Diamonds in the Rough

Theologians in their final months at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, Florida, reflect on the meaning and purpose of human suffering in the life of the Christian. In these homilies and reflections on key passages of St. John Paul II's apostolic letter "The Mystery of Human Suffering" (Salvifici Doloris, 1984), co-suffering with Jesus Christ, the Spouse of the Church, becomes the "setting" to contemplate Christ's invitation to "engage" with him in co-redemption. Through this mutual commitment with Christ to suffer what is needed for the redemption of the world, "living stones" discovered among the "rough" elements of everyday life, become transformed into precious diamonds through the "Refiner's fire."