Suffering Makes You Beautiful: A Theology Of Suffering Flowing From The Word

By Janet Puppo Ph.D.

Suffering is the privileged place of the encounter with the crucified Christ. It is the mysterious link that fuses the one who suffers with the suffering heart of Jesus on the cross. Suffering Makes You Beautiful is a reflection on the transformative power of human suffering when perceived through the lens of faith and grappled within dialogue with the Word of God. It springs forth from the author's faith journey through a life-altering experience of suffering. The book is offered as a theology of human suffering that informs and transforms all who are overshadowed by the darkness of difficulty. May it serve to enable the reader to see with the eyes of faith and to be rooted in the solid ground of Christian hope!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645592952

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Suffering Makes You Beautiful

A Theology of Suffering Flowing from the Word

Janet M. Puppo Ph.D.

ISBN 978-1-64559-294-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64559-295-2 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Janet M. Puppo Ph.D.

All rights reserved

First Edition

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture verses/passages are from The New American Bible.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

Why Have You Abandoned Me? (Matt. 27:46)

Night Falls

The Cry of Dereliction

The Question

god expects the question

The Suffering of the Innocent

Suffering: Problem or Mystery?

For Reflection or Discussion

Remain Here and Keep Watch with Me (Matt. 26:38)

The Lord’s Question

The Oil Press

take courage, get up, he is calling you (Mark 10:49).

The Dark Night

Evil Lurks in the Garden

not as i will, but as you will (Matt. 26:39).

pray that you may not undergo the test (Luke 22:40).

For Reflection or Discussion

They Will Look Upon Him Whom They Have Pierced (John 19:37)

Good Friday

Foretold

The Pierced Heart

The Merciful Heart

Mercy and the Old Covenant

Mercy and the New Covenant

The Heart of Mary

Maternal Heart

Sorrowful Heart

Merciful Heart

For Reflection or Discussion

My Grace Is Sufficient for You (2 Cor. 12:9)

Anointed

friends of the cross.

with these, i will be rich enough.

Grace

Christian Hope

For Reflection or Discussion

Epilogue

Behold, I make all things new (Rev. 21:5).

the just will gaze on your face, o lord (Ps. 11:7).

Bibliography

About the Author

Ad majorem Dei gloriam!

To the greater glory of God!

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge with gratitude those who have accompanied me and assisted me in this endeavor. First of all, I am ever grateful to Dr. Alan Schreck, professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, respected colleague and friend, for his gracious offer to review the manuscript and offer his keen insights.

To my friend, colleague, and office roommate, Professor Loraine Dellaria, I offer a special note of thanks for her suggestion regarding the style of William Faulkner, as well as for the consistent reminder about the essentials of paragraph writing.

Being able to write this book would never be possible without the medical expertise of Dr. John Charley and Dr. Karen Lauer. Dr. Charley was the first to diagnose and treat my condition. He is also responsible for enrolling me in the Blind and Visual Rehabilitative Services of Pittsburgh. There are no superlatives to describe my gratitude to Dr. Karen Lauer, whose professional giftedness is only matched by her kind and compassionate care for me in the last eleven years.

I would also like to thank the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh, BVRS, for training me in the Access Technology Program, and Independent Life Skills classes. Returning to the classroom would never have been possible without this program.

Training of itself is meaningless without the adaptive equipment to use. For this, I am forever grateful to Andrea Somigie, from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, who has been my advocate and has provided me with the most advanced technology available in order to navigate the world of academia, as well as to be able to write this book. She has also provided me with the skilled services of Mr. Matt Diemert, and his wife, Marie, who have kept me up and running with the latest equipment.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my faithful friends, my lifelong cheerleaders, who have always encouraged me to follow my dreams.

To my former students, especially to those enrolled in the Theology of Healing classes, I am grateful for your encouragement and prayers for this project.

Finally, I would like to thank my family. They have shown me the beauty of the unconditional love of Simon of Cyrene, who lovingly helped Jesus to carry the weight of His cross. Like Simon, they have suffered and walked with me far beyond the scope of writing this book. May God be gracious and abundantly bless all who have journeyed with me!

Preface

Springtime had arrived in April 2008 with all of its brilliance, its budding trees and bushes, and blossoming flowers. A vibrant green carpeted the earth with grasses that glistened with dewdrops in the morning sunlight. Fresh green leaves covered the bare branches as a new spring coat. The cool air was permeated by the fragrance of hyacinths while the dogwoods vied for attention in their white-and-pink petals. The earth had awakened from its winter sleep. It was truly the coming alive of the Song of Songs 2:11–12, For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.

