Nicholas LaBanca on God's Presence When Facing Tragedies

"There is no way of escaping it in our culture's 24-hour news cycle. There's no way to escape witnessing the evils that are carried out in this world when we're all glued to our smart devices, TVs, and phones in our daily lives. One of the latest examples of such evil came from yet another fatal school shooting in the United States. Innocent people were killed, and usually the first thing that many people ask is, 'Where was God?' or 'How could a good and loving God let this happen?'

"Admittedly, the problem of evil is probably the hardest thing for us as Catholic Christians to understand. These are often honest questions, and one can't be faulted for asking them. But we do have trust to believe that God has good reasons for permitting these things to happen. We must always remember that God never wills such evil things to happen; we have ample evidence of this from Scripture and Tradition.

"But this doesn't stop our brothers and sisters from asking that question of 'why'. While there's no way I can completely tackle the entire subject in this space, I'd at least like to address the issue in some small way as we try to make sense of the things we see and experience around us."

In a recent commentary, writer Nicholas LaBanca reflected on how we might show that a loving God is in our midst, even though all the tragedies we face in our lives.

Catholic Stand: Asking the Question, "Where Was God?" (29 MAY 18)