“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” – Psalm 27:13, NASB 1995
When problems rise up against me, when troubles surround me, and when I see injustice everywhere, that’s when I’m tempted to be in despair and to lose faith. I ask God so many questions.
“Where are you when the poor have nothing to eat?”
“Where are you when the sick are suffering in pain?”
“Where are you when the innocent are being unjustly accused?”
It’s not so easy to trust God then as when the days are good and the blessings are plenty. During such times when I need God so badly and He remains silent, I feel a deep chasm between us that I could never cross and He is as distant as a dream I could never reach.
I have read and I have written so many articles about the existence of evil and why such evil had been allowed by a good God. But everything seems useless when one personally experiences unbearable suffering.
To make matters worse, when one’s faith starts to falter, other believers may add to one’s burden by their well-intentioned remarks.
“Don’t expect any reward in this life. Look forward to heaven.”
“Suffering is the only way to prove you’re a good Christian.”
While true happiness and justice can only be found when Jesus comes and establishes a new heaven and a new earth, should I remain numb to the darkness that I see in the world?
Must a Christian expect nothing but suffering and pain in this life?
When I reflect upon this thought, the more that my heart starts to faint. It’s as though I could look forward to nothing good in this life anymore. Not justice. Not healing. Not deliverance from my troubles.
If this is the way we must look at the world, how should we treat the poor and the suffering around us? Should we just tell them to stop complaining and just look forward to heaven where everything will be fine in the end?
Why should we help alleviate the pain of our neighbors when we can’t even expect the same kind of help from God?
Is everything about the salvation of the soul and nothing about the healing of the physical body?
But when I read the Bible, I see Jesus curing the sick and multiplying bread to feed the hungry. I see Him giving sight to the blind. I see Him bringing a dead man’s body back to life. He did not tell everyone to just wait for paradise where they can have the redemption of their souls.
Perhaps this is why this version of David’s Psalm brings me so much comfort:
“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” – Psalm 27:13, NASB 1995
It allows me to hope that I can still see God’s goodness while I am still alive. It keeps me from despairing that I may never see justice or healing or compassion in the land of the living.
Of course the final triumph of goodness is still to come. And not every pain or problem will be solved in this life. But allow me to hope that I can still see a little bit of light even the midst of this dark world. Allow me to believe that I can still see God’s goodness in the land of the living where I still am today.
First of all, I would like to say I’m Catholic. That said, I abide by the dogmas of the Catholic Church. However, I believe that the Church can make some improvements when it comes to the application of its teachings.
The Catholic Church had always been driven by its teachings on God’s mercy and compassion. These are two words that should have made it easier for almost everyone to come. Two words that should have made people feel welcomed instead of being driven away.
But why is it that many people feel afraid of approaching the Church?Why is it that instead of feeling understood, people feel that they are being judged and cast away?
When I think about these things, I can’t help but think about that one word that may be driving away so many LGBTQ people: disordered.
To understand it better, here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about homosexuality:
Chastity and homosexuality
Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. (CCC 2357)
While the Catechism has explicitly said that only “homosexual acts” are deemed disordered, people concerned may have a difficult time trying to distinguish between their identity and the acts associated with who they are. For these people, what they hear is almost the same as “you are disordered” and “there is something wrong about you.” And it’s never easy to accept that.
If there is something wrong with you, and you are considered “disordered”, how do you even begin to live your life? How do you approach the people who think that you can never be “right” or “good enough”?
While the Church has all the good intentions in warning people about a sinful lifestyle, it has failed in expressing true compassion by its failure to address the deepest needs of people with homosexual tendencies.
Other than saying that they have “disordered” tendencies and reminding them of the “generic” call to chastity and holiness, the Church has lacked a deeper sense of appreciation for these people’s unique purpose and value in life.
“Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” (CCC 2359)
If they are not called to marriage or to religious life, where are they being called? What wrong have they done to possess these homosexual tendencies?
I remember the question of one of Jesus’s disciples about a man born blind.
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” – John 9:2-3, NRSVCE
If we are ever to tag someone as having “disordered” tendencies, can we also do what Jesus has done? Can we say that this has come upon them so that God’s works might be revealed in them?
