written 6/6/2025, by Aubrie F.
The Bible is filled with stories of hardship and perseverance, offering profound insights into the question that many people have: why is there suffering in the world?
One of the most compelling narratives is the story about God’s faithful servant Job, a righteous man, as he suffers many hardships. Job’s journey is marked by intense physical and emotional pain, yet through it all, he does not abandon his faith. His story challenges us to rethink suffering, particularly in the light of Christ’s redemptive work.
As St. John Paul II writes in Salvifici Doloris, “it is not true that all suffering is a consequence of sin or divine punishment.”
The Christian Meaning of Suffering
For the Christian, suffering is not merely something to endure, but an opportunity to unite with Christ’s cross. This mirrors Christ’s own voluntary suffering for our salvation. Jesus, the Son of God, chose to endure the greatest suffering imaginable—crucifixion—not because he deserved it, but because of his immense love for humanity.
In choosing to suffer, Jesus opened a way for us to find meaning in our own pain. Just as he suffered for the sake of others, we too are invited to take on suffering for the sake of others through the gift of redemptive suffering. This act of offering our pain, our struggles, and even our discomfort for a greater purpose, is a deeply transformative aspect of the Christian life and a central experience of a Biking for Babies missionary.
As missionaries choose to willingly take on physical and spiritual challenges, and to complete asceticisms, they can rejoice in their suffering because through their offering in union with the cross, they can grow in solidarity with those they are offering your suffering for, such as pregnant women in crisis.
Transformation Through Suffering
The true purpose of suffering is conversion. It serves as a means to rebuild goodness within us and draw us closer to God. In our suffering, we have the opportunity to recognize God’s mercy and repent, allowing our struggles to strengthen us and deepen our relationships with God as we open deeper depths of our hearts to his love. This process is not always easy, and at times, the ‘why’ of our suffering may remain elusive.
But by uniting our pain with the suffering of Christ, we are drawn into a deeper understanding of divine love. This is the mystery of suffering that Christ calls us to embrace: that through our pain, we can enter into the redemptive work of the cross.
As we reflect on Christ’s victory over sin and death, we understand that while suffering does not disappear from the world, it used for transformation. Through His cross and resurrection, Christ brings light to the darkness of suffering.
A Mission of Redemptive Love
Every moment of pain, whether physical or emotional, now carries the potential for redemption. In the same way that Christ entered into the “world of human suffering” by ministering to the sick, the poor, the hungry, and the downtrodden, we too can draw near to those who are suffering today.
For us, this often means standing in solidarity with women who are considering abortion, women who have experienced abortion, and the unborn children who have died as a result. Our mission is to offer our suffering, our prayers, and our hopes on their behalf.
This is where the concept of “offering it up” becomes central. No matter what discomforts or inconveniences we experience, we have the opportunity to offer it all to God.
There is no perfect formula for this. What matters is the act of offering it- the intentional uniting of our experiences with Christ’s sacrifice. As we offer our prayers, our suffering, and our hope for those in need, we draw closer to understanding the depth of God’s love for others. Each person has a share in the redemption of the world, and each person is called to participate in the redemptive suffering of Christ.
At the heart of love is sacrifice.
Biking for Babies: Offering Ourselves for Others
Join your prayers and suffering with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for those who need it most. Whether it’s the aches in our body from a long ride or the exhaustion we feel from giving of ourselves, we offer all of it for women and families in crisis, for the unborn, and for those who are suffering in silence.
This is the power of unification with Christ’s cross: through our small acts of sacrifice, we participate in the ongoing work of redemption, offering our suffering as a means of grace and healing for others. In doing so, we come to know, more deeply than ever, the redemptive power of Christ’s love.
