I'm just a week person complaining about my back pain and trying to understand why it happens when I really press in to God but now I feel closer to him which is really all I desire
My grandmother was really good at what Fr. Mike invites us to do. At the end of her battle with Emphysema she suffered greatly. Honestly, her entire illness was excruciating. But she would point to the Crucifix and say, "If He could do that, I can do this."
I am a wimp when it comes to suffering, but I have learned through trials, and tribulations grace flows, if not on us ...to our family, loved ones, and those we will meet in the life after. Thank you Fr. Mike for your reminder that Christ has a purpose for it all! How wonderful it will be to finally see how each of us has played a role in the redemptive work of Our Lord through our pain, and through our suffering.
Our suffering is our standing against our troubles by faith in Jesus. Standing in faith using His Word against what we are going through. Meditating on and using scriptures on healing, deliverance from sin, and from poverty, etc. Whatever our problems are. It's easier to just do nothing and whine about it than to take the time and effort to stand in faith until it comes to pass and is answered. That is our part of suffering. Jesus did the rest for us on the cross.
Ive been treating depression for 2 years. Got dumped by the girl i called my fiancee and went down the rabbit hole during this time. I was just recovering now, finally got something kind of a purpose, got into the bible in a year for a few days, managed to actually pray last mass. Today my cat died. I feel like this is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things but to me it was like a punch to the throat, the tipping point. I really feel like this is the devil tempting me to go back to my old ways. I even feel guilty thinking this happened because i was starting to become better and he couldnt have that. Like i provoked my pets death. I dunno, im still crying. I was still crying when i buried him. Such a stupid way to die, ran away from home for an hour and get ran over. I just need to get this off my chest because there is way to much stuff in here already, dont even care if anyone reads this. I dont need my buddy to be in heaven, i wish he is, but i just pray that it was quick cause sending him out just broke the remaining of i heart i had.
Please try this video again with a bit more serious demeanor. Oddly you come across as excited or enthusiastic about the topic. Try speaking a bit more slowly and distinctly. You seem hyper and insincere with your message in this presentation. Thanks.
@@ericsumnicht7829 wait how could you even create a tone for this individual you’ve never even met? Next why does matter how it was even asked ;dude simply asked about mental illness and how there religion or beliefs on dealing with em 🥱 as tuff as it sounds we know that they aint gotta clue about salvaging that relationship
please say a prayer for me. i gave up alcohol for lent and now 13 days into it life feels SO hard and so frustrating. and when i hear about us embracing pain, i get mad at god. i don't want to. so please say a prayer for me.
Da Lime this is a year later but I can relate to your suffering. I hope u made it thru. If u didn’t u are probably stilll struggling with alcohol. If u haven’t yet try this video by Father. th-cam.com/video/r5zL2U4p5SY/w-d-xo.html “The Purpose of Lent”. It’s very helpful and encouraging. I am adding u to my prayer list. Don’t give up. Don’t give in and trust God. He will fight this battle for you.
You're in my prayer. Whenever you sense the darkness, the dryness, the temptations, direct your eyes to the Blessed Mother Mary. The blessed Mother Mary is the one who can lead you to Jesus. Sometimes it's hard to fight against the temptation, but I insist you to know the even our weakness fail, God's love has never failed us. I had a really bad OCD and even when I prayed to God, I felt like it's not going to get better since my symptoms were worsen for 8 consecutive years. And when God's love has really touched me, and as I'm trying in surrender myself totally to Him by coming to the blessed Mother Mary, I'm healed. Even though I still find myself having some relapses, they're very minor compared to what I had in the last 8 years. It seems like I'm almost totally recover. Trust in God when you're humbly say, "Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!" and He will surely take care of it. For every sufferings we have in our lives, it's when, I believe, we glorify our Father in heaven. There is no medicine more powerful than His loving intention. Say it with your faith, "They will be done. You take care of it." He will take care of it. (I found this in The Surrender Novena, and this is a tremendous help) God blesses you, my friend.
How do I know God is real? Easy answer; because when I'm going through something and I happen to watch this particular video, for no specific reason, and BAM! I heard a message from God that I NEEDED to hear at this specific moment. Thank you Father Mike!
Me. I was a nominal Catholic. But then I got curious on the Church's history so I went on to do some research and found out that saints Peter, Paul and all the other apostles are real people in history. Including the fact that they died of horrible deaths affirming Jesus' death and resurrection. I questioned my faith no more.
how do i know god is not real? plenty of reasons. explain to me how we have free will. we don't. god allows us to cure smallpox, whooping cough, diptheria, polio, etc etc, but he still only cures cancer one miracle at a time, suspicious? god thinks rape is okay cos it will ultimately lead to a greater good, so lets cause the maximum suffering cos hey, think of how great things it will lead to. name ONE thing god has done for humanity, one verifiable, indisputable thing. god ahs "performed manymiracles" why has he NEVER restored an amputee? jesus = god = immortal, how can you be immortal, become mortal, then be immortal again? even god can't be two contradictory things at once - the crucifiction was a fake if it happened at all. god doesn't die.
@@joynermaidana2375 check out sean mcdowell's channel about the apostles cos you have that a little squiffy. no one can say for certain any of them were ACTUALLY martyred or why they were actually killed.
Thank you for this video, Father. I've been struggling with depressive feelings, self-injury, and borderline suicidal thoughts off and on for the past four or five years, and it gives me a lot of hope to think of being united with Jesus and to offer up these sufferings to Him. Happy Lent and God bless!
Why don't you try reading all the research papers on multiple sclerosis? See if there are cases of reversal or cures? Praying may not be enough if you don't take action too? Try pubmed or the university library or talk to all the researchers in the field?
This organisation reads 10's of 1000's of research papers on health, medicine and nutrition and make videos/articles. Check out their stuff on multiple sclerosis. Hope it helps! Best of luck! nutritionfacts.org/topics/multiple-sclerosis/
Thank you Father Mike, I've been suffering in an abusive marriage for 21 years, a lot of spiritual warfare. This morning he went to Mass with me. I hope he will open up enough to watch your videos, I know you have helped me, please keep going. God bless you.
#askfathermike Father Mike, thank you for this explanation. I'm 47 years old, have been married for just under two years, and have always wanted to have children. I'm finally realizing that Robert and I may never be parents, but I have also realized that there are so many children in my life now! I still weep sometimes from not having children, but lately I've found myself also weeping with thankfulness for the children of my friends, family members, neighbors, and CCD kids. I think there is a Bible verse about the barren woman having more children than women who have born children. I'm beginning to understand a deeper meaning of this. I still hurt deeply, but now that I see this, I have a greater appreciation for the children around me. Thank you for this video!
We're biologically programmed to have kids and continue our dna/genetics and procreate. So it's natural to feel sadness or pain when we can't/don't.. But that's life! Many children used to die in the past and even in the present! Don't cause yourself suffering by dwelling on what can't or what isn't.. Life continues whether we have children or not.
There are so many kids without parents so why can't this be an opportunity to be a parent to some of those children? I find many people restrict their love to family/friends instead of boundlessly loving all life..
I still dont understand this. Because some people suffer forever and others dont. Why? And its mostly evil people that have easy lives. And good decent people suffer until they die. I will never understand this.
