The theme for this year’s celebration of Day for Life in the Catholic Church in Ireland and the UK on Sunday 15 June 2025 is “Hope Does Not Disappoint: Finding Meaning in Suffering”. The Bishops’ Message for Day of Life 2025 expresses that:- “Suffering touches every person at some point in their lives. It is often associated with illness, grief, and loss. It is not only caused by physical pain but includes emotional suffering as well as ‘soul pain’, such as depression and despair. Christians are not immune to this mystery and we often struggle to know how best to respond to it, and where we can find hope.”1
In my life I have learned to embrace emotional suffering and to journey over time towards finding acceptance, meaning and healing through it. Saint John Paul II remarked that the disciple discovers meaning to their suffering through the “redemptive suffering of Christ”. He said that “Christ has taught man to do good by his suffering and to do good to those who suffer. In this double aspect he has completely revealed the meaning of suffering.”2. While suffering is not easy to live with at a human level, I believe in the supernatural grace of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; which has given me the courage to persevere without fear, believing in the hope brought about by faith in the Resurrection and eternal life.
Since I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 20, I became more acutely aware of the gift of human life. Spirituality has an important role to play in healing and having my Catholic faith marked the beginning of a journey of restoration in my life. The prayer of Adoration helped me deepen my faith as a young adult, it helped me in particular to find meaning and consolation for my depression and despair through the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Peer to peer support through new movements and communities in the Church gave me renewed purpose and meaning in my life, encouraging me to be in gratitude for the very gift of being alive, and to strive to live life to the full, one day at a time.
While I have experienced disappointments, grief and loss which have taken their toll, clinging to my faith gave me hope and the belief that things would get better. The suffering I have endured has ultimately through time, given me healing and renewed hope. The healing sacraments of the church and contemplative prayer has helped me find meaning for my suffering and to ‘let go and let God’. All of us inevitably experience suffering at some stage in our lives. The cross is an inevitable part of the journey of faith. Jesus himself said “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).3 I have learned the importance of forgiveness and how I need to forgive from my heart in order to experience real peace, interior healing, authentic freedom and growth.
Healing is also holistic and I believe that God also works through the contribution of doctors, nurses and chaplains who looked after me so well during times of fragility for my mental health when I needed additional care and hospitalisation. I also appreciate the mental health practitioners who look after my ongoing care, as well as the support I receive from my family and friends, the priests and religious who offer the sacraments and spiritual accompaniment, and the wider Christian community who care by their concern and prayer. All these people are caregivers who play an important role in supporting people who are suffering towards recovery and they remind me of the gift of life and the compassion of Christ.
My faith has helped me manage my symptoms of bipolar disorder in my daily life and helped me to appreciate the Christian dignity of my life in the midst of human suffering. This dignity comes from each person being created in the image and likeness of God, as stated in Genesis:- “God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves…God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27).4 Pope Francis, remarked that as a community of Christians “we have an obligation to ensure that every person lives with dignity and has sufficient opportunities for his or her integral development.”5
I don’t see myself as a person who is defined by my condition, rather I see myself as fully human and fully alive, blessed with the gifts which God has bestowed on me. I recognise the healing power of God at work in my life, which has helped bring about new life; so that at peace with my own personal journey, and guided by it, I can accompany and offer healing and hope to others in their suffering. It is in this context that I was particularly struck by an an inspirational quotation I recently came across, attributed to Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), one of the greatest and most-influential artists of the 20th century:- “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
- ‘Hope does not dissapoint’ Day for Life 15 June 2025 – Message, Most Reverend Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin and of Achonry Ireland; Most Reverend John Sherrington, Archbishop of Liverpool, England and Wales; Right Reverend John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley, Scotland https://councilforlife.ie/day-for-life-2025/ ↩︎
- Pope John Paul II, Salvifici Doloris of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering, no. 30 (1984) ↩︎
- Catholic Online Bible, Mark – Chapter 8, http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=48&bible_chapter=8> ↩︎
- Catholic Online – Bible – Genesis – Chapter 1 – https://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=1 ↩︎
- Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship [Fratelli Tutti], no. 118 (2020) ↩︎
Lovely piece, well done, and you certainly have a gift for writing