Suffering: The Catholic Answer (Paperback)

~ Hubert van Zeller (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

I cannot recommend this highly enough! -- Thomas Howard, author, Splendor in the Ordinary

Splendid and timely! -- Regis Martin, author, The Last Things

Product Description

The greatest test of your faith won’t come from Bible-quoting Protestants or polite young Mormons on bicycles! No, your greatest test will be whether you will trust God when you suffer, or whether you will, in the words of Job’s wife, "curse God and die." In Suffering: The Catholic Answer, Dom Hubert van Zeller helps you prepare now for all your sufferings by enabling you to see them with the eyes of the Spirit.

Van Zeller, the wise author of Holiness for Housewives, maintains that you can understand the mystery of suffering only by means of the Passion of Christ. In this book, he explores the fourteen Stations of the Cross, plumbing the inner meanings of each in order to reveal why there has to be pain, and what you should do (and should not do) about it.

In his explorations of the Stations, van Zeller finds a great deal to help you in dark times. He reminds you that suffering, properly understood, cannot and should not extinguish happiness, and shows you how to accept your crosses with love. He reveals how you can learn from Christ Himself to turn your failures into victories, and to alleviate others’ suffering by imitating Mary’s compassion.

Above all, van Zeller shows you that suffering has a purpose, and he uses Christ’s Passion to sharpen your vision of life’s meaning.

With help from this perceptive book, you’ll learn how not to grow disheartened or to give in to discouragement, but to see your crosses for what they are, and to bear them with perseverance.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press; 2nd edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928832520
• ISBN-13: 978-1928832522
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,199,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suffering: If You Can't Lose it--USE it!, March 30, 2008

By	Richard Snouffer (USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a primer for beginning to realize and apply some very basic, extremely important facts of redemption and for beginning to apply them to the sufferings that inevitably enter all of our lives. This book should be required reading for all Christians. (and even non-Christians) Don't wait until you're mired in heavy suffering! These principles can (and should) also be practiced with the everyday minor sufferings and frustrations encountered in daily life.

While the problem of suffering is universal, few religions have any good handle on it beyond "Just trust in God. He knows what He is doing." While this is a fine example of Faith and a virtue if practiced, it is a bit dissatisfying intellectually as an explanation. It also can be hard to internalize and practice when undergoing severe trials of your own.

While God never wills evil, He also generally won't interfere with our Free Will. This means that evil (and its companion, suffering) will enter into everyone's lives at some point. He also never allows more suffering than a person can handle, IF a person accepts and corresponds the Grace and strength that He always offers us in our times of strife. As some of my Protestant brethren have wisely put it, "If He brings you TO it, He'll bring you THROUGH it!" However, there is more. When God allows suffering to come into a person's life, He WILL draw a greater good from it.

The crux of the Catholic take on suffering is that suffering can be a means by which the sufferer can bring down actual Grace on the world, to help Christ's body, which is The Church. Your suffering can MEAN something, and can bring down real benefits to your Faith journey as well as to others in The Church. If one accepts one's suffering with Grace and unites one's suffering to Jesus Christ on the Cross, one can actually help to make up for what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. (If this statement bothers you, realize that your argument is not with me, it's with The Bible: cf. Col. 1:24. Explanation follows.)

Colossians 1:24 does NOT mean that what Jesus did was in any way inadequate. Of course it was not! Jesus was and IS God. He could never have been inadequate in ANYTHING He ever said or did.

What it DOES mean is that Jesus ALLOWS us to help with the work of redemption. God could have redeemed an infinity of worlds with less effort that it takes to snap our fingers, and it would have been fully adequate. Yet He CHOSE to be born, struggle, live, grow up, and die horribly with great suffering for our redemption. The question is clear: WHY? The answer, given to us by The Church, is that He came to give our suffering meaning, and in the process to allow us to help each other in the struggle for redemption. God takes joy in our helping each other in redemption the way a parent takes joy in allowing their little ones to help with simple chores--even though it would often be easier for the parent if they didn't allow the little one to help.

I strongly and without hesitation recommend this book, whether you need help with actual suffering of your own, or simply want to understand the Catholic method of not only dealing with, but also using suffering to our advantage and benefit.

I apologize for the length of this review. However this is a HUGE topic, and extremely difficult to explain in 300 words or less.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read but some deep insights, March 3, 2008

By	DHT "d828" (Indiana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Very good and thought provoking book. Written in plain English and applicable to daily life but deep nonetheless.