April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
EDITORIAL

Offer it up

For a month I have coped with a pinched nerve that affects my right shoulder and arm. Physical therapy has helped; it still hurts a great deal. The discomfort colors daily interactions and thoughts.

I certainly feel more sympathy for people who suffer chronic pain. Many do so for a lifetime and complain little, inspiring and humbling us.

For many Catholics, perhaps of a certain age, personal pain recalls the instruction to "offer it up for the souls in purgatory." Today, this suggestion seems more likely to appear in a comic routine than in a serious reflection. It remains valid, especially in a time when society preaches the chimera of pain-free lives.

Pain will occur, so it helps to do something with it. Otherwise we just suffer, and hope to dull, relieve or ignore it until it passes.

St. Paul teaches us that we are all united in the Body of Christ and in like manner, our suffering can be redemptive. Naturally, pain is not good in and of itself, but we can put it to good use on behalf of others - and so carry on for another day in Lent.


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