Deacon James Keating explains redemptive suffering as the practice of freely offering one’s physical, emotional, or spiritual pain in love for the good of another, uniting that suffering to Christ’s own prayer on the cross. Rather than becoming trapped in self-pity or displaced anger, suffering can be transformed into intercessory prayer through a faith-filled imagination that connects real pain, real love for others, and God’s will for human flourishing. In this way, suffering is no longer isolated or absurd but becomes meaningful participation in Christ’s saving work, not because the cross is lacking, but because Christ draws his whole body into it through freely given love.

The conversation then turns to emotional suffering, which Keating describes as especially common and often misunderstood in contemporary culture. While affirming the proper place of psychotherapy and medication, he presents prayer and spiritual direction as paths of deep honesty before God, where fears, anger, grief, and temptation are brought into divine intimacy rather than hidden. Drawing on saints such as Thérèse of Lisieux and figures like Mother Teresa, he shows how small, daily acts of self-offering prepare the soul for greater trials and guard against bitterness. The path forward is not dramatic heroics but beginning “the little way,” surrendering pain to God step by step, trusting that resurrection follows surrender, and allowing Christ to carry the soul where it cannot go on its own.

1. How can I intentionally unite my physical, emotional, or spiritual pain with Christ as a prayer for the good of another person?
2. In what ways do I tend to turn inward when I suffer, and how might God be inviting me to redirect that pain into love?
3. How can practicing small acts of self-offering in daily annoyances prepare my heart for greater trials in the future?
4. What emotions or wounds do I hesitate to bring honestly into prayer, and what might change if I shared them openly with Christ?
5. How does my understanding of the cross shape the way I respond to suffering rather than trying to avoid or escape it?
6. When pain makes God feel distant or absent, how can I continue choosing trust and surrender in faith?
7. How might my experience of suffering become a path of purification that leads me toward deeper holiness and love?

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page