The Art of Suffering, Part II

Know that I have tried to explain how a world with no suffering is a world without redemption, let me explain why that is important to us and why we to should seek to utilize suffering by uniting it with the Cross of Christ.

If we can see that the suffering of the martyrs helped them achieve salvation, then we are definitely on the right track. St. Peter didn't feel worthy to be martyred in the same manner as Christ, so he got crucifed upside down. St. Andrew was crucified on an X. St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross was gassed to death in the Holocaust. The history of the Church is full of martyrs who realize the fulfillment of sharing in Christ's suffering and death. They understood that if one member of the body suffers, then all suffer, and that if one rejoices, all rejoice (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26). So in martyrdom being a way to rejoice in eternal life, every time another Christian was/is martryed, the Church rejoices because of the joy of another person in heaven. Through each suffering that we unite to Christ, we become more pure. By paying those pennies to the jailer while we are living, then we become closer to Christ on this earth and hence will be purged less in Purgatory. Think about it, the more you unite your sufferings to Christ, the quicker you will get to heaven. Isn't that what everyone wants? Isn't that enough?

I hope so.