If you want a more secular explanation I would recommend reading first “Notes from the underground.” Then “The brothers Karamazov.” By Dostoyevsky both are amazing books but the latter is a monster of a read. If you want a summary of the arguments here it is. Suffering is not really antithetical to happiness but a necessary component. Here’s the reasoning Humans no matter what external factors will suffering as suffering is a human invention we as humans will always find things unsatisfactory about ourselves and our living situations. It is the nature of our existence since we are from the tree. This fundamental anxiety however is what allows us, if we accept and choose to be enlightened by it, to progress towards a more truthful existence. This more truthful existence is the union of suffering and meaning. God is great, brother.
Still unclear. He redeemed. If I suffer too, I can help redeem. But He did that. You say often, suffering transforms. Suffering transformed - into what? What is the result? What does the suffering change? What does it change into? I’m really trying. I want to understand the reason. I‘ve been suffering most of my life. I accept it for the love of God. I will not allow my pain to take Him away from me. I accept the pain and never blame God. That’s all I know to do. I love Him but I don’t understand your talk when you say it (pain) transforms. Transforms into what? I don’t hear an answer. I don’t need a reason why people suffer, Thats kinda obvious. I want to know what it is your explaining because I don’t. Yup, Catholic raised and trained so no complication there. Thank you.
Thank you for this video Father. I have dry eye syndrome and I suffer through pain and irritation everyday. I like to think that my suffering is helping the souls in Purgatory.
Dermot M I know. I'm on Restasis, nighttime eye ointment, and I use Refresh Tears as needed. I also take Fish Oil daily. Thank you for your suggestion. God bless.
Anna Tatham I had eye trouble for well over a year. My eyes watered constantly and they were constantly sore. In the morning the light would hurt until my eyes adjusted. I saw specialists and eye doctors all at my own expense. I tried lotions steroids ointments you name it and it still persisted. I became depressed and self concious. Eventually I resigned myself to the fact that it was not going away and learned my triggers and how to treat it. A friend of mine asked me to go along with her to a spiritual healer. I ended up talking to him about another concern I had and he prayed over me. He advised me to go to confession and receive the Blessed Eucharist on the same day. I went to him for a few weeks and as he prayed over me I silently asked Jesus to heal me. Driving home one day it suddenly occurred to me that my eyes were better and had been for a while. I know it was my prayers and his spiritual guidance that helped to cure me and of course my Saviour Jesus Christ. I hope you get better and don't give up hope. God bless you (ps sorry for the long post but I just wanted to share my experience and give you some hope that your eyes will eventually be better)
In this world I've had plenty of trouble and suffering. It taught me to learn the hard way, learn from my mistakes and focus, contemplate and turn around. Thank you Jesus for ALL the suffering past, present and to come You have allowed me. It ONLY brings me closer to YOU... we are made in HIS image and "likeness". I rejoice in my sufferings for all those who have fallen away, the souls in Purgatory and those who do not believe. "Take UP your cross and follow Me" A small price to pay after what Jesus went through for US!
A mystic reality for becoming more spiritual is that... "Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by the Divine Mercy for our own perfecting." - Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks
Prayer before work: "Dear Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you any sufferings I may experience this day, and unite them to your sufferings on the cross. I offer them up for_____ and whomever you see fit. Amen."
I love this guy, but bring back the beard! You're helping a lot of souls with your videos, the suffering of taking time to make these videos will very well pay off on judgement day. Thanks for helping this soul, God Bless
Yes, I did read this in a magazine I subscribed to years ago. It is called Fellowship in Prayer. It was a short essay on suffering. The writer was a nun. She said that whenever she suffered she offered her suffering as she prayed the rosary. Each bead represented the depth of her suffering and her desire to offer that suffering to Christ. When I think of saintly suffering St Theresa, the little flower, comes to my mind. I read the book containing her last months of suffering. She suffered with tuberculosis. They say the autopsy showed that she was functioning with only one lung, as the other had disintegrated through her illness. It is a very difficult read. I remember when I finished reading it, she sent me a plenary indulgence. I have never gone through a single Lent without suffering.
mother theresa thought that suffering was great, so much so that she denied her patients treatments, the worse they got the more chance of getting into heaven was her logic, religion is the path to stupidity.
My friend sent me this video because I believed it with all my heart - but was going through a feeling of exhaustion….So much so that I was beginning to doubt myself in the act of Redemptive Suffering. Thank you Fr. Schmitz and Elaine for setting me on the right track again in offering myself for people and souls.
My grandmother was a devout Catholic who prayed the rosary every day. My 4-year-old cousin suffered for two years with leukemia and she prayed for a miraculous cure. My cousin would cry in excruciating pain until finally he died after long torment. My grandmother left the Church at that point. What was the meaning of all that suffering to that innocent child? Why does God let children die of cancer?
#askfrmike could you please pray for my baby? I just became pregnant and I have Lyme disease. The painful symptoms are coming back stronger than ever. I don't care about me. Just my baby. Please pray?
it always makes me laugh when I see things like 'the meaning of suffering.' but you put it very well. although some may not agree, i believe it to be a reasonable explanation. 😔
Sorry Father, but what is suffering transformed into, I'm lost. I'm torn between new age spiritual teachings, which are easy to follow and understand and the Catholic teachings which I find cryptic to say the least. New age is about using the present moment to reduce suffering while Catholic teaching is to embrace suffering with no instructions what so ever. I am lucky I'm fit an can live without much effort. My suffering I mainly guilt for a very selfish past. Quite frankly for physical suffering I would seek out a docter help. What about people who are not suffering how do we walk with god? I'm not trying be disrespectful I'm trying to understand.
Thank you.Always great themes... "Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us to better adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self-improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom." ~ Baha'i Faith
Thanks Father Mike,your video on "why we suffer" has really helped me in my own pain&suffering,& has made me grateful for every moment of it,as i feel closer to Jesus because of it. I love your video's,& have learned so much.Thank you!🙏
Thank you this is the best talk on suffering i have ever heard. You also explained it so well that you cleared somethings up for me. Thank you so much! We all need these lessons you give in these troubling times lately. You remind us we should be thankful to suffer with Christ! Thank you! God bless you and your holy gardian angels Father
When I go through a time of suffering. I always get closer to God and even though I'm going through a storm I feel there is peace with in me. It helps so much to feel this peace inside of me.
I understand how this perspective is meaningful, BUT don't forget God is also a healing God. What about all of the healing miracles that Jesus performed and continues to perform for people that reach out in faith? Jesus is still definitely in that business too! That's why there are still many Catholic healing services! Redemptive Suffering seems to get talked about a bit more though.
while jesus was supposedly doing all these miracles isn't it a bit odd BO ONE wrote about him while he was a live? and jesus never wrote ANYTHING himself.
Thank you for this teaching! It helps develop my understanding of suffering even more. Someone already posted a Morning Offering prayer, similar to (but much shorter than) the one I pray every morning: In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ I begin this day. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the mass throughout the whole world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, for my nation [and the nation(s) of my relatives/friends], for the Holy Souls, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Today again, I reaffirm my "heroic" act on behalf of the Holy Souls. [Which doesn't seem all that heroic to me because I figure we're all going to the same place (I hope): O my God! for Thy greater glory, and to imitate as closely as possible the generous Heart of Jesus, my Redeemer, and also to testify my devotion to the Blessed Virgin, my Mother, who is also the Mother of the Souls in Purgatory, I place in her hands all my satisfactory works, as well as the fruit of all those which may be offered for my intention after my death, that she may apply them to the Souls in Purgatory according to her wisdom and good pleasure. Amen.]
