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| Did God Intend Ondoy and Pepeng? |
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 Faith Challenged by Suffering Essentially, as Christians, we believe that God--theCreator of the universe, the source and sustainer of life, the redeemer of humankind from sin and death--is Almighty. Moreover, we believe that God—ever faithful and compassionate, offering even His life on the cross—is infinite Love. These fundamental assertions about God are often validated by our experiences, such as, the fidelity of our grandparents to each other, our devotion to our children, the integrity of friends, the commitment of various groups to social justice and environmental protection. In all these, we say, God is indeed Almighty, conquering evils, and Love, reversing sin. Then cataclysmic typhoons, such as Ondoy and Pepeng, ravage our land and bring about innumerable deaths and incalculable destruction. Where was God when we needed protection? Why did God abandon us to the savage forces of these typhoons? Or more disturbingly, did God send Ondoy and Pepeng in order to punish us? Did God will Ondoy and Pepeng? Two Erroneous Positions: First, there is no connection between God and the natural world. Whether or not God exists, the natural world is governed by its own laws. And even though God exists, God does not intervene in the affairs of the world. The strength of this position is that it does not impute our suffering to a wrathful God. But the weakness is that this position totally contradicts biblical revelation of a God who cares for the world and intervenes in human history: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people and have heard their cry …. Therefore I have come down to rescue them” (Ex. 3: 7-8). Second, our suffering is a punishment from God. Our afflictions, whether caused by moral evil or natural disasters (ontic evil) are a form of punishment from God due to our sinfulness. The strength of this position is that one can quote scriptures to validate it. To Eve, God declares, “I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing” (Gen. 3:16). To the human race the Lord pronounces, “I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created … for I am sorry that I made them” (Gen. 6:7). Another strength is the persuasiveness of this position to call for repentance. Out of fear of a wrathful God, people strive to be upright. However, this religious worldview stems from and nurtures a juvenile spirituality, an obedience and obeisance motivated by fear and the need to please one’s God. Moreover, this paradigm fails to adequately justify the undeserved suffering of the innocent and the virtuous. As a corollary, neither can this worldview explain how and why evildoers get away with their sins and even prosper on earth, save by referring to a future retribution. In other words, just as this position cannot explain why the virtuous suffer, neither can it explain why some of the grievous sinners do not. A Biblical-Evolutionary View Natural disasters are pre-moral evils. A moral or immoral act can only be committed by sentient and free agents. To say that an act is a pre-moral evil means to say that there is no agent—divine, demonic or human—intending, planning and carrying out the destructive act. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, super typhoons occur not because God is angry and is punishing us, but because the world that God has created is an evolutionary world that is constantly birthing and dying, ever recreating itself. Correspondingly, the suffering and death caused by natural disasters are not intended by God, but are the consequences of an evolutionary world. Where is God in all these? Perhaps in the earth itself that is dynamic and alive; in the grief and hopes of people affected by the disasters; in the new life a constantly transforming world offers. While this biblical-evolutionary view recognizes the autonomy of natural laws and human freedom stemming from God’s free decision, it also affirms God’s intervention externally, in the natural world, and internally, through the human faculties. God has not abandoned the world to its own; instead, God is constantly laboring over our evolutionary world, recreating and redirecting it, drawing it ultimately to Godself. Moreover, God is intervening in the world by penetrating the heart and mind of every human being, which we call grace. God’s self-gift within us is constantly evoking love and compassion, a sense of justice and a sensitivity to the suffering. We have witnessed this during and after the onslaught of Ondoy and Pepeng—in the spirit of volunteerism, in the heroism of Judge Ralph Lee who saved almost 100 people and the life-sacrifice of construction worker Muelmar Magallanes who saved 30 people, before being swept away himself by the flood waters. God’s Ultimate Response to Human Suffering Admittedly, our inquisitive minds will find our philosophical explanations to suffering inadequate. Even the Book of Job leaves open-ended the very question it tries to resolve. Ultimately, we do not find the answer we seek in a proposition or a rational argument, but in an event—the Cross, God’s loving unto death. Ultimately, our nagging questions about suffering, especially of the innocent, are not answerable by a syllogism, a proverb or a secret saying. We find God’s most eloquent reply in Jesus Christ, the innocent Son, unjustly crucified, in God become human who embraces our suffering out of infinite love for us. As we gaze upon the Cross, we behold Emmanuel, God-with-us in our pain and death; we behold God-for-us in Love’s promise of redemption and life eternal. - Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ
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The Windhover Online The Windhover - March 2010 Did God Intend Ondoy and Pepeng?
The Windhover Online The Windhover - March 2010 Did God Intend Ondoy and Pepeng?
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