Suffering: The Cross of Christ and Its Meaning for You

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I bought this book because I was having such a hard time with some personal issues. I didn't think I could bear anymore and so I searched for a catholic book that could help explain the meaning of suffering.

Suffering, the Catholic Answer: The Cross of Christ and Its Meaning for You

I found it in this book. When I bought it I did not notice that it was written as an explanation for each station of the cross. It is very deep and thought provoking and because it explained the purpose of suffering as believed by the Catholic faith , it brought great relief to me. Understanding why helped to lift the burden off my shoulders and I was able to move forward with my life. I examined my conscience and went to confession many times. I thought I had a lot of faith, but I don't think the door to my heart was open very wide; maybe just a crack.

Now I feel that the door is open a lot wider and finally love can get in instead of my heart being full of so much hate, anger, and resentment.

Forgiveness was not practiced in my family and really I had no idea how to forgive someone. The meaning of suffering is not meant to be a negative experience although that is how most of us perceive it. It is meant to bring you closer to God if you understand the meaning of suffering. It is a great book that I will keep to read and reread as a reference book. This is a classic that everyone should have! The Catholic doctrine of redemptive suffering is a gem that is still waiting to be fully revealed and understood and this book helps one to enter more fully into that great mystery.

I cannot say enough good things about this book and how it will help one grow closer to Christ and his cross! This book isn't to be read but to be prayed! Very absorbing, powerful insights into how to deal with the suffering we all experience in life. Each short chapter is based on one of the fourteen meditations on the Via Dolorosa or Way of the Cross traveled by Jesus as he carried the cross to Mount Calvary. This book is awesome and should be required reading for confirmation candidates, marriage preparation, and so forth. Once you begin to read this book, you won't want to put it down, but there are passages that you will want to return to and ponder throughout the day.

Having suffered a recent painful loss, this book has helped to ground me and to console me when the going is rough. I especially appreciate the humanity of the writing -- it's appeal to humans, as we are not saints. Even the saints were human. The focus throughout is on Jesus Christ and Calvary, and how carrying the crosses of our lives brings us closer to Jesus and aids His spiritual immanence on earth.

This is a book to have on hand for consolation and strength after we encounter inevitable pain and losses. It is beautifully written, a cohesive whole, and feels absolutely contemporary yet tinged with the truth of the ages.

The Meaning of Christ's Cross

This book is teaching me to accept and work with my suffering instead of resisting or evading it. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase.

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Van Zeller encourages us to accept suffering, to align it with the sufferings of Christ at His passion. He sees suffering as a Grace , and he says if we accept that Grace we are strengthened, and we are weakened if we reject it. God gives us the suffering we are capable of, and in His mercy He doesn't give us more than is necessary.

This book has helped me to understand why we suffer, and to accept the suffering I have. The snippet about despondency from this book was on Spirit Daily. I needed the message, so I read the whole book as well. It was wonderful and just what I needed! Now I will read it slowly and hope to incorporate the many insights. Excellent correlation to human suffering and Christ's suffering. Amazing book, I reordered and purchased several others to give as gifts. See all 16 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers.

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As we know from the Scriptures, to many of the Jews and Gentiles of the apostolic times the assertion that the Almighty and Eternal God came to earth in the image of a mortal man, that He voluntarily endured beating, spitting, and a disgraceful death, and that this exploit was of spiritual benefit to mankind, seemed bizarre and even scandalous.

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This seeming "foolishness" of the Christian message is intended to test every person's willingness to believe and to trust his Savior. The Apostle Paul shares with his disciples the experience of preaching about salvation in his Epistle to the Corinthians:. Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the Cross of Christ be made of no effect.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

For the Jews request a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified — to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks — Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God 1 Cor. In other words, precisely that which is conceived by some as unreasonable or ridiculous is in fact the manifestation of God's infinite wisdom and power. The message of the Savior's redeeming death and resurrection serves as the foundation of many Christian truths. The mystery of redemption is closely interwoven with several crucial spiritual and psychological factors.

