“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.” (Mt 13:36-39).

In this parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus is addressing the ancient question of why does God allow evil and how are we to deal with it? Why do bad things happen to good people? As a starting point, we need to recognize that God is God and we are not; meaning we are not capable of reading the mind of God. Any answer to justify how and why God allows suffering then will be insufficient. A second reality is that the Devil exists, though he is a created being. An angelic being, yes, but not in an equal genus with God. Ultimately, there is no genus of God, because God is not a being, at best we can say he is Infinite Act of Existence. He is. “I Am,” as he said to Moses. God did not create evil, he only created good. The Devil, Satan, the one who opposes, was created good, the high arch angel, Lucifer, yet he chose to turn away from the will of God, those angels who followed him are demons. God is greater than the Devil, and good is greater than evil.

Evil is not so much a created thing, but a deprivation, or distortion of the good. Because we cannot understand the reasons why God allows or permits evil or suffering is not a sufficient reason to say that God does not exist. This is especially true if we are seeking to grasp spiritual realities and truths from purely physical and rational means alone. We are indeed rational beings, who seek to know and understand, but we are so much more. As human beings, we are physical and spiritual, so need not limit ourselves to the merely sensate and empirical realm.

Our hearts and minds need to be open to the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are called to be people of prayer. As we mature spiritually and deepen our relationship with God we will come to the same posture as Job: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful to me, which I cannot know” (Job 42: 2-3). In essence, Job acknowledged that God was in control and he was not.

How do we deal with evil? We need to surrender our pride and control to God and acknowledge that he is in control and knows best. Choose to put God first. Our fundamental option, our telos, our end goal, is to be above all a striving to be in relationship with him. To recognize that as we put God first and focus on him, no matter what arises, we will be able to trust that he is present with us in the midst of our suffering, he is stronger than any pain or evil and he will give us what we need to endure.

If we want to understand suffering and evil we need to enter into the Mystery of the Passion of Jesus. Jesus, the pure and innocent one, beaten and crucified, understands our pain and suffering, our cry for the horrors of injustice, and he understands the presence of evil. Jesus himself, asked not to be crucified, though he relinquished in saying, “Not my will but your will Father.” In that acknowledgement, Jesus faced utter evil, horror, and the injustice of his crucifixion. Jesus made the Resurrection possible. He conquered suffering, evil, and death forever. The Father has the last word over sin, suffering and death.

We deal with suffering and evil through prayer and that prayer must be honest. We will find Jesus when we call on him in the face of our suffering and pain, not when we run from it. We need to trust in him in the midst of our storms, and hold on tight to our faith in him knowing that he, the one who rose from the dead has the final word. “Suffering is never the last word. Life is stronger than death, love is stronger that hatred, hope is stronger than despair, nothing is impossible with God” (Martin).

If you are struggling today, take your suffering to Jesus on the Cross. The strength of our faith is that we can trust in knowing that he does not leave us alone, and that he is present in the midst of our suffering, because he understands our pain. Our hope is assured in that Jesus has already won the battle and he will give us the strength to endure. His love is a light that shines in the darkness and no darkness can or will overcome it. Jesus has the last word on the matter. Let us face whatever rises before us with confidence, as Jesus did, when he set his face toward Jerusalem. Hand in hand with Jesus, we shall overcome.

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Mass Readings for today, Tuesday, August 1, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/080117.cfm

Martin, S.J., James. You Tube video On Pilgrimage With James Martin SJ Fordham University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVtA_d7NwKE&t=5s His talk on dealing with suffering begins around 1:30:00.