It isn’t enough to point out the many ways by which a person must restrain himself to keep him away from sin. We must also point out the ways by which one can live a full and meaningful life within the grace of God.
The word “disordered” should be put in its proper place. If there is some kind of weakness or vulnerability, then there must also be an occasion where God’s power and glory can be better shown.
“Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NRSVCE
Many LGBTQ people are lost not because they hate to live chaste lives. They are lost because they don’t know the place they can occupy within the Catholic Church. This is almost the same as the experience of so many lay single people.
Single people are neither married nor religious and feel lost for their roles within the Church. Many times, it almost seems like they’re invisible, unheard and unappreciated. Must they be called to marriage or to religious life before they can be seen as people with unique and vital roles to play with the rest of God’s people?
This is the short excerpt from the Catechism about single people:
“We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live – often not of their choosing – are especially close to Jesus’ heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family often due to conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes, serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. the doors of homes, the ‘domestic churches,’ and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. ‘No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavy laden.'” (CCC 1658)
While the Church says that it should be a home and a family for everyone, many people may not feel the same way. Are they only to be taken in because others are being “charitable”? Do they not have anything special to offer also to the world?
No one wants to be loved in a generic way. One yearns to be loved in the most intimate way possible. To be known and appreciated, to be valued and cared for as a human being with dignity and God-given gifts.
Perhaps the Church can welcome more people if it can reach the hearts of these people by giving them a clearer sense of who they are in God’s eyes. Perhaps it is not too much to ask that the unique path of other people be better explained and appreciated. While not similar to those who enter the married or religious life, other people may be made to realize their own special place within the heart of God.
Do you have a loved one who has passed away? Have you ever wondered what heaven would be like?
Here are some heaven quotes from the saints that can inspire you today:
“Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its inconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy…” – St. Faustina
“Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” – St. Thomas More
“The form under which the Heavenly Jerusalem is generally represented in my visions is that of a beautiful and well-regulated city, and the different degrees of glory to which the elect are raised are demonstrated by the magnificence of their palaces, or the wonderful fruit and flowers with which the gardens are embellished…” – Blessed Catherine Emmerich
“The Cherubim were placed at the gate of the earthly paradise with their flaming sword, to teach us that no one shall enter into the heavenly paradise who is not pierced through with the sword of love.” – St. Francis de Sales
“…there, everything is new; new beauties, new delights, new joys. There, all our desires shall be satisfied.”- St. Alphonsus
“In Paradise, death and the fear of death are no more: in that place of bliss, there are no sorrows, no infirmities, no poverty, no inconveniences, no vicissitudes of day or night, of cold or of heat. In that kingdom, there is continual day, always serene, a continual spring, always blooming.”- St. Alphonsus
“And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings” – St. Faustina
“Life is passing. Eternity draws closer; soon we will live the very life of God. After having drunk deep at the fountain of bitterness, our thirst will be quenched at the very source of all sweetness.”- St. Therese of Lisieux
“In the Heavenly Jerusalem all is peace and eternal harmony, the beginning, fulfilment, and end of everything being pure and perfect happiness; the city is filled with splendid buildings, decorated in such a manner as to charm every eye and enrapture every sense; the inhabitants of this delightful abode are overflowing with rapture and exultation, the gardens gay with lovely flowers, and the trees covered with delicious fruits which give eternal life…” – Blessed Catherine Emmerich
“In Paradise there are no persecutions, no envy; for all love each other with tenderness, and each rejoices at the happiness of others, as if it were his own. There is no more fear of eternal perdition; for the soul confirmed in grace, can neither sin nor lose God.”- St. Alphonsus
“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I don’t know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?” – Mother Teresa
“There, shines a light which no place can contain, there resound praises and song which are unlimited in duration. There are fragrances which the air does not blow away, savours that never fade, goods and sweet joys unaccompanied by any distaste or surfeit. There, God is Contemplated continuously, is known without any error of apprehension, and praised without weariness or diminution.” – St. Augustine
“Rouse yourselves, my sisters, and since some foretaste of heaven may be had on earth, beg our Lord to give us grace not to miss it through our own fault. Ask Him to show us where to find it—ask Him to give us strength of soul to dig until we find this hidden treasure, which lies buried within our hearts…” – St. Teresa of Avila
“And what can one say of the other blessings of heaven [besides living with God]? There will be health, and no sickness; liberty, and no servitude; beauty, and no ugliness; immortality, and no decay; abundance, and no want; repose, and no cares; security, and no dread; knowledge, and no error; satiety, and no feelings of revulsion; joy, and no sorrow; honor, and no contention.” – St. Peter of Alcantara
“But the delights of which we have spoken are the least of the blessings of Paradise. The glory of heaven consists in seeing and loving God face-to-face…Here below, God is hidden from our view; we can see him only with the eyes of faith: how great shall be our happiness when the veil shall be raised, and we shall be permitted to behold God face-to-face!”- St. Alphonsus
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The unbelievable substance that keeps the order of the worlds
These days, when faith and science just seem to be too incompatible with each other, I’d like to tackle a very important topic about the origin of the universe. While most Christians would agree that it is God who made everything that ever began to exist, we live in a culture that seems to mock that belief in the name of science.
