Faith does not suppress the senseless aspect of certain sufferings. God seems absent when they supervene. The presence and compassion of those around may restore courage. After all, God is present in the very experience of absence. In Jesus, God bestows on each one of us the opportunity to face our own suffering and to cooperate with the divine enterprise that is the salvation of the world.
Illness has the character of a test.
It also has an educational value for those able to consider it from the standpoint of the reign of God. In discovering, thanks to faith, the redemptive suffering of Christ, human beings also discover their own sufferings there. Thanks to faith, they find those sufferings enriched with a new content and a new meaning. Pastoral service to the sick and dying Christians seek to promote a pastoral ministry of health, one calculated to keep account of the dignity and the rights of the patient. They discover their usefulness at work in the Church and weave new bonds.