Only Christians can accept suffering not as the punishment of an angry God, but as the inescapable consequence of original sin.
"Now, however, 'we walk by faith, not by sight'; (2 Cor 5:7) we perceive God as 'in a mirror, dimly' and only 'in part.' (1 Cor 13:12) Even though enlightened by him in whom it believes, faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it." (CCC 164)"In solidarity with the blessed Passion of the Lord, every human person can accept suffering as a gift and aing as a gift and a grace unto salvation. In particular this is made possible by the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. One of the effects of the sacrament is of union with the passion of Christ." (CCC 1521)
Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for Quinquagesima Sunday.
