April 9, Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Suffering Webinar

The Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute invites you to join us for a free webinar:

RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF SUFFERING*
Wednesday, April 9, 7 pm – 8:30 PM (Eastern)

Redemptive suffering does not exclude good palliative care, nor does it mean that people should choose to suffer for its own sake, as if that somehow ‘earns’ redemption. It means that existential suffering, fear of death and the dying process, and sometimes the experience of a long, terminal illness affect people spiritually and emotionally in a different way from physical suffering.

At the same time, learning to turn weakness, frailty, dependency, pain, etc., into offerings to God in union with Christ’s suffering is a way that acknowledges human weakness at end-of-life while also seeing meaning in suffering and realizing that it could be of value for others, for example, in the way that the Little Flower did.

Pope Pius XII said that it is noble to forgo palliation at a certain point if one desires to stay conscious and in close unity with Christ, but he added that doing so does not make one a better or more virtuous person: it’s a choice, but not at all obligatory. That’s a significant distinction which is encouraging and validating for those who help prevent suffering at any time and especially at end-of-life.

Charles Lewis was newspaper reporter and editor for more than 35 years. For six of the 16 years he spent at the National Post he covered religion and ethics. Since retirement in 2016, due to a very painful spinal condition as well as liver cancer, he has been a frequent contributor to the Toronto-based Catholic Register and the U.S.-based National Catholic Register. During the time of the legalization of euthanasia he spoke at 80 events against what we now call MAID. He also spent three years as a volunteer at a local hospice.

Dr Ann Sirek studied medicine and, later on, theology at the University of Toronto. Her interest has always been the intersection of medicine, spirituality, and theological ethics. After a life-time in the practice of medicine as a diabetologist, she was inspired to explore the spiritual response to suffering. Her life-experience in acknowledging her own struggles and the spiritual growth that came in the midst of difficulties became the foundation of her work with those who suffer.  In exploring the tradition on possible responses of the suffering human spirit, she read Thomas Aquinas and other significant theologians. She is the author of Visceral Resonance: A Theological Essay on Attending the Sufferer, 2020, Pickwick Publications. In retirement, she continues as a volunteer at the Dorothy Ley Hospice to serve those who suffer. She enjoys teaching the spirituality of Thomas Aquinas at the parish level. Her hobbies include dancing, gardening, sewing, and grandchildren.

Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD, DSL (Hon) graduated in Law from the University of Glasgow, later completing an MDiv and PhD in Theology at St Michael’s College, University of Toronto. She taught Moral Theology at St Michael’s Faculty of Theology from 1994-2021, has published several book chapters and journal articles on bioethics, faith and science, human enhancement, Mary and bioethics, the role of the laity in the Church, etc. She is the author of the award-winning book, Bioethics Matters (third edition is available from Novalis), and Walking Together: A Primer on the New Synodality  (2022).

Dr McQueen was appointed Executive Director of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute in July 2004, and is involved in lecture and consultancy sessions with school boards, health care institutions, priests’ seminars, conferences, parish talks and media appearances. She is a consultant to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and was their representative on the Faith and Life Sciences Reference Group of the Canadian Council of Churches from 2010-2022.

From 2014-2019, she served on the International Theological Commission of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, collaborating in publishing three documents on Religious Freedom, Synodality, and the Sacraments.

*Bishop Robert Barron on Suffering
(Instagram, YouTube):

Friends, never pass up the opportunity to interpret suffering as a participation in the suffering of Christ.

People listening to me right now, you’re suffering at different levels, at different degrees of intensity. Might I interpret it as Jesus living His cross in me even now so that my suffering is contributing, maybe in a manner that I can’t entirely see, but is contributing to the salvation of the world? Dumb suffering, just dumb evil – no, no!

John Paul II was so good on this, wasn’t he? Never pass up the opportunity when you suffer. He didn’t mean that masochistically.

Never pass up the opportunity to interpret that suffering as a participation in the suffering of Christ. He wants to live His life in you: you’re the branch; He’s the vine. So of course we suffer in this life, because the Master suffered.