By Sheryl Tirol | OSV News
In her compelling work, “Offer It Up: Discovering the Power and Purpose of Redemptive Suffering,” author Megan Hjelmstad delves into the profound and often misunderstood concept of redemptive suffering within the Catholic tradition. Drawing from her own battle with chronic illness, she offers readers a deeply personal and theologically rich exploration of how pain and suffering can be a source of spiritual growth and communal benefit.
In her debut book — which is part autobiographical — Hjelmstad recounts years of illness, including ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a degenerative spinal disease, Eagle’s syndrome and severe digestive issues requiring a strict diet. A West Point graduate and Army veteran, she speculates that her Airborne training could have contributed to her Eagle’s syndrome, which afflicts a person with neck pain. She also discovered she had endometriosis and, after a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy, learned she could no longer have children beyond her three.
Hjelmstad begins by confronting the natural human inclination to avoid pain. She acknowledges the fear, grief and sense of limitation that accompany suffering, emotions she knows intimately due to her own health challenges. Rather than offering platitudes, she invites readers to journey with her in exploring how embracing suffering, rather than fleeing it, can lead to profound healing and purpose.
Central to her thesis is the Catholic doctrine of redemptive suffering — the belief that human suffering, when united with Christ’s passion, can participate in the redemption of the world. Hjelmstad articulates this concept with clarity, making it accessible to both lifelong Catholics and those new to the faith. She emphasizes that this union with Christ doesn’t negate the reality of pain but infuses it with meaning, transforming personal trials into opportunities for grace.
Hjelmstad makes understanding the meaning of redemptive suffering more relatable by bringing in both Catholic terminology and real-life examples. Early in the book, she notes that “redemptive suffering is, quite simply, a form of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer, or intercession, means praying to God for the good of others.”
Years of mysterious illness did not deter Hjelmstad from achieving her goals. The reader gets a true sense of what her life was like from an early age and how she persevered later as a wife and mother while maintaining writing projects and a women’s ministry. Her story shows the reality of how one can suffer mentally and physically but still overcome it with the help of God.
She shares her journey with vulnerability, detailing how her chronic illness led her to a deeper understanding of her faith and the redemptive value of suffering. These personal anecdotes serve as a testament to the transformative power of embracing one’s cross.
In one section she talks about “Hope For Redemption” where she notes, “The original desire for all that is truly good is still written in our hearts, so we naturally rebel against the tyranny of suffering and attempt to eliminate it. Yet in our fallen state, humanity has proved incapable of redeeming itself, despite countless attempts at self-reform throughout the centuries. Only our Creator is powerful and pure enough to save us from our enslavement to evil. So deep was God’s grief for our suffering that He sacrificed His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment upon Himself, conquer evil, and restore our severed lifeline to everlasting life.”
Hjelmstad offers an unfiltered look at suffering by sharing her raw struggles — breaking down in prayer, pleading with God, and even bargaining with him. She vividly conveys the crippling weight of pain while revealing the grace and joy found in embracing it. Through her Catholic faith, she finds strength in her lowest moments, showing readers how suffering can be transformed through God’s presence.
She notes the power in letting go of self-reliance and leaning into God. It’s in surrendering our pain and our broken hearts where we see the graces God is providing through that experience. Often, we cannot see at the moment what God is doing but down the road we can sometimes have a better understanding of what he might be trying to do in our lives for the greater good.
In one case, Hjelmstad talks about how her suffering had evolved into a heart-breaking moment. “Although my health conditions started as physical and emotional suffering, they expanded to spiritual suffering when I began experiencing allergic reactions to the Eucharist. First, I tried low-gluten hosts. When that failed, I was able to request a small amount of wine in a separate chalice to be consecrated into the Most Precious Blood.”
As a Catholic, reading that passage more than halfway through the book, I deeply felt Hjelmstad’s pain. We don’t just celebrate the Mass, we revere the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. For her to endure yet another blow, this time a spiritual one, was profoundly devastating. Hjelmstad though finds solace through the Virgin Mother, through the intercession of Our Lady of Sorrows, a Catholic devotion that focuses on the deep suffering that Mary endured during her life, especially during Jesus’ passion and death.
After going to a retreat she writes, “For the first time, I understood that I was truly not alone in this suffering. Christ’s physical absence was not a punishment of withholding but a grace of intimacy beyond words. It was an invitation to love Him in a place of seeming emptiness, to long for Him in apparent absence, to seek Him even fumbling through pitch blackness so that like our Blessed Mother, I might be united with Him in His heavenly feast with infinitely greater fullness. He was purifying my earthly desires to align more closely with God’s eternal desires for me.”
Interwoven through her story are reflections on the lives of saints who exemplified redemptive suffering. Hjelmstad draws parallels between her experiences and those of figures like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. John Paul II and others, illustrating how their responses to suffering can serve as models for contemporary believers. These examples provide readers with concrete illustrations of how to live out the call to offer up one’s pain for a greater good.
Hjelmstad offers simple tools for those struggling with prayer, including holy habit stacking — pairing everyday tasks like brushing teeth, washing dishes or commuting with prayer or intercession. She encourages embracing these moments with God rather than using distractions to avoid difficulties. While she shares her own prayer habits and Mass attendance, she presents them in an accessible way for those new to intercessory prayer.
One notable aspect of the book is its emphasis on community. Hjelmstad underscores the importance of sharing one’s burdens within the body of Christ, highlighting how personal suffering can become a source of solidarity and support among believers. This communal dimension enriches the reader’s understanding of how individual trials can contribute to the spiritual well-being of others.
In a world that often seeks to minimize or escape suffering, “Offer It Up” presents a countercultural perspective that finds value and purpose in the midst of pain. Hjelmstad’s message is particularly timely in light of global challenges that have brought widespread hardship and uncertainty. Her insights encourage readers to view their struggles through the lens of faith, discovering opportunities for growth and redemption.
Sheryl Tirol is the director of communications for Regis University in Denver, Colorado, where she leads media relations, strategic outreach and crisis communications.