Fr. Mike⚘. Thank-you🙏. For the "Meaning of sufferings" and the talk you gave awhile ago. My sister died a horrific death in the hospital. I cannot explain and cannot get over it. I pray to the "Lord" everybody.🙏🕯🕯🙏
The meaning of suffering is learning without it how are we going to learn we’re too stubborn to understand things but when we suffer it we learn from itBy the grace of God I have him and ask him to hold you in good faith in Jesus name amen
Praying for you, Debra. Find something that you do regularly every day (a trigger) and when you do it (Say, like go into your kitchen, etc.) think about us praying for you. It will help you feel the Holy Spirit working. God Bless!
If you have internal conflict then ask yourself why you feel this way and do something about it and solve them..? Unless you find meaning/comfort in suffering and enjoy it.. Definitely true what Matthew Kanter said in a comment here: "Hands that help are better than lips that pray. Wishful thinking never saves the day!"
If you fill like you want to talk I'm right here. I ve suffered of depression and almost attempted suicide. If by any chance can be helpful to you, then it was worth. Peace be with you
This just doesn’t sound right. It looks like more mental gymnastics in an attempt to give suffering meaning and in doing so seems laboured, and contrived. Giving your suffering to Christ does nothing. Not giving your suffering to Christ does nothing, I know, I’ve tried both ways. Trying to put a smiley face on people’s misery seems cruel. Just tell us poor fools bound in our daily ritual of pain and suffering you don’t know why god wills/allows it to occur. There’s no shame in admitting we don’t know.
I'm always happy whenever someone else is happy, I want other people who are suffering to be happy, I'd suffer for them just for them to be happy. I can't watch someone suffer
1 Peter 4:1.............For as Christ suffered in the flesh, Prepare yourself for the same purpose. For those who have suffered in the flesh have seized from Sin.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:33 *🙏 Jesus didn't come to eliminate suffering but to transform it into something meaningful.* 01:29 *💡 Jesus on the Cross, seemingly weak and foolish, is actually the power and wisdom of God, demonstrating how suffering can be redeemed.* 02:24 *🔴 Jesus doesn't remove suffering; instead, he enters into it to make it redemptive, offering us an invitation to share in this transformation.* 03:21 *🌟 St. Paul rejoices in suffering not out of self-punishment but to participate in the redemptive work of Christ for the Church.* 04:44 *💪 Jesus can make us strong in our weakest moments by transforming suffering, not by removing it.*
I've been watching your videos Fr. Mike, one thing I noticed you never ever mentioned that devil is bad or that they're always to blame in our sins and misery. But you give us picture that we're all broken, wounded. We are all in need of Jesus. I see such gentleness and mercy in your words that we don't look at our situation as entitlement to put blame on others. That we have to stop playing victim, that we're not powerless, that we are powerful bc we have Jesus. That we must take full responsibility of our actions, to know, to put effort in our resolution to bring ourselves closer to God that God loves us so much. I'm guilty, that I have favoritism when it comes to priest I enjoy the mass when the priest is good with the talk while I find it boring when the priest is not good with the talk. Your videos made me realize it's not about the priest at all. It's about the intensity of our love to Jesus that we're able to do not just the talk but the work too. My love for the Catholic Church is being intensified that as I enter in the mass and when a priest seem to be boring to me the more I pray that God send us Holy priest or make the priest capable touch our Hearts and move us to repentance. That the goodness is found not just in the Bible but in our lives.
Yes, Jesus redeemed us at the Cross and is now Seated with God at His Right hand. Jesus redeemed us from sickness and sin by His Body and Blood. He came so that we would have Life and Life more abundant thru His Holy scrifice. He took our suffering, sickness, and sins so we would be free from it. To God all the Glory. We walk in the Joy of the Lord as He did what we can not do. Hod said we would have tribulation but be of Good Cheer because i have overcome the world. God has placed His Spirit in every redeem person. We walk thru the Valley of Death with His Holy Spirit. He lives thru us and i do not suffer as God works all things to my good. Darkness may come, but His Joy always comes. I cast my cares on Christ as He cares for me. God bless. Justme
❤"God Is Love."❤ "God Is "Love" 'Through, With, And In' "Jesus Christ" From The 'Beginnings Of Time, Now, Today, And Forever Eternally' In Our 'One, True, Living, And Loving,' "God's Will." Amen." "To 'Love' Is To 'Suffer' As To 'Suffer' Is To 'Love.' "Amen."❤❤❤❤
Suffering is very important in Christianity. And the toughest question of them all. Sometimes I think God likes to see us suffering. Are Christians masochistic? Sometimes I think the only people who understand the true nature of Christianity are those who leave everything behind and go to live in the woods spending their time praying and fasting waiting for Jesus' Second Coming. They say that going through terrible experiences can be a way to shape an individual etc...While this can certainly be true to some extent, it's not hard to find people who’d rather not go through trauma to learn a lesson, the same way that you can find other individuals who survived horrible situations that taught them things they already know - or worse, nothing at all.
Tbh I I think a lot of what people suffer in severe illness is worse than the few hours Jesus spent on the cross because his suffering was fairly brief and he knew, if he’s right, that he was off to Heaven. I know that probably is heretical but as someone who’s known people who’ve had chronic illnesses regularly screaming in pain I just can’t see how it’s not worse. This is where I think this explanation falls down. I also don’t understand why God allows suffering in a way that a human father would be put in jail for allowing his children. I know there’s the original sin/fall of man argument which is problematic in itself - “ you can’t help but sin but your sin means you must suffer” and there’s the free will argument but sickness is one of the areas of human suffering outside the control of mans fault often, it’s not war or greed , it’s often genetic or a vulnerability that allows the environment or stress to trigger the body to set of disease. In any other scenario it would be seen as a design flaw. I can understand the idea of small burdens and small sufferings being good for the soul if you like and good for personal growth /making us better people et cetera I just have never ever seen any real explanation of the justification for terrible life long or chronic illness and disability that some people have whilst others have hardly anything to complain of really in a life of ease and pleasure and they still talk about the crosses of the bear but their crosses tiny and the inequality of it I think it’s hard to swallow or justify. The Hindus tried to do it by saying that your current life is you’r just award for your past life so if you were bad in your past life or you needed something of education you would get a tough life et cetera et cetera. I think when one child is born into financial comfort with good health loving parents in a beautiful area and another child is born with a genetic disease into an abusive family in poverty, I don’t see why God allows that to be the reality of life on Earth In perpetuity.
Cool. My whole family is going to be saved and my sons are going to be priests! At least that’s what I hope my suffering united with prayer will do.😇💕🙏🏻
My Son has brain Cancer dr sead there's no cure he toll him he has three months to live he has bean alive three years he is softening my God help my Son
Suffering with jesus , an imaginary being ? Jesus existed ok , not anymore. I can imagine him next to me. That is all, so my imagination of jesus will help in my suffering ? Maybe, just like my imaginary friend helped me fight loneliness while being a child.
