Episode Transcript  

One

Today is the Feast of St John Paul II 

In his book St. John Paul the Great – His Five Loves, Jason Evert shares this story about John Paul II. After concelebrating Mass with the Holy Father in his private chapel, a priest from Michigan had a brief opportunity to meet the Pope. The priest had a broken leg and stood on crutches as John Paul approached him in the receiving line of guests. He said to the Pope with a twinge of humor and self-pity, “I broke my leg. Can I please have your blessing?” John Paul replied, “Don’t waste your suffering.” The Holy Father raised his hand, blessed the priest, and then, with an open palm, thumped the priest on the head. 

And honestly, I need John Paul to thump me on my head because all too often I waste my sufferings. Our prayer and our suffering offered up for the conversion of our loved ones are some of the most powerful means at our disposal to help bring them back to Jesus and the Church. But I waste my suffering by complaining and being consumed with trying to get rid of my suffering. Obviously, we should try to remedy our suffering, but much of the time we can’t change it or fix it. So we waste all that mental and emotional energy when really the best thing we could do is accept what we can’t change and offer it up for the conversion of our loved ones. 

So, I, too, need to be thumped on the head by John Paul. How about you?

Two

Offer it Up

John Paul was inviting that priest with the broken leg to “offer it up.” But what does that mean?

The idea of “offering it up” comes from the Bible. In Colossians 1:24, Saint Paul wrote, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” What Paul is trying to explain to us is that Jesus did not die so that we would never have to suffer; rather, Jesus suffered and died to give infinite value to our suffering and death. 

What that means, is that when you accept and unite your suffering to Jesus, whether that is physical martyrdom or a chronic illness or a difficult marriage or loneliness, or something as small as a toothache or a cold, once you unite that to the suffering of Jesus it takes on infinite value and then Jesus uses your suffering to bring grace and good to the people you have offered it up for.  

The suffering of Jesus was more than sufficient to save the world, but He is inviting us to help Him save souls by accepting with trust and offering with love what we did not choose, do not like, cannot change. In this way, we help Jesus save the world and souls from self-destruction. 

Three

The Meaning of Suffering

St. John Paul wrote a letter explaining the meaning of human suffering, entitled Salvifici Doloris. It’s very easy to understand. Just type The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering into Google, and it will come up. There, he explained how we can share in the suffering of Christ and help save our loved ones because Jesus opened his suffering to all of us. John Paul writes, “. . . the weaknesses of all human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ’s Cross. . . . In him God has confirmed his desire to act especially through suffering . . . Christ achieved the Redemption completely and to the very limits but at the same time he did not bring it to a close. . . . every form of suffering, given fresh life by the power of this Cross, should become no longer the weakness of man but the power of God.”

Your suffering can become the power of God to bring about the conversion of souls if you will simply accept them and offer them up. Or you can just waste them. 

Four

Agents of Change

St. John Paul wants each of us to know that when we suffer, we are not passive victims of evil, but we can be powerful agents of change. He wrote, “To meet with suffering, that is a specific type of harvest.” He reminded the those who suffer that they are not merely to be taken care of, but that they too can care for others through their suffering. He writes, “You can do very much by your prayer and your sacrifice, your suffering . . . you can obtain much from Jesus Christ for those who may not need physical help, but who often are in terrible need of spiritual help . . . Your role is not merely passive.” 

That is really powerful. You might think that because of a certain suffering, you are useless. But the truth is that millions and maybe billions of people are in danger of losing their eternal salvation. But you can help them by accepting and offering up your suffering for a great harvest of souls.  

Through the example of Christ, we learn that not only should a person do good to those who suffer, but we can also do good by our suffering. When one understands the value of the cross and overcomes the sense that suffering is useless, the fruits of peace and joy are tremendous. As John Paul explained, “The discovery of the salvific meaning of suffering in union with Christ transforms this depressing feeling about suffering.” 

Five

Resolution 

John Paul wrote, “Prayer joined to suffering constitutes the most powerful force in human history.” What is the concrete resolution we could take forth from this Rosary meditation? 

The closing scene in Schindler’s List is haunting: A Jewish man hands him a ring with an inscription from the Talmud, “Whoever saves one life saves the entire world.” At this, Schindler breaks down weeping. “I could have got more out. I threw away so much money. I could have used it to save more people. You have no idea of what I have wasted…”

I don’t want to be Schindler at the end. Let us make the resolution to accept and offer up whatever we don’t like with a smile. Let’s build the habit with little things so that when the opportunity comes, we can do the big things to love Jesus and save souls. 

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