When we suffer (Victor Hugo / Matt Nelson)

Even the darkest night will end
and the sun will rise.
 
--Victor Hugo, Les Misérables 

   So, when we suffer with Christ, we suffer in and through Christ. Doing so, we are joined to the saving mission of our Savior. He didn’t have to make this possible. He doesn’t need us to redeem the world. 

  But God wants to offer us everything: even the ability to convert the worst of evils in our own lives into acts of charity and salvation. Knowing this, St. Paul rejoiced in his sufferings. 

--Matt Nelson, 
Suffering as Gift:
A Third Layer of Reality 

Image source: Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (2012), https://beyondthesestonewalls.com/posts/les-miserables-the-bishop-and-the-redemption-of-jean-valjean, with movie clip at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJYqCsANv8
Quotation 1 source
Quotation 2 source