Monday, March 08, 2010

Benedict - On Suffering and Hope

The Holy Father pulls back from the maelstrom and gives all of us words of wisdom, faith, and theological hope.

"In the face of sin, God shows himself to be full of mercy and he does not fail to call sinners to avoid evil, to grow in his love and to concretely help our neighbor in need, to live the joy of grace and not risk eternal death."

The Holy Father added that the "possibility of conversion entails that we learn to read the events of life in the light of faith, animated by the holy fear of God."

He said that in the presence of suffering or grief, "true wisdom is to let oneself be called from the precariousness of existence and to read human history with God’s eyes, who, always and only wanting the good of his children, by an inscrutable plan of his love, sometimes allows them to be tried through suffering to lead them to a greater good."
More here.

What is important for individual believers to remember is that, while leaders, presidents, gurus, movers and shakers, tyrants, dictators, and potentates come and go, the Holy Father lifts our gaze to something greater and more ineffable to us, our families, and indeed to all the Church.

The entire biblical witness speaks to the reality that God works in the warp and woof of human casuistry, banality, and supposed monolithic hubris (read: if we pass this health care bill, we will have power forever ... muahahahah!).

But human life in focus cannot be lived on such a global scale. Technology has taken us - like Tolkien's palantiri in The Lord of the Rings - to the point of despair over the sheer amount of "is-ness" which we, inevitably, read and use incorrectly.

Human life is best lived and loved on a small scale. Go to Mass. Pray. Work. Love. Help. Forgive and be forgiven. Repeat. Keep the Beatific Vision ever before you as the goal of "health care." And help others go, also, to Heaven.

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