Suffering = Salvation

There are many reasons I am so blessed to be Catholic, but one of the most important is that Catholicism imbues suffering with meaning. From the time I was very young, I can remember my father and my grandmother telling me to offer up my suffering for the souls in Purgatory. Far from being offended or feeling that they were unsympathetic, I was so happy when they told me that! Knowing that my suffering, physical or mental, not only unites me with Christ in his suffering on the cross, but that it also eases the suffering of the Holy Souls in Purgatory as they await the day when they will be with God in Heaven makes even the most painful trials so much more bearable. Without that idea, in fact, suffering seems completely pointless and arbitrary. I actually don't know how people who *don't* offer up their suffering deal with it. Do they find any meaning in it at all?

Meme credit: http://www.catholicbible101.com/memes.htm