Bishop Anthony writes: In the weeks since December 26th and the devastating oceanic earthquake, many people in our parishes and missions have been asking the Clergy: "But why does GOD permit such terrible things?" Far from being an embarrassment to the Church ("There! So how could there be a God!") l believe that it is not difficult to find the Christian response.
God gave human beings free will at our creation; he told our first parents not to disobey yet He gave free will - and our first parents chose to disobey. God also gave to the natural earth and to the elements "free reign". Had it not been so we would have been mere puppets in the Creator's hands.
Although God gave us free will and to the natural earth "free reign", we know from Scripture, both Old and New Testament, that God has the power to intervene in human affairs if He wishes to. We know, from the history of Noah and his family, from the events at Sodom and Gomorrah, from the various plagues in Egypt and many other accounts, that God is capable of being so angry with us that he even decides to destroy parts of his own Creation. lndeed, the Great Flood in Genesis wiped out much of the known world - when the Aegean broke through into the Black Sea. Far from being a myth, we know that in the ancient histories of many peoples of the region is proof, from ancient tablets and the like, of such a Flood. God recognised that His vital gift of free will had brought about a mysterious evil intent within much of humankind - yet, by saving Noah and his family, He resolved to be faithful to what He had created in spite of it and Noah's descendants would repeople the earth. Of course, also in the Old Law are many examples of God's great goodness to His people, not least His promise to lead them out of slavery in Egypt and into a promised land. As we know, those same people were, soon enough, disobeying God again! Again and again, through the Prophets, the Holy Ghost was teaching humankind to expect a Redeemer. God, in other words, was not leaving sinful man without hope.
Now, none of this implies that God sent the recent oceanic earthquake onto a sinful world, although it clearly is a valid theological possibility! No, God's gift to the elements of "free reign" means that man's human condition will ever be precarious. This earth is a perilous yet beautiful place, precarious indeed, yet wonderful. God has chosen to create us and we have (as one of our Archdiocesan benefactors, Mrs Christina Speight puts it) "Been put here to work out our own salvation - and 2000 years ago we were given the ultimate help." That help is the coming into the world of our Lord Jesus Christ Who taught men how to live and then offered His Life for us on the Cross so that all who accept Him as Saviour have the means of obtaining eternal life. Whatever the terrible sufferings in this world, we know that JESUS was there before us - suffering misunderstanding, ridicule, mental anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane before His final unspeakable torture and Death. The unspeakable last agonies of all who were swept to their death in the "tsunami" were, surely, as nothing compared with what JESUS suffered for many hours on the day of His Passion. And that suffering was a compact between God the Father and God the Son. The ultimate point is that this earthly life (however much we inevitably wish to cling to it) is only the very beginning of our Pilgrimage. Those swept away in agony in December have awoken in a better place - yes, even those who have not known Christ! They will, it must be said, experience a very long learning period in Purgatory where they must come to recognise that JESUS is this world's ONLY Redeemer. That, surely, is the kindest way of explaining the Church's teaching about those who do not yet know Christ as GOD MADE MAN. And made Man for our sakes! After all, our dearest Lord did say: "No one cometh unto the Father but by Me." I would indeed be failing in my episcopal duty to teach the Faithful were I to be squeamish about pointing this out!
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The answer to the question why the Omnipotent God will not necessarily save us physically was given by Our Lord when he was challenged to save Himself - He didn't! He accepted His agonising death on Calvary. Soon it is scientifically certain that Vesuvius will erupt again and countless people in Naples and the region will die. That clearly belongs to the area of God's bestowal of "free reign" upon the elements - not to any vengeance on the part of God. Geologists and scientists have the chance at least to mitigate this disaster because they know about it in advance. These earthly disasters are ultimately deep mysteries known only to the Heart of God. Our earthly task is to live to the best of our ability as God wants us to live, following the Second Commandment as far as in us lies, keeping JESUS as our goal and preparing ourselves, as Catholics, for eternal Life by coming to Confession, by hearing Holy Mass frequently and receiving Our Divine Lord in Holy Communion. Let us remember that this physical world will be wiped out again - on the Day of Judgement when Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. That is the final earthquake which nobody will escape ...............................................
Let us live joyfully and courageouslyalways in God's Presence as we journey on, knowing indeed that:
Underneath are The Everlasting Arms |
