This statue stands in the square outside the church of Santa Maria Della Miseracordia in Norcia, Italy, marking the birthplace of Saints Benedict and his twin sister, Scholastica. It is fitting that today’s Magnificat meditation is an excerpt from Hubert van Zeller, a Benedictine monk and artist.

In the excerpt, On Asking to be Healed, von Zeller addresses suffering. He reminds us that the Christian approach to suffering is neither about stoicism nor fatalism, but rather about the perfection Jesus reflected in the garden of Gethsemane. While we ask God to relieve us of our suffering, we at the same time are prepared to accept His will.

Only in faith, van Zeller tells us, are we able to respond to God’s Providence—His “seeing beforehand.” He sees what we need, while our lives with all of their twists and turns, joys and challenges, are mysteries to us.

Ultimately, he reminds us that the best approach to suffering is to “believe we are all the time objects of [God’s] love, that his wisdom is being brought to bear upon our affairs, and that his power is there to help us.”

Our sufferings might remain mysteries to us, but we can be consoled knowing that whatever the challenge, God is asking us to “share in the work of the Passion.” Both in our joys and challenges, we may trust that God is calling us to participate in the “essential harmony of [His] design.”

Let us pray that this Truth is enough for us, if only just for today.