Facing the

reality of human
suffering.

OBJECTIVES:
Doctrine: realize that God creates out of
His divine goodness and wants to share His
goodness and love with us through His son
Jesus Christ.

Morals: be open to the call of reaching out

to others, especially to those in need, and
contributing to the improvement of our
society.
Worship: be hopeful about the future by
entrusting ourselves to Gods caring love
as we share in Jesus mission of building

Many Filipinos today are

tempted to see very little
hope for our country. With
all the corruption, violence,
and natural calamities
besetting our people.
Facing the reality of human
suffering.

 Suffering or pain in a broad sense, may be an

experience of unpleasantness and aversion
associated with the perception of harm or
threat of harm in an individual.

Suffering is the basic element that makes up

the negative valence of affective phenomena.

What is suffering?

 We suffer in many different

ways. Since we are embodied
spirits, we experience two kinds
of suffering, Physical Suffering
and Spiritual Suffering

 Physical Suffering is present

when the body is hurting in
some way, whereas moral
suffering is pain of the soul.

1. Why do people suffer?

2. Why does God allow
suffering?

Students activity

 Read the book of Job 38-40. Pay

attention to how his friends tried to
explain his suffering and to Jobs
denial.

Job 38-40: Job, a servant

of God

 The Book of Job tells the story of a

man called Job. Job was a good man.
Job trusted God. But Job had terrible
troubles.
The devil caused Jobs troubles (Job
1:12; Job 2:6-7). But Job did not
know this fact. So Job thought that
God caused the problems (Job 19:112). In fact, God did not cause Jobs
troubles. God merely permitted Job
to suffer. Still, Job trusted God. And
Job refused to insult God (Job 2:9-

 Jobs friends tried to help Job. But

their advice was wrong. They did
not think that God would allow
an innocent person to suffer. So
they thought that Job was guilty.
They guessed that Job had done
many wicked things (Job 22:4-11

 Job argued with them. He

explained that he was innocent
(Job 31:1-40). Job thought that
God should help him. But Job
was still suffering. So Job
supposed that God was unfair
(Job 23:13-17). But this idea
was wrong. Nobody should
accuse God. God is always fair
(Job 34:10-12).

 God was kind to Job, even when

Job was suffering. God taught Job
many things. Job learned that
death is not the end of everything
(Job 19:25-27). Job discovered
that God would rescue him (Job
14:13-17). And Job knew that God
is wonderful (Job 26:5-14).

 Then a man called Elihu

spoke. Elihu was wiser than
Jobs other friends were. Elihu
told Job not to accuse God.
And Elihu was angry that the
other friends had been cruel
to Job (Job 32:2-3).
Then a storm approached the
men. And the men heard
Gods voice (Job chapter 38 to

 God reminded the men that he

is very great. He told them
about the world, the stars and
the sea (Job chapter 38). He
described many strange
animals (Job chapter 39 to
chapter 41). And God explained
that he created all these things.
So nobody should accuse God.
Nobody should say that God is
not fair. Instead, we must
respect God. And we must be

 Then Job was sorry that he

said the wrong things about
God. And Jobs friends were
sorry too. They asked Job to
pray for them. And God
forgave them all (Job chapter
42).
After Job prayed for his
friends, God made Job
successful again (Job 42:1217).

 Who is Job? What was his

response to suffering?
What can we learn from the story
of Job about the sufferings of just
person?

Process questions

 What forms of suffering did Job

experience?
If you were Job, what would you
think and feel when you experience all
those suffering? Why?

assignment

THANK YOU FOR

LISTENING
GODBLESS US.