Suffering - Don't Waste it

The following is from the new Mother Angelica book Little Book of Life Lessons and everyday Spirituality edited by Raymond Arroyo and available at EWTN

No one understands suffering like I think Mother Angelica. She suffered early in life either physically, mentally or emotionally. Yet, she always united her sufferings with that of her beloved Christ. The following is from Chapter 7 of her book: The Power and Meaning of Pain and Suffering:

1. Create great holiness and become a powerful witness to those around you.

2. By accepting your pain you are doing God's Will in an awesome way.

3. By offering your pain to God, you can save souls.

God is trusting you with pain; He is trusting you to accept it with love.

There are three types of suffering according to Mother Angelica:

1. Preventive Suffering - Where God uses suffering as a way to prevent us from "committing sin or making errors in judgment or becoming to worldly or proud".

2. Corrective Suffering - The sufferings incurred by our disobedience can be used to purify the very weaknesses that produced the sin in the first place.

3. Repentant Suffering - This kind of suffering "cleanses our souls and brings down upon us the compassion of God and enables us to begin anew".