November 1, 2007

By Dr. Mary McDonald

Superintendent of Catholic Schools

"How could God let this happen?" I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have heard this heart-wrenching cry from someone desperate to make sense of a painful reality. I have said it myself. There are times when people might wonder how God can exist in the midst of such suffering in our world; the holocaust of abortion, the growth of the subcultures of violence, drug addiction and gangs, wars, and a multitude of natural disasters that claim thousands of lives.

Does God really let these things happen? No, I think not. But it is God who is with us when they do happen, who gives us the strength to respond in faith. The truth is, it is in times of such crisis when God is most evident in our lives.

God is good. Evil in any form is not of God. God does not test our faith. He knows we have faith. Only the devil tests your faith. What a coup it is for Satin to gather us into his camp by blaming God for the tragedy and sadness in our lives and in the lives of our families. But there are time when it seems that there is no perspective of God beyond our own, and our perspective is inconsistent with the suffering we see or experience. We want God to fit our expectations, to fix it, and the limitations we put on Him may keep us from experiencing His glory within us, and the purpose He has in store for each of us. It is a purpose that may only be achieved through the suffering we respond to, or experience.

We hear a great deal about the weakness of the family structure today. But there is an underlying strength in every family that can be brought forth. Strength implies fitness and readiness. How do families prepare to be spiritually strong? How have families become fit enough to be countercultural? When a family experiences loss, separation, divorce, illness, death or children in crisis, how will a family respond? Looking to God for individual and family strength is an empowering way to avoid the pitfalls of material measurements that get us thinking in terms of good families and bad families and judging one family's circumstances against another. All families have struggles. Public or private, all families have problems and crisis. Support for each other that begins with prayer is a God-centered response that conveys a family's spiritual fitness.

I read a frightening statistic not long ago. When asked in a questionnaire if they prayed together at home as a family, 84 percent of students in a national survey responded `no.' And we wonder why there are problems in families.

Did God let this happen, or did we? I know that prayer may seem like a simplistic answer. I know that turning the outcome of our circumstances over to God when we pray takes away our feeling of control. I know that prayer does not mean that we necessarily get the answer we want. Yet prayer is the most powerful response we can have. Through prayer, God gives us what we need. Through prayer we learn patience and hope.

We learn that God is not about fixing, but transforming. He gives us the strength and courage we need to discern the truth. He gives us the will to survive. He gives us the vision and hope to recognize an even greater good. To begin to understand and to demonstrate through family prayer the strength of your spiritual fitness as a family is to begin to recognize our interdependence and our caring for one another, and for the family of God. It is a powerful witness of compassion when as a family, we pray, not only for our own needs, but also for the needs of others.

God does not will the evil that attacks us. But God is with us when it does, and will protect and strengthen us if we but ask him. To live a life of faith requires perseverance and a steadfast belief and trust that God is always with us, especially in our suffering and in our response to the suffering in the world.

How, as a family, do we live that faith? Tonight, as family, whatever structure your family takes, say one prayer together.

Commit to a program of family spiritual fitness that will strengthen the faith of each member. It is then that you will experience what it is that God lets happen.