Jesus asked, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is” (Mt. 16:13)?
Peter answers Jesus and our questions today by saying that Jesus is: “The Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (Mt: 16:16). In other words, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
If we dig a little deeper, another question that might overshadow the question of who Jesus is, especially in the midst of suffering and tragedies like the most recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, is, “Where is Jesus? Why did he allow this to happen?” Which calls up the perennial question, “Why does a good and loving God allow for the suffering of the innocent?”
There is no sufficient answer to these questions, to do so would mean that we could read the mind of God, which we are not capable of doing. The traditional answer is that God allows suffering to bring about a greater good, which is sound for one who has mature faith, experience, time and distance from the immediacy of trauma, the ability to see things from a greater perspective than the moment. Most of us tend to see things from our own narrow point of view. Our perspective is as someone looking at one of those photography posters in which there are tiny pictures of hundreds of people. From the up close and personal view we only see one or two faces, it is not until we step far enough back that we can see the greater view of how the many pictures together combine to show the one face.
Another point of view or perspective, is that even though we cannot understand the why of what happened does not mean that we have to disbelieve in God. We can trust that Jesus is with us in the midst of our deepest tragedies. We can trust that he is present with the injured, those who mourn and need comfort. Jesus understands our suffering and pain from personal experience. He, who himself endured unjust scourging, beating, crucifixion and death, can best console us in our pain because he has gone through it himself.
Also, pain, injustice, suffering, and death do not have the last word. Jesus suffered and died and he conquered death. Where was Jesus last week? Jesus was welcoming, with arms wide open, each of the seventeen slain in his loving embrace. His arms are wide open also for those who enter into the pain of their agony and mourning to provide comfort and healing for the tremendous loss suffered.
There is no definitive answer to the reason for suffering. Let us still place our trust in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, let us turn to him in prayer, with our anger, our doubt, and our pain. Even when we do not understand the why may we still seek meaning, there is a plan greater than us, death is not and end and does not have the last word, and may we channel these emotions to bring about effective change so to build a culture that respects the dignity of all life. May we respect, be present to and support one another. I would like to leave you with some words of comfort and hope from Fr. James Martin, S.J.:
“Life is stronger than death.
Love stronger than hatred.
Hope is stronger than despair.
Nothing is impossible with God.”
Photo: “In His Image” by William Zadanak
Final quote, as well as much of the perspectives on suffering I shared, come from a talk given by Fr. James Martin, S.J. given on April 22, 2014 titled On Pilgrimage with James Martin, SJ, Fordham University. You can view his talk on the link below. He discusses the mystery of suffering specifically at the end around 1:30:26, the one hour thirty minute mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVtA_d7NwKE
Link for Mass readings for Thursday, February 22, 2018:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 