Why Suffer?
Scepter Booklet 121
Mary Ann Budnik
ASIN B004ASNDMU
I first read a copy of this while on retreat twenty years ago in 2006. I read an old copy of the Scepter Booklet edition of it. Many of which are now available for free on the Scepter site. In 2026 a quote from the book was a social media post from Scepter, it really struck me.
“Much suffering is caused by what we do and what we fail to do.”
It struck me so much I shared it on social media and had numerous interactions. When I checked I saw when I read it but back then I only reviewed stuff I tried to publish in papers and magazines. Now I try and review everything I read. So I decided to read it again, this review grew out of that second reading.
The Scepter Booklet edition description is:
“"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" How often do these words of Scripture come to mind when sorrow and suffering strike? A lost job, a sick child, death in the family, financial setbacks, a problem marriage, or chronic illness can find us turning to God with tears in our eyes and anguish in our hearts. Many of us were taught as children that everything that happens to us has a divine purpose, including pain and suffering. But it often is hard to see God's love and providence in pain.”
One online description of a different edition of this book is:
“Suffering has never been a popular topic. In fact, most of us find it downright distasteful, probably because suffering dogs our footsteps as we progress through life. Yet, suffering has its purpose. It matures us emotionally and spiritually, while it also plays a part in helping us to develop the various virtues.”
The chapters in the booklet are:
Introduction
Benefits of Suffering
Suffering as a Teacher
We Suffer With Christ
The Scandal of the Cross
“A Bad Night in a Bad Inn”
Lessons to be Learned
I highlighted a few passages while working through this booklet, some of them are:
“Many of us were taught as children that everything that happens to us has a divine purpose, including pain and suffering. But it often is hard to see God's love and providence in pain!”
“Today, as in the days before Christ, Satan is allowed to test us. Some of the saints have experienced such testing in a special way. St. Francis of Paola has told us: "The devil has a consuming hatred against the servants of Christ. The malignant one, seeing that he cannot steal their souls, vents his most terrible wrath on them, forcing them to resist every type of suffering."”
“A third cause of suffering is our own nature—our weakness and failings such as pride, selfishness, lack of self-control--in short, our lack of virtue. Much suffering is caused by what we do and what we fail to do. The gossip that we never should have passed on can destroy our peace of mind and the lives of others. Lack of self-control in regard to food, drink, and drugs has destroyed many lives and families.”
“But growing in virtue is not easy. Some self-discipline is needed, and the development of good habits to start driving out the bad ones. Some important helps are frequent or daily Mass and Communion, frequent confession, and spiritual direction. But it is a puzzling fact that few people want to alleviate their sufferings by growing in virtue. They almost seem content with their misery.”
“Another cause of suffering is our own lack of mortification. Our frail natures resist anything that looks like penance.”
“"That piece of cake looks so good.... I'll skip dessert tomorrow instead of tonight." But mañana never comes! It's easier to say "yes" than "no" to a second drink at a cocktail party.”
“There are so many excuses why we shouldn't go to Mass, or take time for mental prayer, or do that work of charity. Yet without a spirit of mortification, we cannot grow spiritually. So God comes to our rescue and imposes a mortification on us in the form of some cross or tribulation.”
“Only in retrospect can we ordinarily see the benefits or purpose of our suffering. It's like a painting. When we are too close to the canvas we see only splotches of color here and there, but when we view it from the proper distance we can see the beauty of the work as a whole. So with our sufferings. While we won't be able to see the entire picture until eternity, we can see meaningful bits and pieces once the suffering has passed.”
“Suffering should strengthen our love of God and give us a clearer vision of Christ's message in the Gospels. By taking up our cross we become Christlike and able to bring others to him.”
“The crosses that add color to our lives are never selected by us. They are given to us by God for a specific reason. God's ways often are an unexpected mystery.”
“As we carry our burdens, there are times when we will stumble. Remember that Christ also stumbled, not once but three times, on his way to Calvary. And so will we. The secret of a successful Christian struggle is not in the failures, but in the struggle to begin again and again every day, and many times during each day.”
“If you find yourself being bitter and gloomy, instead of being at peace with yourself, maybe your condition is a result of you not using frequent confession, and frequent or daily Mass, to grow in love of God. We must turn to prayer, confession, and the Mass to find comfort in adversity. Turn also to Mary, cause of our Joy, to learn docility and acceptance.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for this booklet. It is an excellent little volume even with a second reading almost twenty years after the first. A number of years ago I wanted to track down all the old Scepter Booklets and read them. I did not plan on reviewing them, just reading them because all of them I had read were great. I believe there were originally over 200 volumes in the series. Currently 54 are available for free. And I have over 100 in various digital editions.