If you haven't read it, read John Paul II's encyclical, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering (Latin title: Salvifici Doloris). He wrote this while he was recovering from the gunshot wounds which nearly claimed his life on May 13, 1981.
Thank you for another marvelous meditation. A few years ago I was trying to understand suffering and came up with the formulation: "The reason for suffering is for you to find your need for someone else of for you to find someone else's need for you." In other words if we can admit the weaknesses that accompany our suffering, someone else may have an opportunity to bless us with their aid, we can bless them by being vulnerable enough to accept their help, we can strengthen them by our gratitude when they come to our aid. If you can get outside yourself in contemplating your suffering, a whole universe of possibilities starts to open up.
I know this vid was two years ago, but this will always be relevant. Thank you Fr. Mike for reminding us to offer to Jesus what we are going through and to invite Him in it. Your final statements hit me really hard in the heart. I felt like crying because it hurt but it is very hopeful that I smiled afterwards, knowing that I am partaking in Jesus' suffering.
You are so inspiring! So now, I shall offer it up to my lord and savior instead of asking him to take it from me! I do remember the sisters in school telling this to us but, maybe I was too young to understand and now I do because you explained it so well! God bless you!
I dont agree with this, Jesus puts Humanity on this planet by knowing the Future, where Humanity is aflicted by Fallen Angels with sufferings and pain for many Years
Hi Father Mike , how can the suffering of young children in 3rd world countries who have nothing to eat no where to live be explained , why should they suffer ?
Read Matthew 5:10-12, don't look for wellness on earth, they are there waiting for help, and if we do something for them we will earn some of the promised kingdom
They suffer due to those around them who care not for them. They also continue to suffer from those of us in the world who do not extend our hand/hearts out to relieve their suffering and so on..
We can all do something to alleviate suffering and we should.. The world is better off if these children can reach their potential and lead better lives and make this world a better place.
And even if we're not alleviating suffering we should at least ensure we are not CREATING any more suffering! E.g. by buying things from companies that treat people poorly or underpay or abuse them or the environment and so on.. Our dollar, diet & lifestyle causes a lot of suffering to ourselves, to others and the environment.
At first, I thought it might something much more serious but it seems it may have been 'merely' food poisoning - a rogue egg for breakfast. So I spent the entirety of yesterday retching first green and then black bile, convulsed in agonising intestinal cramps. I was born with an extensive AVM (arteriovenus malformation) of my right leg which led to ulceration and bleeding throughout my childhood. I had my leg amputated when I was 17 so I'm not a newcomer to pain. But yesterday as I lay in agony the whole day, it occurred to me that suffering is very much the result of poor biological design. Surely not deliberate? What designer would choose to inflict such diabolical pain and would such a designer deserve our respect? It seems to me that it is the blind, clumsy, mindless designs of evolution and environment that lead to meaningless suffering. I think Jesus exists only in your imagination. It's not my intention to be cruel or disrespectful l but to point out what all evidence overwhelmingly suggests. I wish you well.
🤣🤣🤣 Tired today, here comes my bro’s to cut trees down, teehee...so blessed. Burning the barrels tonight yes haw! Thanks you Jesus for the strength. Bucket trucks are so darn kewl..
I aM dyslexic, have lupus and cardiac problems, loosing my hair, my eyes and ears have weakened, List my job, every one looks down on me. I had to push the woman I loved, cause I did not want to drag her down with me, and now she's happily married to someone else...... Is that a nice size of the cross I've been given ??
Hi may be l can help. Have you ever tried DMSO. It's an amazing healer. Look it up on TH-cam. It's an amazing pain killer helps with inflammation with depression your eyes ears The book on it is on amazon . Big farma banned it because was so good you . I suffer from atherites joint pain depression tennitas anxiety form of Dyslexia. Hope this helps. God bless you. 🙏
Battling depression and loneliness, it's a struggle to get out of bed every morning as there is nothing to look forward to and everyday is pointless. Elijah Price: Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here. That's - that's just an awful feeling
Sometimes our place in the world is simply to pray for others. This seems difficult by worldly standards, but only when we get to heaven will we become aware of the good we've done.
Thanks I’m sending this to a friend that was talking about this and I couldn’t think of how to explain this by my self and being in a freshman in high school this well help me as well so thanks so much 😄
I'm just a week person complaining about my back pain and trying to understand why it happens when I really press in to God but now I feel closer to him which is really all I desire
My grandmother was really good at what Fr. Mike invites us to do. At the end of her battle with Emphysema she suffered greatly. Honestly, her entire illness was excruciating. But she would point to the Crucifix and say, "If He could do that, I can do this."
Wow
That’s so incredible what an amazing lady 🙏🏽
Wow AMEN 🙏
Your grandmother is very inspiring.
My grandad suffered for years until his death but always a gentle smile on his face. I miss him. x
I am a wimp when it comes to suffering, but I have learned through trials, and tribulations grace flows, if not on us ...to our family, loved ones, and those we will meet in the life after. Thank you Fr. Mike for your reminder that Christ has a purpose for it all! How wonderful it will be to finally see how each of us has played a role in the redemptive work of Our Lord through our pain, and through our suffering.
Our suffering is our standing against our troubles by faith in Jesus. Standing in faith using His Word against what we are going through. Meditating on and using scriptures on healing, deliverance from sin, and from poverty, etc. Whatever our problems are. It's easier to just do nothing and whine about it than to take the time and effort to stand in faith until it comes to pass and is answered. That is our part of suffering. Jesus did the rest for us on the cross.
Wow thanks a lot
Makes perfect sense, so beautiful :-)
AMEN🙌🏻🙏🏻🤗
Ive been treating depression for 2 years. Got dumped by the girl i called my fiancee and went down the rabbit hole during this time. I was just recovering now, finally got something kind of a purpose, got into the bible in a year for a few days, managed to actually pray last mass.
Today my cat died. I feel like this is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things but to me it was like a punch to the throat, the tipping point. I really feel like this is the devil tempting me to go back to my old ways. I even feel guilty thinking this happened because i was starting to become better and he couldnt have that. Like i provoked my pets death.
I dunno, im still crying. I was still crying when i buried him. Such a stupid way to die, ran away from home for an hour and get ran over. I just need to get this off my chest because there is way to much stuff in here already, dont even care if anyone reads this.
I dont need my buddy to be in heaven, i wish he is, but i just pray that it was quick cause sending him out just broke the remaining of i heart i had.
Could you please do one on how to be humble
Hello Father. Will you please make a video on mental health and the Catholic faith. Thank you for making this wonderful video.
I would love a video like this! God bless you! 🙂
it this video made up? any link?
Why is Mental Health & Catholic Faith even used in the same sentence? It explains a lot.
Please try this video again with a bit more serious demeanor. Oddly you come across as excited or enthusiastic about the topic. Try speaking a bit more slowly and distinctly. You seem hyper and insincere with your message in this presentation. Thanks.
