Question:
How would you respond the next time someone asks you,
“If God is a good God, how can He allow innocent people to suffer?”
Because we humans can’t completely understand the mystery of suffering we feel that a good God would not allow innocent people to suffer. But, do we really know what God, who is the only one who bears all wisdom, has in store for the person who suffers? Furthermore, can we be certain that the person who suffers doesn’t have the joy of God as well giving great meaning and purpose to his life? Is it the person who suffers who we should feel sorry for, or is it the person who has everything that earthly ways can obtain, but has no faith, who we must feel sorry for? Does God hand out suffering with no joy and only misery, or do we perpetuate our own misery when we decide we don’t need Him?
We need to always remember the special people in our lives who inspire us with their faith. These are the people who endure many different kinds of misfortune and still manage to hold the joy of God in their hearts. Many of these people offer their sufferings to God for the sake of the good of His Kingdom. Despite their suffering, they have joy because they have purpose. Mother Teresa willingly suffered for God and maintained her joy, but ordinary people suffer and have joy too. These are people who hold onto their joy of faith. These are people I work with, attend Mass with, go to Bible School with, etc. The person we really need to pray for isn’t the person who suffers, but it is the person who lacks the joy that comes from faith in God. In a sense, you could say that the person we need to pray for most is the person who can’t accept his sufferings because he lacks the faith to trust God in all matters of his life. Read more...
One of the biggest myths perpetuated against the Catholic faith is that the Roman Catholic Church hates the Bible. This myth has survived since the reformation when its seeds were planted up to the present day. The Catholic Church has been falsely accused of trying to keep the Bible away so as to keep people in the dark. This is so people are not enlightened as to the truth and how it contradicts doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.
If one were interested in studying the real history behind the Bible, one would be astonished to learn that far from keeping the written word a secret, the Catholic Church is the author and protector of Holy Scripture. As a matter of fact, due to Her unwavering dedication to preserving the written Word of God, Protestants and Catholics alike owe the Catholic Church a debt of gratitude. Any and all efforts toward keeping an individual or individuals from reading a particular Bible has always been done so in the interest of preserving the complete truth and guarding it from false teachings. Defective Bibles were burned, and even today, Catholics are commanded to read translations accepted by the Catholic Church, the Church Jesus promised Peter the gates of hell would not prevail against.
One question that immediately comes to mind whenever I hear a Protestant claim that the Catholic Church is not Bible based is why do Catholics listen to and live the written word of God every day at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? One who knows his Bible, Protestant or not, would not be able to observe the Holy Mass without noticing that it is soaked in Scripture. We read directly from the Bible, recite from the book of psalms, sing hymns of praise created from God’s Word, and participate in a very real way, the Last Supper. We hear Christ’s words to His apostles, and we receive the same Body and Blood of our Lord. This Liturgical celebration hardly resembles a Church that does not venerate and hold in highest regard, the written Word of God. Read more...
I remember a night over thirty years ago when I was a 17 year old inside of a Protestant church watching a movie titled, “A Thief in the Night”. It was in the 70s and the Fundamentalist movement was sweeping through my high-school like a wild fire. I watched the movie in horror as those movie characters bearing the mark of ‘666’ realized that their loved ones had vanished without a trace and left them to endure unimaginable trials on earth. What was most horrifying to me as I watched this movie was not the doom and gloom of the impending tribulation of those left behind. It was the fact that throughout this entire movie I could discern no true and heartfelt message about loving Christ or His love for us.
As Catholics, we are asked to endure our sufferings, not to avoid them, and we are encouraged to offer our sufferings to Christ as a way to unite ourselves with Him. We try not to lament a day when we will endure trials and tribulations because the flip side of our suffering is our hope. We hope in Christ, Jesus. Read more...
Recent Comments