What does suffering do to make a man great? Pain is a purifier. We get wit from learning out of books, but we get wisdom from suffering. Never consult a man who has not suffered in some way. Pain is like the tightening of the strings of a violin. It produces a better melody. Pain is like the hammer of the chisel, heckling away the rock in order to bring out the form. Pain is the burning of the dross in order to reveal gold.” (Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen).

As we enter Lent, we step into a holy season of sacrifice and reflection. It is a time of preparation, just as Nativity is, though not with the same kind of new life. The life we await is born, not in the quiet warmth of a manger, but in the bitter embrace of suffering. Yet it is not our suffering that we contemplate first. It is the suffering of our Lord. This is why we live these holy days with sacrifice and reverence.

In Lent, we ready our hearts to remember the trial our Lord endured so that we might be reconciled to God: the spotless Lamb, willingly offered for our forgiveness. And then, on the third day, we rejoice, for He has risen. The beauty of His suffering opened the fullness of life, and His wounds became the doorway of mercy.

“For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed” (Romans 8:18, DRC). Lent trains the soul to see beyond the wound, to trust that God does not waste pain, and to believe that what is offered to Him will be transfigured.

Suffering, in the hands of God, becomes something holy. It glorifies Him because it is the place where love is proven, purified, and made radiant. Out of the pain of Our Lady’s labor came the Incarnation, the Word made flesh. Out of the Cross of our Lord came salvation, and out of our suffering we are made holy, and thus glorify God.

References

Archbishop Sheen, F. J. (1999). Life is worth living. Ignatius Press. 

The Holy Bible: Douay Rheims (Challoner Revision), (1752).