The Glory to Be Revealed

Fr. Scott Haynes

A Meditation on Romans 8:18–23

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity—not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain, even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit—we also groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body.”

I. Introduction: The Scale of Eternal Hope

The words of St. Paul in this passage offer a kind of spiritual balance scale. On one side, he places “the sufferings of this time”—our trials, sicknesses, humiliations, spiritual dryness, persecutions, and all the groans of a fallen world. On the other side, he sets “the glory to come.” His judgment is firm: these present pains are not even worthy to be compared with what shall be revealed in us. The magnitude of divine glory so far surpasses the darkness of this life that, in light of it, every sorrow is light, every injustice momentary, and every cross worth bearing.

This passage speaks powerfully to the aching heart and to the suffering soul. And the Church Fathers, who often faced persecution and hardship, saw in these words an assurance that sanctifies suffering and instills hope.

II. Groaning Toward Glory: The Testimony of the Early Church

St. John Chrysostom, who endured exile and opposition in his own episcopal life, marveled at Paul’s courage and certainty. He writes:

“Observe how he raises the hearer upwards; for he does not say merely that the sufferings are not equal to the glory, but that they are not even worthy to be compared. He shows that it is not a matter of small magnitude.”¹

Chrysostom is emphasizing the superabundance of divine reward. Suffering, he teaches, is not merely compensated—it is swallowed up and transfigured by the sheer greatness of the eternal inheritance. For the Christian, to suffer is to carry the birth pangs of a coming world.

St. Cyprian of Carthage, a bishop and martyr, echoed this theme with a kind of fiery defiance:

“Let us then, beloved brethren, be ready for the whole will of God... since it was the voice of the Lord which said, ‘He that endureth to the end shall be saved’ (Matt. 10:22)... Let no one be so deceived by the subtlety of the adversary as to suppose that the servant of God may be free from persecution.”²

To Cyprian, persecution was not a sign of God’s absence, but a mark of one’s inclusion in the divine plan—a participation in the travail of the whole creation, which “groaneth and travaileth” in expectation.

III. Creation’s Travail: A Cosmic Dimension

Paul's words lift our attention from personal sufferings to the suffering of creation itself. “The expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God.” The Church Fathers were struck by the cosmic scale of Paul’s thought: creation itself longs for restoration.

St. Irenaeus, writing in the second century, viewed this as part of the grand economy of salvation:

“For the creation, having been made by God, is not without reason subjected to corruption, but is only temporarily so. It will be set free in the resurrection of the just.”³

Irenaeus reminds us that creation is not discarded but redeemed. The groaning of the earth—the decay of nature, the suffering of animals, the disorder of the environment—is part of the larger plan that culminates in “the liberty of the glory of the children of God.”

Imagine the world not as a dying thing, but as a mother in labor. This is Paul’s metaphor. The universe groans not in despair but in hope. Like a woman enduring pain before birth, creation is in travail, anticipating something glorious: a new heavens and a new earth.

IV. Not in Vain: The Redemption of the Body

It is not merely our souls that are destined for salvation, but our very bodies. St. Paul insists that we await “the redemption of our body.” This is an essential Christian truth, one often neglected today. We are not saved from the body but with it.

St. Augustine, combating the Manichaean heresy that viewed matter as evil, underscored this truth:

“For the soul to be without the body is not man, but for the soul to be in the body glorified—this is man, complete and redeemed.”⁴

To be Christian is to believe in the resurrection of the body, not just a vague spiritual afterlife. Every limb, every scar, every suffering borne in the flesh will one day be glorified. The same body that was purified by penance, that knelt in prayer, that bore the wounds of martyrdom, will be transfigured into light.

Consider the incorrupt saints, such as St. Bernadette Soubirous or St. John Vianney. Their bodies, preserved miraculously from decay, whisper to us of this future promise. They are like seeds sown in time that already show signs of the glory to come.

V. The Firstfruits of the Spirit

“But ourselves also,” Paul says, “who have the firstfruits of the Spirit… we also groan.” The Christian life is one of expectation. The “firstfruits” suggest a down payment—a foretaste—of glory. We have the Holy Spirit, who enables us to pray, to hope, to resist sin, and yet we still feel the ache of incompleteness.

St. Gregory the Great described this duality:

“So long as we are still in this world, our groaning increases with the increase of our love. For the more we long for the homeland of Heaven, the more we feel the pain of exile.”⁵

This groaning is holy. It is not the groaning of despair but of desire. Like the deer that panteth after the fountains of water (Ps. 41:2), the Christian longs for the Beatific Vision. Our groaning is prayer. It is the Spirit Himself who intercedes for us “with groanings unutterable” (Rom. 8:26).

In this way, suffering becomes sanctified. It is not merely endured—it is offered. Like Christ in Gethsemane, we groan in the Spirit, and that very groan becomes part of the world’s redemption.

VI. A Story of Groaning and Glory: The Life of St. Josephine Bakhita

Let us illustrate this mystery with the life of St. Josephine Bakhita. Born in Sudan, she was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery. She endured beatings, branding, and brutal humiliation. Her captors referred to her not by name, but as “Bakhita”—the fortunate one.

In her later years, having found the Catholic faith in Italy and joined the Canossian Sisters, she reflected on her trials:

“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands. For if that had not happened, I would not be a Christian and a religious today.”⁶

Her words are astonishing. She viewed her immense suffering as part of the plan of divine providence. Like St. Paul, she did not consider the sufferings of this life worthy to be compared with the glory revealed in her. In the twilight of her life, afflicted by illness and arthritis, she would often repeat: “As the Master desires.”

Her whole being groaned toward glory. Her very body, once broken by chains, became a vessel of peace and prayer. She had the “firstfruits of the Spirit,” and she awaited the redemption of the body with serene hope.

VII. Conclusion: Living in Expectation

How then shall we live in light of Romans 8:18–23?

• First, with courage. We must never think our sufferings are wasted. Every trial, borne with patience and love, hastens the coming of the Kingdom.

• Second, with hope. The glory to come is not a poetic metaphor but a reality beyond imagining. As St. Catherine of Siena said: “All the way to Heaven is Heaven, because Jesus said, ‘I am the Way.’”

• Third, with love. The Holy Spirit within us—the firstfruits—teaches us to love even as we groan. And this love is the surest sign that we are children of God, destined for the “liberty of the glory” promised to us.

Let us, then, fix our eyes on the eternal. Let us not shrink from suffering. Let us rejoice even in tribulation. For the time of labor is short, and the day of glory draws near. And when that day comes, creation will be renewed, our bodies redeemed, and every tear wiped away.

As St. Paul said elsewhere:

“For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17)

And so we groan—but we groan in hope.

Notes

1. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, Homily 14.

2. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 55: To the People of Thibaris.

3. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 32.

4. Augustine, City of God, Book XXII, ch. 30.

5. Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXVIII.

6. Quoted in Bakhita: From Slave to Saint, Roberto Italo Zanini (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2013), p. 142.