Since the day after Christmas, our attention has been riveted to news reports about the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunamis. The sheer power of nature is hard to grasp, and the extent of destruction and human suffering is unimaginable. With little or no warning, tens of thousands of lives were lost or changed forever.
In the face of such unfathomable tragedy, what are we to think? Is God indifferent to the raw, destructive power of nature? Where was God the day of the earthquake?
This kind of suffering is truly a mystery to us, and people of faith have wrestled with its meaning for centuries. If God is pure Good, if everything came from his creative hand, and if he loves everything he has created — especially the human race — then we know that somehow in his plan of love he embraces and heals the unfortunate victims in a real way, though his ways are beyond our comprehension. If he permits such tragedies to occur, without doubt they are still subject to his power and embraced by his loving plan for us.
Is his loving plan truly beyond our comprehension? The Christmas season offers insight into God’s response to the vast suffering of our Asian and African sisters and brothers.
It was into this world that the Son of God was born — a world of awesome natural forces, a world of human suffering, a world of poverty and riches, a world tainted by evil and its effects. God knew well what he was getting into; he knew the world into which his Son would be born in flesh and blood. Not only did he know this world in its full reality — he deliberately subjected himself to everything we humans experience, except for sin. As St. Paul wrote, Christ Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)
It is a powerful sign of God’s love that he sent his Son to be subject to human life as we know it. He entered our world and poured out his heart to us, revealing his complete, compassionate, unfailing, and unmistakable presence in our midst. As we recently heard at Mass, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23) The birth of Jesus is the beginning of his sacrifice of love for us, for he knew the world into which he would be born. He came to us to abide with us forever.
The Gospel narratives of Jesus’ birth tell us something more: not only was God’s Son born into this world in humility, subjecting himself to everything to which we are subject; he was born in poverty, meaning that he did not even have the “power” of wealth to keep at least some suffering at bay.
Since the birth of Christ, God’s answer to our questions about the mystery of tragedy and suffering has been a resounding announcement of the presence of his Son, who was born into this world of contingency, unpredictability, and baffling, unanswered questions — to be with us and give us strength and hope in his unfailing love.
Christ’s ultimate human experience, of course, was death. Not just any death, but a painful death resulting from a verdict of “guilty” though he was innocent. Again, Jesus did not cling to any power to free him from death, but experienced it with us — and more importantly, for us. God revealed the fullness of his plan — namely, that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, no earthly power (neither the natural power of the planet itself nor the powers that rule it) has a lasting hold on us. Only God does, and he has resolved all things, even the mystery of suffering, in his love.
Since we are Jesus’ disciples, baptized in him such that our lives are now in every way his, we are called to be like him. In a sense, by our unfailing love and compassion to all who suffer, we are now to be God’s resounding answer to the mystery of human suffering.
I have asked that a special collection be taken in all parishes of our diocese for the relief of victims of the earthquakes and tsunamis of the Asian and African regions. Our generosity, joined to the generosity of our sisters and brothers around the world (all of us children of the same God), can go a long way to bring relief and solace to those who are undergoing such immeasurable pain and loss during these sad days.
However, it is equally important that we share our spiritual riches with them in prayer, lifting them up to our Father, who has embraced them with his love. Our prayer will change us, too, so that we recognize even more the humility and poverty of Christ Jesus, born into this world knowing fully what he was entering for our sakes. Understanding his humility better, we will pour forth our hearts more freely to all who suffer, wherever we meet them.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.
Since the day after Christmas, our attention has been riveted to news reports about the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunamis. The sheer power of nature is hard to grasp, and the extent of destruction and human suffering is unimaginable. With little or no warning, tens of thousands of lives were lost or changed forever.
In the face of such unfathomable tragedy, what are we to think? Is God indifferent to the raw, destructive power of nature? Where was God the day of the earthquake?
This kind of suffering is truly a mystery to us, and people of faith have wrestled with its meaning for centuries. If God is pure Good, if everything came from his creative hand, and if he loves everything he has created — especially the human race — then we know that somehow in his plan of love he embraces and heals the unfortunate victims in a real way, though his ways are beyond our comprehension. If he permits such tragedies to occur, without doubt they are still subject to his power and embraced by his loving plan for us.
Is his loving plan truly beyond our comprehension? The Christmas season offers insight into God’s response to the vast suffering of our Asian and African sisters and brothers.
It was into this world that the Son of God was born — a world of awesome natural forces, a world of human suffering, a world of poverty and riches, a world tainted by evil and its effects. God knew well what he was getting into; he knew the world into which his Son would be born in flesh and blood. Not only did he know this world in its full reality — he deliberately subjected himself to everything we humans experience, except for sin. As St. Paul wrote, Christ Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8)
It is a powerful sign of God’s love that he sent his Son to be subject to human life as we know it. He entered our world and poured out his heart to us, revealing his complete, compassionate, unfailing, and unmistakable presence in our midst. As we recently heard at Mass, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23) The birth of Jesus is the beginning of his sacrifice of love for us, for he knew the world into which he would be born. He came to us to abide with us forever.
The Gospel narratives of Jesus’ birth tell us something more: not only was God’s Son born into this world in humility, subjecting himself to everything to which we are subject; he was born in poverty, meaning that he did not even have the “power” of wealth to keep at least some suffering at bay.
Since the birth of Christ, God’s answer to our questions about the mystery of tragedy and suffering has been a resounding announcement of the presence of his Son, who was born into this world of contingency, unpredictability, and baffling, unanswered questions — to be with us and give us strength and hope in his unfailing love.
Christ’s ultimate human experience, of course, was death. Not just any death, but a painful death resulting from a verdict of “guilty” though he was innocent. Again, Jesus did not cling to any power to free him from death, but experienced it with us — and more importantly, for us. God revealed the fullness of his plan — namely, that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, no earthly power (neither the natural power of the planet itself nor the powers that rule it) has a lasting hold on us. Only God does, and he has resolved all things, even the mystery of suffering, in his love.
Since we are Jesus’ disciples, baptized in him such that our lives are now in every way his, we are called to be like him. In a sense, by our unfailing love and compassion to all who suffer, we are now to be God’s resounding answer to the mystery of human suffering.
I have asked that a special collection be taken in all parishes of our diocese for the relief of victims of the earthquakes and tsunamis of the Asian and African regions. Our generosity, joined to the generosity of our sisters and brothers around the world (all of us children of the same God), can go a long way to bring relief and solace to those who are undergoing such immeasurable pain and loss during these sad days.
However, it is equally important that we share our spiritual riches with them in prayer, lifting them up to our Father, who has embraced them with his love. Our prayer will change us, too, so that we recognize even more the humility and poverty of Christ Jesus, born into this world knowing fully what he was entering for our sakes. Understanding his humility better, we will pour forth our hearts more freely to all who suffer, wherever we meet them.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.