April 7 of that spring was, for me, however, as chilling and barren as any winter day I had ever known. I awakened to a darkness that would change my life as I knew it forever. I had no vision in my right eye. No amount of blinking was able to retrieve it. The left eye was partially occluded, leaving a small amount of clarity surrounded by a haze. That day was to be the beginning of a yearlong frenetic attempt to regain my eyesight.

From a retinal specialist to a neurological ophthalmologist, a glaucoma specialist to a neurologist, rheumatologist, and a chiropractor, my days shifted from the classroom to medical examining rooms. Clearly, my destiny would come in the form of a diagnosis from a team of medical professionals. Months of procedures and hospital visits would delay the pronouncement of my future. Fear began to envelope me as the phrase rule out, would determine the next specialist to whom I was sent. Rule out brain tumor, rule out autoimmune disease, rule out multiple sclerosis, rule out retinal tear, rule out macular degeneration, and so on. I suddenly reflected upon the fragility of life and my own finitude. I was forced to face the possibility of my own death as I lay on the narrow bed of the CAT scan machine. My entire body was trembling at the thought that a tumor would be found in my brain. A moment of grace overcame me as I recalled Jesus’s words in the Garden of Gethsemane: Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as You will (Matt. 26:39). Weeks later, I began to accept the probability of never regaining my eyesight as it had been. I remember counting the number of laser injections during a laser iridotomy: forty-eight in one eye and fifty-four in the other. Throughout these and a myriad of other procedures, discouragement began to overtake me. The mega doses of steroids had affected my joints, taking away my ability to stand for more than five minutes, as well as causing considerable weight gain accompanied by a wave of deep sadness. Other than medical appointments, I never left my home for nearly a year. It was a time of mourning and grieving the death of my own life as I had known and anticipated it to be. It was a time that marked the beginning of my spiritual and literal dark night. Ironically, and subsequently, it was a time that would change my vision of life and of the world forever.

What follows in the pages of this book is a reflection on the transformative power of human suffering when perceived through the lens of faith and grappled with in dialogue with the Word of God. It springs forth from my own journey on the via dolorosa, one which hurled me into an insatiable quest to find meaning and purpose for what had transpired in my life. Providentially, I was invited to teach a course at Franciscan University on the theology of healing. In its preparation, I uncovered a rich treasury of sources that served to illuminate a more profound understanding of human suffering in light of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The course became the birthplace of a desire to enter into dialogue with a theology of suffering that informs and transforms all who are overshadowed by the darkness of difficulty.

My purpose for writing this book is to reach far beyond the walls of the classroom into the wounded hearts of those who suffer in any way. While not specifically intended to be an autobiographical treatise, I will borrow from my own experience of suffering as a launching pad from which to propel the reader into a theological space that informs and consoles the particular stages of the journey of human suffering. May it enable you to see with the eyes of faith and to be rooted in the solid ground of Christian hope! Perhaps you have found yourself in one or more of these stages, as I have. I invite you, along with your cross, to walk with me awhile on the road of suffering in the hope that you will discover something very beautiful along the way—that the Lord has reached down from His cross and lifted you to Himself!

Introduction

Suffering is the privileged place of the encounter with the crucified Christ. It is the mysterious link¹ that fuses the heart of the one who suffers with the suffering heart of Jesus on the cross.² Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta calls this intimacy the kiss of Jesus, a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.³ It is the profound mystery of love that continually pours itself over human history in the great act of giving new life, hope, healing, and redemption to all creation. Hidden within its disguise are the seeds of sanctity and the blueprint for true discipleship. One could say, then, that suffering is a clarion call that summons the heart into union with the pierced heart of Jesus. Here, within the Savior’s sanctuary, the holy of holies, set ablaze by divine love, the heart is configured, i.e., fashioned after the pattern of His heart to the point of resemblance.

The life of a Christian, therefore, is rooted in the heart of Jesus, which pours itself out in love for humankind. It is the way of discipleship that heeds the words of the Master, Whoever wishes to come after me must deny Himself, take up his cross, and follow me (Mark 8:34). The true disciple of Christ willingly follows the Master into His suffering, rejection, loneliness, and even death.⁴ Therefore, the cross belongs to true discipleship. It does not come as tragedy or as accident, but as a necessity for faithful Christian life.⁵ Bonhoeffer regards suffering as the badge of [Christianity].⁶ Such an understanding takes on particular meaning in the rite of baptism for children as the priest traces the sign of the cross on the forehead of the child and invites the parents and the godparents to do the same. In so doing, he prays these words in the name of the church:

(Name of child), the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name, I claim you for Christ our Savior. I now trace the sign of the cross on your forehead, and invite your parents and godparents to do the same.⁷

Christ claims his disciples by the cross. They are eternally marked with the seal (Rev. 7:4) of the paschal lamb. Baptized into Christ, they are immersed into the mystery of His life, His passion, death, and resurrection. The faithful disciple embraces his cross as the glorious banner of his salvation and redemption. Carried beneath the shadows cast by the cross of Jesus, his cross intersects with the cross of salvation, the eternal symbol of the depth of the love of God for humankind.

