Why does God Allow Suffering?

by Sarah-Leah Pimentel · March 29, 2015

A few weeks ago someone asked me: Why does God allow such suffering? Especially the suffering of the innocent? I tried to articulate all the responses I’ve collected from years of teaching catechism to teenagers. Things like: God suffers every time one of his children suffers. Suffering is unfair but it’s also an opportunity to allow God’s grace to work in our lives. God’s not the one who causes the evil in the world, but it is the result of human choice. We can either choose to do good and lift those around us upward to God’s love or we can choose to commit evil deeds that bring suffering to others.

There’s truth in each of these answers but they seemed hollow when the person who asked me the question retorted: Yes, but what about a young child who is raped? Or the thousands of people who are trying to live good lives and one day suddenly find themselves at the mercy of violent madmen who abuse the name of God? How can God allow that?

And so the question haunted me for weeks. If God is all powerful and almighty, can’t he just prevent the innocent from becoming the victims of such violence? Why won’t he stop the suffering of someone whose entire lifetime has been one tragedy after another?

Sometimes, there are just no answers. But perhaps, instead of answers, we can find peace through our faith.

It gave me some comfort to find the words below by Pope Francis during one of his Lenten audiences last year. We are not alone in asking these difficult questions. He expresses the same sadness and outrage at senseless suffering, particularly the suffering of the innocent:

So often we perceive the horror of the evil and pain that surrounds us and we ask: Why does God allow it? It is a profound wound for us to see suffering and death, especially that of the innocent! When we see children suffering, it is a wound to the heart: it is the mystery of evil.

And Jesus takes upon himself all this evil, all this suffering. It will do us all good this week to look at the crucifix, to kiss Jesus’ wounds, to kiss him on the cross. He took upon himself all human suffering, he clothed himself in this suffering.

We expect God, in his omnipotence, to defeat injustice, evil, sin and suffering with a triumphant divine victory. Instead, God shows us a humble victory which humanly seems a failure. We can say that God conquers in failure! In fact, the Son of God appears on the cross as a defeated man.

It’s a disconcerting mystery, says Pope Francis, but perhaps that is just it. The only way that we can sometimes be moved to action is by being disturbed by something. Perhaps we have become so numbed to human suffering caused by poverty, abandonment, illness that we barely even bat an eyelid. It takes something really shocking to spur us into action.

Part of this mystery is Jesus’ own words in the weeks leading up to his Passion. Instead of the comforting language the disciples had become accustomed to hearing, Jesus talks about the signs of the end of the ages. It’s terrifying stuff. Take this: Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me (Lk 21:10, 16-17).

Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to take away all suffering. But through this same mystery of the Cross, he redeems it through humility and failure in man’s eyes.

It seems contradictory, but it’s exactly what was foretold by the prophet Simeon. Looking at the Christ Child, he said that he would be a sign of contradiction (Lk 2:34). Through death, Jesus raises us all to eternal life. On the Cross of hatred, upon which is pinned all of the sins and suffering of the world past, present and future hangs the one who is Love.

In other words, suffering is transformed on the Cross. Death is transformed into life. Fear and anguish are transformed into mercy; regret into forgiveness.

And somehow, through the mystery of the Cross, countless millions the anonymous martyrs who have been victims of injustice and cruelty through the ages, are also given the eternal peace that they were unable to find in life.

Maybe this is what Christ is calling us to in this Holy Week. To look at Jesus on the Cross, but instead of dwelling on his pain, to find peace in his broken body the same peace we find in the living bread broken for us in the Eucharist.

Make our peace with the fact that we will always have the poor and suffering among us (cf Jn 12:8) and have the courage to look into the eyes of each person who suffers and see Jesus. See Jesus in others. See Jesus in ourselves.