I can easily recommend this specific Scepter Booklet and all of them from the series I have read!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2026 Catholic Reading Plan! For reviews of other books and booklets from Scepter click here.
Books by Mary Ann Budnik:
A New Look At The Works of Mercy
Exam of Conscience
Game Plans: A Plan for Holiness
Looking for peace? Try confession!
Raise Happy Children...Raise Them Saints!
Raise Happy Children...Teach Them Joy!
Raise Happy Children...Teach Them Virtues!
Raise Happy Children...Through a Happier Marriage
You Can Become A Saint Facilitators Guide
You Can Become A Saint Workbook
You Can Become a Saint!
…
Scepter Booklets:
5 Steps to a Financially Healthy Marriage - Joseph D. Salem
A New Beginning - Walter Macken
A Plan of Life - Josemaria Escriva
A Profile of St Thomas More - M. Alvarez
A Treasury of Prayers - James W Albrecht
Bright and Cheerful Homes - James Urteaga
Catholic Teachings on Sex - Daryl Glick
Celibacy, Personality and the Gift of Self - John B Torello
Censorship - Cormac Burke
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - Declaration on Certain Questions of Sexual Ethics
Devotion to St. Joseph - F Delclaux
Diary of a City Priest - George William Rutler
Dispositions for Faith - John Henry Newman
Divine Ways on Earth - Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli
Francis Luna - How to Pray
Freedom From What For What - Cormac Burke
Frequent Confession - S Feirgle
How to Pray – Rev. Francis Luna
In Gods House - Paul Nitta
Increase and Multiply - J. A. Garcia-Prieto and J. L. Pastor
Is Purity Possible - JL Soria
Legacy A Story of Generosity - James B Stenson
Life of Faith - Josemaria Escriva
Living in God’s Presence - Francis Luna
Making the Most of Confession - Francis Luna
Marriage in Crisis - Cormac Burke
Montserrat Grases - Mercedes Eguibar
Norms of Piety - JM Muntadas
Novena to St. Josemaria Escriva for Work
Novena to the Immaculate Conception - St Josemaria Escriva
On the Encyclical “The Splendor of the Truth” - Russell Shaw
Order - Joseph L Soria
Parents, Children and The Rules of Life - Cormac Burke
Popular Devotions and Theology - JJ Espinosa
Priests for the New Millennium - John C McCloskey
Reinventing Dad - Denis Helming
Sanctifying Ordinary Work - Andrew Byrne
Scepter Christmas Carols
Seeking Christ in Reading - Rev Eugene Boylan
Sir Thomas More The Making of a Saint - Thomas J. McGovern
Sowing Abundant Doctrine - Joseph A. Vidal
The Angels - Cardinal John Wright
The Apostle Who Couldn't Believe - George Chevrot
The Ark and the Dove - Joseph W. McPherson
The Christian in the World - Russell Shaw
The Donkey at the Waterwheel - Malcolm Kennedy
The Galileo Affair - George Sim Johnston
The Gospel Truth - Michael Giesler
The Laity’s Role in Today’s Church - John Paul II's Christifideles Laici
The Limits of Dissent - John Myers
The Priest and His Image - Alvaro del Portillo
The Reasonableness of Christianity - Peter Kreeft
To Make a Good Retreat - David Chandler
When God Calls - Rev. Federico Suarez
Winning Converts - John McCloskey
With All Your Mind - Rev. Federico Suarez
Women’s Liberation and Feminism - Jutta Burggraf
Work as Fufillment in the thought of John Paul II - John F Cloverdale
…
The Original List of Scepter Booklets:
001 Loyalty to the Church
002 Sowing Abundant Doctrine
003 Time is a Treasure
004 "Increase and Multiply"