Here, at this nexus point, the true disciple learns the mystery of suffering as a participation in the redemptive work of the Savior. The kiss of Jesus communicates the capacity to share in the depth of His love for humankind. Born of the mystery of Christ’s redemptive act,⁸ suffering becomes a blessing not because it is suffering, but because it is His⁹ suffering. Our suffering is taken up into God’s saving work for humankind, making of it a participation in the redemptive suffering of Christ.¹⁰ St. Thérèse of Lisieux considers suffering in union with Christ and His saving will to be the definitive act of love by which we not only resemble Christ but also the means by which we share most efficaciously in God’s will for the salvation of souls.¹¹ She adds, Love knows how to draw profit from everything.¹²

In His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–12), Jesus proclaims the blessedness of those who suffer for His sake, while at the same time, He instructs them in the perfection of discipleship. To the ‘ănāwîm of Israel, those especially close to the heart of God, Jesus joyfully exclaims that their blessing is that of God’s special care for them and the nearness of His kingdom.¹³ How can it be said that happiness and blessings are found in economic or spiritual poverty, in oppression and injustice, persecution and martyrdom, in sorrow or sickness? Who can embrace the Gospel dictates of self-denying love, purity of heart, forgiveness, gentleness, and compassion? Who has the courage to promote peace and reconciliation among peoples and nations? Who among us has been so changed by the mercy of God that we long to become instruments of that mercy to others? Those who establish themselves in right relationship with God; those who seek to love Him above all things, those who search for Wisdom to discern the things of God; and those who desire understanding To penetrate divine truths¹⁴ will reap a harvest (Hosea 10: 12 NAB) of beatitude. As the psalmist proclaims:

Who may go up to the mountain of the Lord?

Who can stand in his holy place?

The clean of hand and the pure of heart,

Who has not given his soul to useless things, what is vain,

He will receive blessings from the Lord, and justice from his saving God.

Such is the generation that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. (Ps. 24:3–6)

It must be noted, however, that beatitude which springs forth from suffering, flows from the heart of Jesus. Only immersed in His love can suffering open itself to joy.¹⁵ Francis of Assisi describes the correlation of suffering and joy, Perfect happiness consists in suffering much for the blessed Christ, who died to suffer so much for us.¹⁶ More than words, Francis suffered much in his own body as he bore the wounds of His Savior for love of Him and for souls. John Paul II sheds light on this mystery noting that suffering belongs to man’s transcendence, where he is destined to go beyond himself…he is called to this in a mysterious way.¹⁷ We also find evidence of the marriage of suffering with joy in the Old Testament. Rather than to defile the laws of the Lord, the scribe Eleazar remarks to his torturers, I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging, but also suffering it with joy in my soul, because of my devotion [to the Lord] (2 Maccabees 6:30). Joy comes as a fruit of the mystery of suffering love, a love that responds in kind to the love the Father has bestowed on us (1 John 3:1).

The mystery of human suffering continuously confounds us throughout Sacred Scripture. From Cain and Abel to the enslaved Hebrews in Egypt; from Job to Jeremiah, Joseph to Jonah; from Naomi to Hannah, Esther to Ruth; from Bartimeus to the widow of Naim; from Mary of Nazareth to Stephen and Paul, the Word of God exposes the intangible mystery¹⁸ of human suffering. Paradoxically, The Word of God penetrates the heart of those who suffer, bringing consolation and courage—meaning, healing and hope. Our understanding of suffering is intricately bound to our understanding of ourselves that comes about through the scriptures. We cannot understand ourselves unless we are open to [the] dialogue with the Word of God.¹⁹ This exchange has the propensity to shed light on our heart’s deepest longings and inexpressible miseries. God alone responds to the yearning present in the heart of every man and woman…²⁰ The Word of God comes out to meet us, to console us, to instruct, and to challenge us, offering healing and hope in our darkest moments. The Word of God is the meeting place of the heart of Jesus with man’s broken heart. Our stories come to life in the narratives of Scripture. Our suffering begins to take on a new meaning placed within the context of Scripture. Just as in the healing narratives of the Gospel, Jesus was moved to compassion. He is touched to the heart by our cries that call out to Him for healing and strength. In the same manner that He lifted their burdens and loved them into wholeness, He longs to draw us to Himself in order that we, too, might be healed. Those who were cured by