@@ericsumnicht7829 wait how could you even create a tone for this individual you’ve never even met? Next why does matter how it was even asked ;dude simply asked about mental illness and how there religion or beliefs on dealing with em 🥱 as tuff as it sounds we know that they aint gotta clue about salvaging that relationship
please say a prayer for me. i gave up alcohol for lent and now 13 days into it life feels SO hard and so frustrating. and when i hear about us embracing pain, i get mad at god. i don't want to. so please say a prayer for me.
Da Lime this is a year later but I can relate to your suffering. I hope u made it thru. If u didn’t u are probably stilll struggling with alcohol. If u haven’t yet try this video by Father. th-cam.com/video/r5zL2U4p5SY/w-d-xo.html
“The Purpose of Lent”. It’s very helpful and encouraging. I am adding u to my prayer list. Don’t give up. Don’t give in and trust God. He will fight this battle for you.
You're in my prayer. Whenever you sense the darkness, the dryness, the temptations, direct your eyes to the Blessed Mother Mary. The blessed Mother Mary is the one who can lead you to Jesus. Sometimes it's hard to fight against the temptation, but I insist you to know the even our weakness fail, God's love has never failed us. I had a really bad OCD and even when I prayed to God, I felt like it's not going to get better since my symptoms were worsen for 8 consecutive years. And when God's love has really touched me, and as I'm trying in surrender myself totally to Him by coming to the blessed Mother Mary, I'm healed. Even though I still find myself having some relapses, they're very minor compared to what I had in the last 8 years. It seems like I'm almost totally recover. Trust in God when you're humbly say, "Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!" and He will surely take care of it. For every sufferings we have in our lives, it's when, I believe, we glorify our Father in heaven. There is no medicine more powerful than His loving intention. Say it with your faith, "They will be done. You take care of it." He will take care of it. (I found this in The Surrender Novena, and this is a tremendous help)
God blesses you, my friend.
🙏🙏🙏
Better? 🙂
Rhodiola rosea, cdp choline could help. Alpha gpc once/twice a week. Check with Dr if you have a script already.
Cried so hard through this. Thanks for communicating the depth of Jesus' love.
How do I know God is real? Easy answer; because when I'm going through something and I happen to watch this particular video, for no specific reason, and BAM! I heard a message from God that I NEEDED to hear at this specific moment. Thank you Father Mike!
Me. I was a nominal Catholic. But then I got curious on the Church's history so I went on to do some research and found out that saints Peter, Paul and all the other apostles are real people in history. Including the fact that they died of horrible deaths affirming Jesus' death and resurrection. I questioned my faith no more.
how do i know god is not real? plenty of reasons.
explain to me how we have free will. we don't.
god allows us to cure smallpox, whooping cough, diptheria, polio, etc etc, but he still only cures cancer one miracle at a time, suspicious?
god thinks rape is okay cos it will ultimately lead to a greater good, so lets cause the maximum suffering cos hey, think of how great things it will lead to.
name ONE thing god has done for humanity, one verifiable, indisputable thing.
god ahs "performed manymiracles" why has he NEVER restored an amputee?
jesus = god = immortal, how can you be immortal, become mortal, then be immortal again? even god can't be two contradictory things at once - the crucifiction was a fake if it happened at all. god doesn't die.
@@joynermaidana2375 check out sean mcdowell's channel about the apostles cos you have that a little squiffy. no one can say for certain any of them were ACTUALLY martyred or why they were actually killed.
I wish I had that same experience. Good on you man.
Thank you for this video, Father. I've been struggling with depressive feelings, self-injury, and borderline suicidal thoughts off and on for the past four or five years, and it gives me a lot of hope to think of being united with Jesus and to offer up these sufferings to Him. Happy Lent and God bless!
You are loved, and are in our prayers, Tori!
Tori Kern yes I am praying for you! Thank you for being alive! You are awesome!
Tori Kern
I'll pray for you Tori! God love you.
Want to end suicidal thoughts ?
Paxil worked fine for me for the last 25 years, maybe jesus sent me this awsome medication for depressive people
Pray for me since I will die from multiple sclerosis
Why don't you try reading all the research papers on multiple sclerosis? See if there are cases of reversal or cures? Praying may not be enough if you don't take action too? Try pubmed or the university library or talk to all the researchers in the field?
This organisation reads 10's of 1000's of research papers on health, medicine and nutrition and make videos/articles. Check out their stuff on multiple sclerosis. Hope it helps! Best of luck! nutritionfacts.org/topics/multiple-sclerosis/
I will.
I will.
You don't know that bud. God chooses when you go. Listen to what the other commenters said. Maybe those links can help you.
Thank you Father Mike, I've been suffering in an abusive marriage for 21 years, a lot of spiritual warfare. This morning he went to Mass with me. I hope he will open up enough to watch your videos, I know you have helped me, please keep going. God bless you.
#askfathermike Father Mike, thank you for this explanation. I'm 47 years old, have been married for just under two years, and have always wanted to have children. I'm finally realizing that Robert and I may never be parents, but I have also realized that there are so many children in my life now! I still weep sometimes from not having children, but lately I've found myself also weeping with thankfulness for the children of my friends, family members, neighbors, and CCD kids. I think there is a Bible verse about the barren woman having more children than women who have born children. I'm beginning to understand a deeper meaning of this. I still hurt deeply, but now that I see this, I have a greater appreciation for the children around me. Thank you for this video!
We're biologically programmed to have kids and continue our dna/genetics and procreate. So it's natural to feel sadness or pain when we can't/don't.. But that's life! Many children used to die in the past and even in the present! Don't cause yourself suffering by dwelling on what can't or what isn't.. Life continues whether we have children or not.
There are so many kids without parents so why can't this be an opportunity to be a parent to some of those children? I find many people restrict their love to family/friends instead of boundlessly loving all life..
I still dont understand this. Because some people suffer forever and others dont. Why? And its mostly evil people that have easy lives. And good decent people suffer until they die. I will never understand this.
Why do ppl comit suicide what happens to them does God understand his pain and suffering and forgive him?
oh that's an interesting explaination - Muslim here.
Shah Esfelazi holllaaa
If you want a more secular explanation I would recommend reading first “Notes from the underground.” Then “The brothers Karamazov.” By Dostoyevsky both are amazing books but the latter is a monster of a read.
If you want a summary of the arguments here it is.
Suffering is not really antithetical to happiness but a necessary component.
Here’s the reasoning
Humans no matter what external factors will suffering as suffering is a human invention we as humans will always find things unsatisfactory about ourselves and our living situations. It is the nature of our existence since we are from the tree. This fundamental anxiety however is what allows us, if we accept and choose to be enlightened by it, to progress towards a more truthful existence. This more truthful existence is the union of suffering and meaning.
God is great, brother.
Wow. This. Is. Breathtaking. Thank you, Fr Mike. And thank You, Jesus, for extending that sliver of Your cross to me.
I stopped, collaborated, and listened. (Wisdom from the book of Saint Vanilla Ice)
Still unclear. He redeemed. If I suffer too, I can help redeem. But He did that. You say often, suffering transforms. Suffering transformed - into what? What is the result? What does the suffering change? What does it change into? I’m really trying. I want to understand the reason. I‘ve been suffering most of my life. I accept it for the love of God. I will not allow my pain to take Him away from me. I accept the pain and never blame God. That’s all I know to do. I love Him but I don’t understand your talk when you say it (pain) transforms. Transforms into what? I don’t hear an answer. I don’t need a reason why people suffer, Thats kinda obvious. I want to know what it is your explaining because I don’t. Yup, Catholic raised and trained so no complication there. Thank you.