006 Human Virtues
007 Bright and Cheerful Homes
008 Freedom From What? For What ?
009 Christ's Presence in Christians
010 Mother of God, Our Mother
011 Supernatural Aim of the Church
012 That All may be Saved
014 The Angels 016 A Priest Forever
017 Marriage, Christian Vocation
018 With All Your Mind
019 Dispositions for Faith
020/021 A New Beginning
022 Sanctifying Ordinary Work
024 Is Purity Possible
025 Life of Prayer
026 Ascension of Our Lord
027 The Religion of the Pharisee
028 To Jesus Through Mary
029 The New Barbarism
030 Passionately Loving the World
032 Montserrat Grases
033 The Great Unknown
034 Love of God and Love of Neighbor
035 Popular Devotions and Theology
036 Towards Holiness
037 "Things New and Old"
038 Christ Triumphs Through Humility
039 Judge Among Men
040 Frequent Confession
041 Divine Ways on Earth:
042 interior Struggle
044 The Eucharist: Mystery of Faith and Love
048 Living in God's Presence
049 Marriage in Crisis
050 The Priest and His Image
051 Freedom and the Church
052 Freedom A Gift of God
053 Censorship
054 Christ the King
055 Humanae Vitae
056 With the Strength of Love
057 Devotion to St. Joseph
058 The Christian Vocation
060 Woman Today
063 The Way of the Cross
064 Surrender to God
066 Conscience and Truth
069 Will You Also Go Away?
070 Twenty Questions to Msgr. Escriva
071 Have You Received the Spirit?
072 The Christian's Hope
073 Marxism and Christianity
074 The Apostle Who Couldn't Believe
075 God's Work
076 Heaven
080 Conversion of the Children of God
081 Full of Grace
082 St. Thomas More: A Profile
083 Justice Alone is Not Enough
085 "Your Sins Are Forgiven You"
087 Here and Now
088 In the Footsteps of Christ
089 Before and After Holy Mass
090 The Greatness of Ordinary Life
091 The Communion of Saints 092 The Blessed Trinity
093/094 Ideals in Youth
095 How to Understand the Bible
096 How the Bible Has Come to Us
098 What is the Church For?
099 Msgr. Escriva De Belaguer: His Love for the Church
100 Parents Children and the Rules of Life
101 Before God and Men
103 On the Feast of Corpus Christi
104 Fatima and Its Pilgrims
105 Authority Faith, and The Individual
106 Letter to Priests
107 Growing in Parenthood
109 Detachment
111 Population and Development
112 Reaching and Teaching Your Children
113 Strangers and Exiles
114 Woman Today: Her Role in the Family
115 Christ's Death Is The Christian's Life
116 The Need for Penance
117 Our lady's Place in Your Life
118 Commentaries on the Holy Mass
119/120 Letter on the Holy Eucharist
121 Why Suffer
123 Man Essential Part 1
124 Man Essential Part 2
125 Sir Thomas More: The Making Of A Saint
126 The Ventures of Faith
127 The Mystical Number Three
128 The Ark and the Dove
129 Come Holy Spirit
131/132 Family, Become What You Are
133 Friendship Of Christ
134 Freedom to Love
136 Conscience and Authority
137 Seeking God in the World
138 Priesthood of Today and Tomorrow
139 A Year of Jubilee
140 Evolution
141 The Black Madonna
142 Christ in his Church
143 Meeting the Press
144 Will Being Good Make Me Happy?
145/146 Letters to a College Student
147 A Game Plan For The Christian
148 Catholic Understanding of Marital Intimacy
150 Process Theology and Secularization
151 Opus Dei & Its Critics
152 Reading: Learning to Choose
153 Liberation Theology
154 Joys & Sorrows St. Joseph
155 Alive to God
156 Keeping God in the Closet
157 Freedom and Obedience
158 With Respect to Sex
159 The Individuality of the Soul
160 Work and the Spiritual Life
161 Women at Work
162 20 Questions to Mgr. Alvaro del Portillo
163 Go For It!
164 Speaking from the Heart
166 Talking About God
167 The Intelligence in the Service of Christ the King
168 Penance
169 Law and Morality
170 Sex & Education
171 The Romance of Orthodoxy
172 Marriage And The Priesthood
173 In Her Will I Dwell
178 The Gospel Truth
179 To Make a Good Retreat
180 Contraception
181/182 Sucessful Fathers
183 The Laity's Role in today's Church
184 Spiritual Direction
187 Reasonableness of Christianity
190 The Christian in the World
191 Seven Words From The Cross
192 The Beatification of Msgr. Escriva
194 Mass: The Hidden Treasure
197 Evangelization in the U.S.
199/200 Order
201 The Galileo Affair
…
204 Reinventing Dad
…
