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Q: Please define what is meant by salvific, sacrificial and redemptive suffering. What is their purpose in Roman Catholic theology? If possible, please give me additional references to articles which would permit my scripture group to search for themselves. (Mark)
Dear Mark:
Christ offered himself as a sacrifice to the Father to free mankind from the bondage of sin brought about by the fall of our first parents. This freeing from sin and restoration of grace is known as the Redemption of Man, and was brought about through Christ's passion and death on the cross, that is, by Christ's suffering. The suffering of Our Blessed Lord, therefore, is known as 'redemptive' or 'sacrificial' suffering, the two words often being used interchangeably. The resurrection of Christ is regarded as the completion of this redemptive or sacrificial act.
In liberating us from sin and its effects, Christ's passion, death, and resurrection also opened the way for us to achieve that union with God forever in the glory of heaven, known as our salvation. So Christ's suffering is referred to as 'salvific', because it won for us the hope of salvation.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John: 3:16)
The three adjectives, then, refer to different aspects of the same reality. 'Redemptive' refers to the purpose, that is, the deliverance of humanity from sin; 'sacrificial' refers to the means, namely, Christ offering himself as victim ; and 'salvific' points to the end, which is union with God forever.
At the centre of our Catholic faith is the Cross on which our Saviour suffered and died for our sins. The Church teaches us that, based on the sufferings of Christ, all human suffering can become redemptive:
"The Redeemer suffered in place of man and for man. Every man has his own share in the Redemption. Each one is also called to share in that suffering through which the Redemption was accomplished. He is called to share in that suffering through which all human suffering has also been redeemed. In bringing about the Redemption through suffering, Christ has also raised human suffering to the level of the Redemption. Thus each man, in his suffering, can also become a sharer in the redemptive suffering of Christ." (Salvifici Doloris, 1984)
Most Catholics, especially older ones, are very familiar with the concept of "offering up" all our sufferings, physical and mental, for our own sins and for the sins of the world. No one was more aware of this than St. Therese of Lisieux, whose 'little way' of love was based on silent suffering:
"The end cannot be reached without adopting the means, and since Our Lord had made me understand that it was through the Cross he would give me souls, the more crosses I encountered the stronger became my attraction to suffering. Unknown to anyone, this was the path I trod for fully five years: it was precisely the flower I wished to offer to Jesus, a hidden flower which keeps its perfume only for heaven." (The Story of a Soul) .
For a more in depth study, your scripture group would find it helpful to read Pope John Paul II's first encyclical, 'Redemptor Hominis' (On redemption and dignity of the human race, 1979), and the Holy Father's apostolic letter 'Salvifici Doloris' quoted above, which is his reflection on the salvific meaning of human suffering.
God bless, Father Norbert