I hear and understand.
Thank you for this video Father. I have dry eye syndrome and I suffer through pain and irritation everyday. I like to think that my suffering is helping the souls in Purgatory.
Anna Tatham And helping them you are. Greatly. :-) I assure you.
90sdimples Thank you for such a wonderful comment! God bless you! 😊
Dermot M I know. I'm on Restasis, nighttime eye ointment, and I use Refresh Tears as needed. I also take Fish Oil daily. Thank you for your suggestion. God bless.
Anna Tatham I had eye trouble for well over a year. My eyes watered constantly and they were constantly sore. In the morning the light would hurt until my eyes adjusted. I saw specialists and eye doctors all at my own expense. I tried lotions steroids ointments you name it and it still persisted. I became depressed and self concious. Eventually I resigned myself to the fact that it was not going away and learned my triggers and how to treat it. A friend of mine asked me to go along with her to a spiritual healer. I ended up talking to him about another concern I had and he prayed over me. He advised me to go to confession and receive the Blessed Eucharist on the same day. I went to him for a few weeks and as he prayed over me I silently asked Jesus to heal me. Driving home one day it suddenly occurred to me that my eyes were better and had been for a while. I know it was my prayers and his spiritual guidance that helped to cure me and of course my Saviour Jesus Christ.
I hope you get better and don't give up hope. God bless you (ps sorry for the long post but I just wanted to share my experience and give you some hope that your eyes will eventually be better)
Nita D Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. God bless you! 😄
In this world I've had plenty of trouble and suffering. It taught me to learn the hard way, learn from my mistakes and focus, contemplate and turn around. Thank you Jesus for ALL the suffering past, present and to come You have allowed me. It ONLY brings me closer to YOU... we are made in HIS image and "likeness". I rejoice in my sufferings for all those who have fallen away, the souls in Purgatory and those who do not believe. "Take UP your cross and follow Me" A small price to pay after what Jesus went through for US!
A mystic reality for becoming more spiritual is that... "Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance, they are sent to us by the Divine Mercy for our own perfecting." - Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks
Prayer before work: "Dear Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you any sufferings I may experience this day, and unite them to your sufferings on the cross. I offer them up for_____ and whomever you see fit. Amen."
I love this guy, but bring back the beard! You're helping a lot of souls with your videos, the suffering of taking time to make these videos will very well pay off on judgement day. Thanks for helping this soul, God Bless
Yes, I did read this in a magazine I subscribed to years ago. It is called Fellowship in Prayer. It was a short essay on suffering. The writer was a nun. She said that whenever she suffered she offered her suffering as she prayed the rosary. Each bead represented the depth of her suffering and her desire to offer that suffering to Christ. When I think of saintly suffering St Theresa, the little flower, comes to my mind. I read the book containing her last months of suffering. She suffered with tuberculosis. They say the autopsy showed that she was functioning with only one lung, as the other had disintegrated through her illness. It is a very difficult read. I remember when I finished reading it, she sent me a plenary indulgence. I have never gone through a single Lent without suffering.
mother theresa thought that suffering was great, so much so that she denied her patients treatments, the worse they got the more chance of getting into heaven was her logic, religion is the path to stupidity.
My friend sent me this video because I believed it with all my heart - but was going through a feeling of exhaustion….So much so that I was beginning to doubt myself in the act of Redemptive Suffering. Thank you Fr. Schmitz and Elaine for setting me on the right track again in offering myself for people and souls.
I feel The Lord led me here . Such a joyous priest that through him offers hope and understanding ... I cried last night
My grandmother was a devout Catholic who prayed the rosary every day. My 4-year-old cousin suffered for two years with leukemia and she prayed for a miraculous cure. My cousin would cry in excruciating pain until finally he died after long torment. My grandmother left the Church at that point. What was the meaning of all that suffering to that innocent child? Why does God let children die of cancer?
It's an invitation to God & trusting in Jesus Christ. Holding on to our faith through painful grief & trauma. 💔🙏🇦🇺
#askfrmike could you please pray for my baby? I just became pregnant and I have Lyme disease. The painful symptoms are coming back stronger than ever. I don't care about me. Just my baby. Please pray?
G W I’ll pray for you and your baby, God bless!
it always makes me laugh when I see things like 'the meaning of suffering.' but you put it very well. although some may not agree, i believe it to be a reasonable explanation. 😔
Sorry Father, but what is suffering transformed into, I'm lost. I'm torn between new age spiritual teachings, which are easy to follow and understand and the Catholic teachings which I find cryptic to say the least.
New age is about using the present moment to reduce suffering while Catholic teaching is to embrace suffering with no instructions what so ever. I am lucky I'm fit an can live without much effort. My suffering I mainly guilt for a very selfish past. Quite frankly for physical suffering I would seek out a docter help. What about people who are not suffering how do we walk with god? I'm not trying be disrespectful I'm trying to understand.
What a gift you are Fr.Mike, I love watching your videos, here In Ireland. I thank God for you and your wisdom.
Thank you.Always great themes... "Suffering is both a reminder and a guide. It stimulates us to better adapt ourselves to our environmental conditions, and thus leads the way to self-improvement. In every suffering one can find a meaning and a wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom." ~ Baha'i Faith
Thanks Father Mike,your video on "why we suffer" has really helped me in my own pain&suffering,& has made me grateful for every moment of it,as i feel closer to Jesus because of it. I love your video's,& have learned so much.Thank you!🙏
Thank you this is the best talk on suffering i have ever heard. You also explained it so well that you cleared somethings up for me. Thank you so much! We all need these lessons you give in these troubling times lately. You remind us we should be thankful to suffer with Christ! Thank you!
God bless you and your holy gardian angels Father
When I go through a time of suffering. I always get closer to God and even though I'm going through a storm I feel there is peace with in me. It helps so much to feel this peace inside of me.
I understand how this perspective is meaningful, BUT don't forget God is also a healing God. What about all of the healing miracles that Jesus performed and continues to perform for people that reach out in faith? Jesus is still definitely in that business too! That's why there are still many Catholic healing services! Redemptive Suffering seems to get talked about a bit more though.
while jesus was supposedly doing all these miracles isn't it a bit odd BO ONE wrote about him while he was a live? and jesus never wrote ANYTHING himself.
Thank you for this teaching! It helps develop my understanding of suffering even more. Someone already posted a Morning Offering prayer, similar to (but much shorter than) the one I pray every morning: In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ I begin this day.
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the mass throughout the whole world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, for my nation [and the nation(s) of my relatives/friends], for the Holy Souls, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Today again, I reaffirm my "heroic" act on behalf of the Holy Souls.
[Which doesn't seem all that heroic to me because I figure we're all going to the same place (I hope): O my God! for Thy greater glory, and to imitate as closely as possible the generous Heart of Jesus, my Redeemer, and also to testify my devotion to the Blessed Virgin, my Mother, who is also the Mother of the Souls in Purgatory, I place in her hands all my satisfactory works, as well as the fruit of all those which may be offered for my intention after my death, that she may apply them to the Souls in Purgatory according to her wisdom and good pleasure. Amen.]