To grasp this mystery at least partially, one has first to understand the related factors, namely: In concurrence with this, if true love reveals itself predominantly as sacrificial service for a loved one, then the giving up of one's life for him, undoubtedly, is the highest expression of love. Evidently, all these topics are difficult to comprehend, and redemption will remain only partially understood.

Under the image of a helpless body, Jesus Christ concealed His divine nature and by this overpowered Satan and his kingdom of darkness. The details of the spiritual battle between the Incarnate God and the rebellious angels are unknown.

Even the Angels, according to the Apostle Peter, do not completely understand the truth of redemption 1 Pet. It can be likened to the mysterious scroll that only the Lamb of God was worthy to open and read Rev. Ultimately, the way in which a person perceives the Savior's suffering on the Cross reveals his hidden disposition — either towards good or towards evil.

The righteous Simeon foretold this fact to the Virgin Mary when she brought the Blessed Infant to the temple: Along with this, the redemptive death of Christ, being an event which cannot be explained with human logic, and is even "enticing for the perishing," possesses a revitalizing power, which is felt by the believing heart. Renewed and warmed by this spiritual force, even the lowest of slaves to the most powerful of kings, and the most uneducated of peasants to the the greatest of scholars, bowed with trepidation before Golgotha. The Messiah's sufferings and redeeming death were the subject of numerous prophecies and spiritually significant events of the Old Testament.

Among them are the sacrifice of Isaac, the elevation of the bronze serpent in the desert, the sacrifices performed in the temple at Jerusalem, the ritual of the scapegoat, and others Gen. Among the prophecies regarding the suffering of the Messiah, the most vivid is that found in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah:. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

And they made His grave with the wicked; But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

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Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Although this prophecy was written more then seven centuries before Christ, its language is as vivid as if it were narrated by an eyewitness standing at the foot of the Cross. Undoubtedly John the Baptist referred to this very prophecy when, pointing to Jesus Christ, he said to the Jews: In what follows we shall examine what our Savior and His disciples said about redemption.

What the Savior Said A bout the Cross. Thus, for instance, He told His disciples that "He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer much from the elders, chief priests and scribes, be killed and be raised again on the third day. You are an offense to Me; for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" Matt. Not long afterward, explaining the purpose of His coming to earth to the Apostles, the Lord said: A few days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ again spoke of the great task that awaited Him, explaining to His Apostles that He had come to the earth precisely to accomplish this: Then the Lord explained that His death would be beneficial to mankind: Only at the Last Supper, during the farewell conversation, did the Savior shed more light about the benefits of His suffering and death.

In particular, the Lord explained that He must suffer for:. During the Last Supper, Jesus Christ established the Sacrament of Communion and based the cleansing power of this Sacrament on His impending suffering. First, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said: For this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" Matt. After Communion the Lord explained to the disciples in very convincing words that His suffering on the Cross was necessary for believers to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you" Jn.

The Lord further explained that He was to take upon Himself the atoning sacrifice because of His great love for mankind. Referring to the parable about the lost sheep, the Savior said to them that He is the Good Shepherd: No man takes it from me, but I lay it down myself.

I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again … Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one's life for His friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you" Jn. And, although the suffering on the Cross was to sadden greatly all of Christ's disciples, they were to be comforted by the forthcoming spiritual birth: As a consequence of His death on the Cross, heavenly dwelling places are prepared for believers: Although the Savior's words were so direct and unambiguous, only after the descent of the Holy Spirit did the Apostles become personally certain of the great benefits of His redeeming death and resurrection.

Subsequently they used every opportunity to share their experience with their followers. As seen in the acts of the apostles and in the other New Testament books, the message of salvation through the death and resurrection of the incarnate Son of God lies at the core of the Apostles' teachings. The Apostles used this message as the basis of all their subsequent instructions. In the coming of the Son of God to earth and His death for the redemption of mankind, the Apostles saw first of all His limitless love for mankind.

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The following illustrates what they often said about it:. By this we know [Christ's] love, because He laid down His life for us.

And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren … For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life 1 Jn.

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