Books

Why Must I Suffer? by Fr F.J. Remler CM

Reviewed by Jacinta Cummins

Contents - Sep 2006 - Buy a copy now Editorial: 2006 Fighting Fund launched - Peter Westmore Conscience: AD2000 interviews Cardinal Pell - Cardinal George Pell USA: Liberal Christianity goes into meltdown - Charlotte Allen News: The Church Around the World Chavagnes: Catholic education in a secular culture - Alexander Morrison History: The Counter Reformation and the Jesuits - John Morrissey Family in Society: Asian and Australian families face similar challenges - Leslie Sammut Clergy: ACCC Annual Conference focuses on theology of Benedict XVI - AD2000 Report Letters: Thomas Groome (letter) - C. Hungerford-Morgan Letters: Baptism - Mark Moriarty Letters: Correction to last month's reflection on Baptism - John Young Letters: Communism - Frank Bellet Letters: African pen-friend - Fr Vincent Kajoba Letters: Safe Sex? - Arnold Jago Letters: Judicial activism - Henk Verheven Letters: Stolen faith - Marie Adamo Letters: Helping the Carmelites - Beth Burns Letters: Thank-you note - A. van Tilburg Poetry: The Touch of the Master's Hand - Myra Welch Books: William Bernard Ullathorne: A Different Kind of Monk, by Judith Champ - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Advancing the Culture of Death, by Peter Hung Manh Tran - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: Why Must I Suffer? by Fr F.J. Remler CM - Jacinta Cummins (reviewer) Books: Stimulating reading from Freedom Publishing Reflection: Cardinal Arinze on the need for Eucharistic reverence - Cardinal Francis Arinze

WHY MUST I SUFFER?
by Rev F.J. Remler CM
(Loreto Publications, reprinted 2003 [originally published in 1935], 96pp, $19.95.
Available from AD Books)

First written over seven decades ago, Why Must I Suffer? is if anything more relevant to the present day than it was at its initial publication. Today's public searches for answers, not only to world crises like the war on terrorism and the alarming rise of family breakdown and dysfunction, but also for solutions to issues relating to their personal lives.

The human understanding of suffering is broad, encompassing the Old Testament view of it as a kind of wrath or "revenge" from God in retribution for one's own or ancestors' sins, or the inexplicable workings of "fate" or bad luck.

Fr Remler considers fifteen reasons why we must accept suffering with joy and patience, seeing it in context of the ultimate sacrifice, that of Jesus Christ in his passion and death on the cross.

The idea of innocent people suffering is dealt with, the most appropriate analogy perhaps being that of a stone tossed into a pool, causing a ripple effect reaching to the very edges of the water. In the same way, sin not only affects the perpetrator, but often has a wider capacity to harm not just the sinner, but other individuals and even communities.

The author does not attribute all the causes of suffering to God, reminding us that the human race is largely responsible for much of its own suffering due to its transgressions.

Fr Remler illustrates this reality with examples of how the manner in which people treat their bodies early in life can have negative repercussions in later years, e.g., excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to irreversible damage to the liver.

Much of our suffering would no doubt be eliminated if the "well- defined laws, which cannot be changed or abolished by the will of man" were strictly observed. However, we still have to contend with the consequences of a fallen nature.

Meanwhile, suffering, whether it be that of ourselves or others, can be a great catalyst for compassion and charity.

"God", according to Fr Remler, "foresees that a life without the cross would infallibly be the cause of your eternal damnation". His advice is to try "to see God's infinite love manifested in the afflictions He sends you. Do you not see that, only for the suffering you endure, you would É cast all care of your eternal salvation to the winds? Pain has opened Heaven to thousands who otherwise would have been lost without fail."

Role models

Fr Remler reminds us that just because we have not yielded to certain temptations or character flaws, this does not mean we are perfect or impervious to the devil's assaults. Rather, our resistance to these can be enhanced by the sufferings we offer up worthily to God.

Readers are encouraged to reflect upon some notable role models of suffering throughout the ages, such as St John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the pinnacle of suffering being the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, during his redemptive passion and death.

This book's "tough love" attitude will not appeal to everyone, especially in today's hedonistic culture. But for the more receptive of us, Fr Demler's realism and insights will offer hope. It also heightens an awareness that while suffering is unavoidable, it can strengthen our relationship with God and foster humility through an appreciation that it is only through the grace of God in our fragility that we can withstand and even transcend our sufferings.

Jacinta Cummins is a journalist working with the National Civic Council.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 19 No 8 (September 2006), p. 18