When bad things happen

Once again the readings of the day present us with both bad news and good news. The bad news is made vividly clear in the reading from the prophet Jeremiah, as it speaks of incurable wounds and oozing sores. It also seems to indicate that the Lord caused these wounds: “I struck you,” the Lord says. So too we ourselves sometimes blame God for the bad things we suffer.

However, if we look more carefully at the words of the prophet, we will see more clearly that it is not God that is the cause of these evils, but ourselves.

Why did these bad things happen? Two reasons are given here.

The most obvious reason for these evils is “because of (our) great guilt, (our) numerous sins.” God is good and when we deviate from the way of God, as made evident to us through revelation and natural law, the results are not good. Sometimes it is because of what we as individuals have done. Sometimes it is because of what we as humanity have done.

The other reason for these continuing evils is less obvious but related to the first, where the Lord says, “There is none to plead your cause, no remedy for your running sore, no healing for you. All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not seek you.” The problem here is that when we feel bad we look for our happiness and healing only in the things of this world: in alcohol, in drugs, in psychoanalysis, in mindless diversions, in hedonistic pleasure, in godless philosophy, or some combination of these (or all of them at once for some Hollywood celebrities). Some of these things in moderation may have value, but without God, none of these things can do anything except distract us from the real root of our troubles. If we want healing and happiness, we must have a strong and deep relationship of love with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This reality is illustrated wonderfully by Peter in today’s Gospel. When he looks away from Christ, Peter is overwhelmed by the storm, but when Peter looks to Christ for salvation, Christ immediately comes to his aid.

Why does God let these bad things happen to us? Sometimes there are reasons that we will not fully understand until we stand before God face to face, but one of the reasons is always so that we may draw every closer to Christ and may say together with the disciples in the boat, “Truly you are the Son of God!”

God, come to my assistance.
Lord, make haste to help me.