Some voices today are using individual freedom to call for the “right to die” when illness seems to make life too heavy a burden. This brings up the question of the purpose of existence and the purpose of suffering. Christians find the answer to these questions in the Gospel. It is there that they understand they are not the masters, but the stewards of their lives.

This leaflet offers to people who are struggling with illness, as well as to all others, the opportunity to discover or deepen their understanding of the unexpected meaning that Christ gives to our lives and to our suffering. Many find in Him the source of their perseverance, of their hope, and even of their joy in adversity.

This reflection can be continued in families, between friends or among colleagues, in parishes, schools and universities, in hospitals or in nursing homes and palliative care centres – wherever men and women, young and aging, wonder about life and the enigma of pain and death.