My husband had been suffering depression for over 4 years. I hope he finds Jesus & God again.
So sorry❤ 🙏
I have a love who suffers with depression and anxiety…. Peace be with you today 🙏🏼
I needed this SO much. Thank you Father and thank you Ascension Presents. *Gloria in excelsis Deo*
Thank you , gave me the peace I needed to fall asleep. I've been feeling so much anxiety, this helped to give me some calmness .
I have had dental pain for 1 1/2 years and it is not over but I hope that I am getting souls into purgatory.
Fr. Mike⚘. Thank-you🙏. For the "Meaning of sufferings" and the talk you gave awhile ago. My sister died a horrific death in the hospital. I cannot explain and cannot get over it. I pray to the "Lord" everybody.🙏🕯🕯🙏
The meaning of suffering is learning without it how are we going to learn we’re too stubborn to understand things but when we suffer it we learn from itBy the grace of God I have him and ask him to hold you in good faith in Jesus name amen
Please pray for me Father if you have time, I have anxiety every morning due to inner conflicts . Thank you.
Debra Aponte prayers are being sent your way Debra:)
Debra Aponte
hands that help are better than lips that pray. Wishful thinking never saves the day!
Praying for you, Debra. Find something that you do regularly every day (a trigger) and when you do it (Say, like go into your kitchen, etc.) think about us praying for you. It will help you feel the Holy Spirit working. God Bless!
If you have internal conflict then ask yourself why you feel this way and do something about it and solve them..? Unless you find meaning/comfort in suffering and enjoy it.. Definitely true what Matthew Kanter said in a comment here: "Hands that help are better than lips that pray. Wishful thinking never saves the day!"
If you fill like you want to talk I'm right here. I ve suffered of depression and almost attempted suicide. If by any chance can be helpful to you, then it was worth. Peace be with you
Thank you for another faith-filled video Father! God bless you from Canada!
Godbless us all Father Mike, amen.🙏👴
This just doesn’t sound right. It looks like more mental gymnastics in an attempt to give suffering meaning and in doing so seems laboured, and contrived. Giving your suffering to Christ does nothing. Not giving your suffering to Christ does nothing, I know, I’ve tried both ways. Trying to put a smiley face on people’s misery seems cruel. Just tell us poor fools bound in our daily ritual of pain and suffering you don’t know why god wills/allows it to occur. There’s no shame in admitting we don’t know.
Interesting how he doesn't answer these comments.
I'm always happy whenever someone else is happy, I want other people who are suffering to be happy, I'd suffer for them just for them to be happy. I can't watch someone suffer
1 Peter 4:1.............For as Christ suffered in the flesh, Prepare yourself for the same purpose. For those who have suffered in the flesh have seized from Sin.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:33 *🙏 Jesus didn't come to eliminate suffering but to transform it into something meaningful.*
01:29 *💡 Jesus on the Cross, seemingly weak and foolish, is actually the power and wisdom of God, demonstrating how suffering can be redeemed.*
02:24 *🔴 Jesus doesn't remove suffering; instead, he enters into it to make it redemptive, offering us an invitation to share in this transformation.*
03:21 *🌟 St. Paul rejoices in suffering not out of self-punishment but to participate in the redemptive work of Christ for the Church.*
04:44 *💪 Jesus can make us strong in our weakest moments by transforming suffering, not by removing it.*
I've been watching your videos Fr. Mike, one thing I noticed you never ever mentioned that devil is bad or that they're always to blame in our sins and misery. But you give us picture that we're all broken, wounded. We are all in need of Jesus. I see such gentleness and mercy in your words that we don't look at our situation as entitlement to put blame on others. That we have to stop playing victim, that we're not powerless, that we are powerful bc we have Jesus. That we must take full responsibility of our actions, to know, to put effort in our resolution to bring ourselves closer to God that God loves us so much.
I'm guilty, that I have favoritism when it comes to priest I enjoy the mass when the priest is good with the talk while I find it boring when the priest is not good with the talk. Your videos made me realize it's not about the priest at all. It's about the intensity of our love to Jesus that we're able to do not just the talk but the work too. My love for the Catholic Church is being intensified that as I enter in the mass and when a priest seem to be boring to me the more I pray that God send us Holy priest or make the priest capable touch our Hearts and move us to repentance. That the goodness is found not just in the Bible but in our lives.
Recommend this video from Yiming Pureland Academy Center “More Chasing, More Sufferings?”
Hey Father Mike I'm an Episcopalian and I've been wanting to become a Priest in the Church.
Yes, Jesus redeemed us at the Cross and is now Seated with God at His Right hand. Jesus redeemed us from sickness and sin by His Body and Blood. He came so that we would have Life and Life more abundant thru His Holy scrifice. He took our suffering, sickness, and sins so we would be free from it. To God all the Glory. We walk in the Joy of the Lord as He did what we can not do. Hod said we would have tribulation but be of Good Cheer because i have overcome the world. God has placed His Spirit in every redeem person. We walk thru the Valley of Death with His Holy Spirit. He lives thru us and i do not suffer as God works all things to my good. Darkness may come, but His Joy always comes. I cast my cares on Christ as He cares for me. God bless. Justme
❤"God Is Love."❤
"God Is "Love" 'Through, With, And In' "Jesus Christ" From The 'Beginnings Of Time, Now, Today, And Forever Eternally' In Our 'One, True, Living, And Loving,' "God's Will." Amen."
"To 'Love' Is To 'Suffer' As To 'Suffer' Is To 'Love.'
"Amen."❤❤❤❤
Suffering is very important in Christianity. And the toughest question of them all. Sometimes I think God likes to see us suffering. Are Christians masochistic? Sometimes I think the only people who understand the true nature of Christianity are those who leave everything behind and go to live in the woods spending their time praying and fasting waiting for Jesus' Second Coming.
They say that going through terrible experiences can be a way to shape an individual etc...While this can certainly be true to some extent, it's not hard to find people who’d rather not go through trauma to learn a lesson, the same way that you can find other individuals who survived horrible situations that taught them things they already know - or worse, nothing at all.
Love Love!!!
Tbh I I think a lot of what people suffer in severe illness is worse than the few hours Jesus spent on the cross because his suffering was fairly brief and he knew, if he’s right, that he was off to Heaven. I know that probably is heretical but as someone who’s known people who’ve had chronic illnesses regularly screaming in pain I just can’t see how it’s not worse. This is where I think this explanation falls down.
I also don’t understand why God allows suffering in a way that a human father would be put in jail for allowing his children. I know there’s the original sin/fall of man argument which is problematic in itself - “ you can’t help but sin but your sin means you must suffer” and there’s the free will argument but sickness is one of the areas of human suffering outside the control of mans fault often, it’s not war or greed , it’s often genetic or a vulnerability that allows the environment or stress to trigger the body to set of disease. In any other scenario it would be seen as a design flaw.
