Our Suffering Is A Means To Comfort The Whole World

In his book, The Divine Pity, A Study In he Social Imlications of the Beatitudes, Fr. Gerald Vann O.P., has this to say on the beatitude, Blessed are they that mourn . . .

The most practical application of all that we have been thinking is indeed this; that whatever suffering and sorrow may come to you, and whenever it come, it can be used, and ought to be used, in the power and in the company of Christ for the healing and the comforting of the world as a whole; and in that sharing of the sorrow of the world as a whole you can find your understanding and your heart immeasurably enlarged, enlarged indeed to something remotely approaching the fullness of the stature of Christ.

From the earthquake in Japan there is obviously a great need for healing and comfort. What a great opportunity then, as we begin Lent, to join the particular sufferings and trials that will undoubtedly come our way and bring some measure of comfort and relief to so many people