Christ teaches us to accept suffering with ‘trust and hope,’ Pope Francis says

May 19, 2014

Pope Francis reflected on suffering in a May 17 address to members of the Apostolate of the Suffering and the Silent Workers of the Cross, two associations founded by Blessed Luigi Novarese (1914-84).

“Jesus experienced affliction and humiliation in this world,” said Pope Francis. “He gathered human suffering and assumed them in his flesh, he lived them profoundly, one by one. He knew every type of affliction, moral and physical: he experienced hunger and fatigue, the bitterness of misunderstanding, he was betrayed and abandoned, flagellated and crucified.”

“By saying ‘blessed are those who mourn,’ Jesus does not intend to declare an unfortunate and burdensome condition in life to be happy,” the Pope continued. “Suffering is not a value in itself, but a reality that Jesus teaches us to live with the correct attitude.”

“Jesus teaches us to live the pain by accepting the reality of life with trust and hope, bringing the love of God and neighbor, even in suffering: and love transforms everything,” added the Pontiff. “This is exactly what Blessed Luigi Novarese taught you, educating the sick and the disabled to value their suffering through apostolic action, carried out with faith and love for others.”

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Udienza ai partecipanti al Pellegrinaggio delle Associazioni "Silenziosi Operai della Croce" e "Centro Volontari della Sofferenza" (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope exhorts on 'right and wrong ways' to live with suffering (Vatican Radio)
• Close to Those Who Suffer as Witnesses of the Resurrection (VIS)