But what is science? If we try to simplify things, science is a search for truth. And I think that no Christian would ever be against that.
God is Truth itself. And in the light of that, I believe that faith and science should not be incompatible things.
The First Cause
It is natural to think that the existence of anything that ever began to exist depends upon something else.
“To do away with a supreme cause is to claim that, as someone has said, ‘A brush will paint by itself provided it has a very long handle.’”—Reginald Garrigou LaGrange
Christians believe that the ultimate cause of everything is God, the “Uncaused Cause”.
Atheists and Agnostics are not united in how they believe the universe came to be. Some may agree that the cause of everything that ever began to exist may indeed be something immaterial, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be God. Some may insist that there is no such thing as an immaterial source, only a material explanation.
But if it is a material explanation, wouldn’t we be left with two most plausible explanations? The first is an infinite series of material events that goes back to an infinite past that could never be explained. The second is that there is a specific point in time when the material universe began to exist (as can be gleaned from the Big Bang Theory).
The Beginning of Time
If the Big Bang Theory agrees that the universe indeed began in time, wouldn’t it coincide with the Christian belief that God created it at a specific moment?
It would be no surprise to learn that the Big Bang Theory was first conceived by a priest named Georges Lemaître. A post titled “Origins of the universe, explained” at National Geographic states:
“The most popular theory of our universe’s origin centers on a cosmic cataclysm unmatched in all of history—the big bang.”
“A Belgian priest named Georges Lemaître first suggested the big bang theory in the 1920s, when he theorized that the universe began from a single primordial atom.”
If the universe began from that single primordial element, where could that element have come from? Wouldn’t it be logical to think that it was made by someone outside time and space? Someone who is intelligent enough to make such a design?
And if this universe had a beginning, wouldn’t it follow also that it was not eternal? If not eternal, how could it have made itself to exist out of nothing?
Certainly, non-believers may ask, “What about God?”
Beyond Time and Space
God is not like the universe that had a beginning and needs an explanation for its existence. God is eternal and is the cause of everything that has ever began to exist.
For a rough comparison, think about an entire computer game coming from a single file that needs to be extracted and installed. From that single file, everything begins to exist for that computer game, a whole universe populated by various characters, places and possibilities. But the maker of the game is someone outside of the game, someone intelligent enough to design it and to make everything work in that virtual world.
Still, the non-believer may fail to see the point of the comparison and ask, “What about the person who made the game? What was his cause?”
The Substance That Moves The Universe
We do know that the human being who made the game was born from another human being. But that is not the point of the comparison.
The point is that the whole universe that has been made for the computer game is so drastically different in substance to the human being who made it. In that way also, consider how drastically different in substance is the material universe from the God who made it to exist.
“The life of God is above the past, the present, and the future; it is measured by the single instant of immobile eternity.”- Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life: Prelude of Eternal Life
Perhaps our main problem is our inability to even imagine God. By what kind of substance could He be made of?
I’m making a very big leap here when I answer, “The substance of God can be understood through Love.”