I can understand the idea of small burdens and small sufferings being good for the soul if you like and good for personal growth /making us better people et cetera I just have never ever seen any real explanation of the justification for terrible life long or chronic illness and disability that some people have whilst others have hardly anything to complain of really in a life of ease and pleasure and they still talk about the crosses of the bear but their crosses tiny and the inequality of it I think it’s hard to swallow or justify. The Hindus tried to do it by saying that your current life is you’r just award for your past life so if you were bad in your past life or you needed something of education you would get a tough life et cetera et cetera. I think when one child is born into financial comfort with good health loving parents in a beautiful area and another child is born with a genetic disease into an abusive family in poverty, I don’t see why God allows that to be the reality of life on Earth In perpetuity.
But Fr. Mike I am a Catholic who is Suffering EMOTIONALLY why is that when I didn't ask
for it in the First place
Cool. My whole family is going to be saved and my sons are going to be priests! At least that’s what I hope my suffering united with prayer will do.😇💕🙏🏻
My Son has brain Cancer dr sead there's no cure he toll him he has three months to live he has bean alive three years he is softening my God help my Son
Suffering with jesus , an imaginary being ?
Jesus existed ok , not anymore.
I can imagine him next to me.
That is all, so my imagination of jesus will help in my suffering ?
Maybe, just like my imaginary friend helped me fight loneliness while being a child.
If you haven't read it, read John Paul II's encyclical, On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering (Latin title: Salvifici Doloris). He wrote this while he was recovering from the gunshot wounds which nearly claimed his life on May 13, 1981.
Thank you for another marvelous meditation. A few years ago I was trying to understand suffering and came up with the formulation: "The reason for suffering is for you to find your need for someone else of for you to find someone else's need for you." In other words if we can admit the weaknesses that accompany our suffering, someone else may have an opportunity to bless us with their aid, we can bless them by being vulnerable enough to accept their help, we can strengthen them by our gratitude when they come to our aid. If you can get outside yourself in contemplating your suffering, a whole universe of possibilities starts to open up.
But what does it mean to "transform" suffering? What does that look like?
I feel I suffer because of my own decisions, god just tried to warn me before making the decision.
SUPER INSPIRATIONAL TALK THANK YOU!
I know this vid was two years ago, but this will always be relevant. Thank you Fr. Mike for reminding us to offer to Jesus what we are going through and to invite Him in it. Your final statements hit me really hard in the heart. I felt like crying because it hurt but it is very hopeful that I smiled afterwards, knowing that I am partaking in Jesus' suffering.
You are so inspiring! So now, I shall offer it up to my lord and savior instead of asking him to take it from me! I do remember the sisters in school telling this to us but, maybe I was too young to understand and now I do because you explained it so well! God bless you!
Powerfully moving! Thank you for explaining Colossians 1:24 so eloquently. Amen! #Truth
Your videos are awesome. I loved the one on the dark night. Brilliant explanation.
I love these presentations - Father Mike is so interesting.
Hi Fr. Mike, can you make a video on Saint Drogo of Sebourg? He has a sad and beautiful story ♡
Blessings ~
Thank u Fr. God Bless u too! :)
Is it just me or are most people named Michael devout catholics? I wish I was named Michael. He's my favorite Arch Angel.
My prayers for explaination for decades of trauma based suffering has resulted in no answer. So it goes on without purpose.
wow this is amazing insight and well delivered...at a time when I needed it really bad love what your doing here..thank you!
I dont agree with this, Jesus puts Humanity on this planet by knowing the Future, where Humanity is aflicted by Fallen Angels with sufferings and pain for many Years
Religion is sick. Suffering is a sick side effect of our meaningless existence.
Thank you! I have been trying to understand redemptive suffering. This makes perfect sense. Much appreciated!
Hi Father Mike , how can the suffering of young children in 3rd world countries who have nothing to eat no where to live be explained , why should they suffer ?
People suffer in third world countries because of the self-serving, glutenous nature of those who govern over them.
Read Matthew 5:10-12, don't look for wellness on earth, they are there waiting for help, and if we do something for them we will earn some of the promised kingdom
They suffer due to those around them who care not for them. They also continue to suffer from those of us in the world who do not extend our hand/hearts out to relieve their suffering and so on..
We can all do something to alleviate suffering and we should.. The world is better off if these children can reach their potential and lead better lives and make this world a better place.
And even if we're not alleviating suffering we should at least ensure we are not CREATING any more suffering! E.g. by buying things from companies that treat people poorly or underpay or abuse them or the environment and so on.. Our dollar, diet & lifestyle causes a lot of suffering to ourselves, to others and the environment.
What we do that hurt is nothing compared to what Jesus suffered on the cross
At first, I thought it might something much more serious but it seems it may have been 'merely' food poisoning - a rogue egg for breakfast. So I spent the entirety of yesterday retching first green and then black bile, convulsed in agonising intestinal cramps. I was born with an extensive AVM (arteriovenus malformation) of my right leg which led to ulceration and bleeding throughout my childhood. I had my leg amputated when I was 17 so I'm not a newcomer to pain. But yesterday as I lay in agony the whole day, it occurred to me that suffering is very much the result of poor biological design. Surely not deliberate? What designer would choose to inflict such diabolical pain and would such a designer deserve our respect? It seems to me that it is the blind, clumsy, mindless designs of evolution and environment that lead to meaningless suffering. I think Jesus exists only in your imagination. It's not my intention to be cruel or disrespectful l but to point out what all evidence overwhelmingly suggests. I wish you well.
Your reasoning sounds a lot less convoluted than the priest's.
🤣🤣🤣
Tired today, here comes my bro’s to cut trees down, teehee...so blessed.
Burning the barrels tonight yes haw!
Thanks you Jesus for
the strength. Bucket trucks are so darn kewl..
Thanks Father for this video (from France!!)
Im 22 with chronic schizophrenia im gonna be suffering for the rest of my life
No, you should manage, you should let the right person in your heart, you should feel joy and work and worship.
Father help me I am struggling and I’m pain please
"Jesus didn't come to take away suffering. He came to transform suffering."
I aM dyslexic, have lupus and cardiac problems, loosing my hair, my eyes and ears have weakened,
List my job, every one looks down on me.
I had to push the woman I loved, cause I did not want to drag her down with me, and now she's happily married to someone else...... Is that a nice size of the cross I've been given ??
Hi may be l can help. Have you ever tried DMSO. It's an amazing healer. Look it up on TH-cam. It's an amazing pain killer helps with inflammation with depression your eyes ears The book on it is on amazon . Big farma banned it because was so good you . I suffer from atherites joint pain depression tennitas anxiety form of Dyslexia.
Hope this helps.
God bless you. 🙏
Thank you Father !
This perspective just makes sense, and relieves my soul !
Thank you so much
Battling depression and loneliness, it's a struggle to get out of bed every morning as there is nothing to look forward to and everyday is pointless. Elijah Price: Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here. That's - that's just an awful feeling
Sometimes our place in the world is simply to pray for others. This seems difficult by worldly standards, but only when we get to heaven will we become aware of the good we've done.
Thanks I’m sending this to a friend that was talking about this and I couldn’t think of how to explain this by my self and being in a freshman in high school this well help me as well so thanks so much 😄
What a great blessing this teaching is. So many questions I have had were answered in these few minutes. Thank you, Father.
If ur equating suffering with acquiring salvation it's not true