means by the loving touch of God’s hand that drew him from his books and made him pause in his elation. And may it not be so with us?

    “Dear Jesus, giver of strange gifts, Your gift of pain seems strangest of all. At times I seem to grasp its meaning and to realize its sacramental value. At times in my own life and in the lives of others, I can almost touch the graces it gives and watch the nearness of our approach to You. And then again at times all grows dark and pain of mind and pain of heart and pain of body seem blighting things that mar man’s nature. Give me in those hours of darkness the grace to receive most holy the sacrament of pain.” - Fr. Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J.

We all suffer, some more than others. It is part and parcel of our lot in this Vale of Tears. We can either run from our suffering or accept, even embrace it, as a means to grow in holiness, to grow closer to God. 

But such high-minded thoughts can be dashed when the pain of our suffering hits certain "limits." Father provides examples that may touch many of us. This one particularly touched me, given the death of our oldest child at the age of 38: "Many a mother has attained to the height of Christian motherhood, sending her child a saint before her into heave, because God has been so cruelly good enough to take her little one away from her before the world could besmirch it." While our son was not this "little one" he was his Mother's son, and as such, even the age of 38 was far too young to be called away.

Was our Faith tested. Well, the answer is complicated; but, with God's grace, did not result in a loss of Faith or even Hope during a long 18 days when our son lay in a medically induces coma before his ultimate death.

For sure, it was a "strange gift" - but it was, in a real sense, something of a gift. Since, it has been oh-so-much-easier to accept every subsequent disappointment, suffering, pain of all sorts, even to embrace them as little treasures meant to draw us closer to God. There's nothing since, and perhaps never will be anything ever, that could compare to the sickness and death of our dear son.

I bring this personal matter up simply to confirm Father's view of pain as a Sacrament. This has been our experience.

Happy Sunday!