“I use the word love, not meaning sentimentality, but a condition so strong that it may be that which holds the stars in their heavenly positions and that which causes the blood to flow orderly in our veins.”—Maya Angelou
I’m just amazed at that definition by Maya Angelou. She was able to show how God Himself holds the entire universe together, the God who is also known as Love. Perfect Love.
Perhaps we need to know more about love so could know more about God.
What is love?
Love is light. Love is goodness. Love is beauty. Love is wisdom. Love is strength.
What does love do?
Love creates. Love moves. Love empowers. Love gives life.
If there is ever a substance that could create an entire universe beaming with beauty, wonder and life, shouldn’t it be love itself?
“All shall be well, all shall be well… For there is a Force of love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go.”—St. Julian of Norwich
Is it really possible to love a God we cannot even see? Can we really love Him as we love another Person? A Person who can listen to us and respond to us? A Person who can know us far more intimately than any human being ever can. Read more about “To Love an Invisible God — click here.
“This hidden heroism is done with tenderness and with courage when someone is sick at home.” – Pope Francis
It is hard to think of a more difficult suffering than to see our loved ones in great pain. Many times, we feel we’d rather be in their place than witness what they’re going through.
It is this very difficulty however that allows much grace also to come to us. It is this “hidden heroism” that allows each one of us to be saints in what seems to be an ordinary life.
Here are some of the things we can take note of as we take care of our loved ones:
1. Be Spiritually Strengthened
This is a journey we cannot do alone. We need God’s help, both for ourselves and for our sick loved ones. Our days may be filled with so many things to do, but we must make time even for short prayers. Prayer will remind us that we have Someone who watches over us, that there is a Father to whom we can go to when we can take no more.
If it possible to pray the rosary with your sick family member, set a routine in which both of you can pray. Even if the sick person is too weak to participate vocally, let him participate in silence as he listens to you. In this way, even your loved one is strengthened spiritually.
Attend mass and be strengthened by receiving the Eucharist. If your loved one is too sick to go to mass, request for a lay minister to bring him communion at home.
No matter how hard you try, there will be days when you may not be able to control your temper or when you may make mistakes you never intended to make. Have patience with yourself. Distressing yourself over your faults cannot make things better. What’s important is to rise from your falls and carry on.
3. Be More Understanding
Our sick loved ones may become impatient too with their situation and they may not always be in a good mood. They may even become depressed. As much as we want them to think positively, we must give them as much understanding as we can given their current limitations. We must ask for the grace to be as compassionate as possible, to love as Jesus Himself loves the sick and the suffering.
4. Take Care of Your Health
There may be a lot of days when taking care of your loved one would require you to sleep late or even not to sleep at all. But you must remember to rest and to take care of your own health whenever the situation permits it. Eat a healthy diet. Do some exercise. Walk outdoors for a few minutes to get some fresh air. Not everything may be possible, but always do what you can to take good care of your health.
5. Ask For Help
Our own strength may not always be enough. We must seek the help of others like family and friends so we can also take a break and renew our strength. We must also have people we can talk to when our trials become too difficult for us to bear in our own hearts. It helps when we know that someone is listening to us or that someone is able to understand what we’re going through.
If it is possible, we need to assign somebody to be an assistant or a second in command to us, someone who can take over for us whenever we can’t be in charge anymore for one reason or another.
6. Take It One Day At a Time
Worry can never empower us in this journey. We must learn to live one day at a time. And when things become too difficult, we must learn to live one moment at a time. Solve only the problems that need to be resolved for the day. Do whatever tasks are possible at the moment. Don’t think of the many days ahead. God provides for what we need today. Surrender your worries to Him who can take care of all your tomorrows.
7. Hold On To Joy
It may seem almost impossible at times, but we must not let the gloom around us overpower the joy within our hearts. Joy is not like happiness. Joy can exist side by side with sorrow because joy is like hope and faith and love. Joy does not depend on our circumstances but on our attitude. It depends on whom we are holding on to, and we know that it is only in God we rely upon.
Whenever the situation allows, do some things that remind you of your joy and hope. You can listen to some inspirational or uplifting music. You can read your favorite book. If there are children in the house, you can play with them and even share in their innocent laughter. We are all God’s children after all. And children will remind us that there is always grace in the present moment God has given us.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13, NABRE
