Comments on: Jesuit Father James Martin on Trying to Make Sense of the Senseless after Newtown School Shooting

By: kim

kim — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:27:28 +0000

God weeps with us. I hear this often. But if I am weeping and God is weeping, then who is doing the liberating?

By: Peter B. Ely, S.J.

Peter B. Ely, S.J. — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:18:04 +0000

What James Martin says makes good sense, especially that a great mystery lies here. In reflecting on this question for many years, I have concluded that to say God “permits” these evils to happen doesn’t do justice to the interaction between God’s will and ours. “God permits” or “God allows” makes God sound like a guilty bystander who could have intervened but didn’t. Better to think of God as a loving but grieving parent who sees his children abuse the precious gift of freedom he has chosen to give them. Our freedom is a terrifying gift. Exercising it can make us less than human; without it we would not be human at all. And God wants us to be fully human.

By: Joe Tetlow, S.J.

Joe Tetlow, S.J. — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:53:45 +0000

As in everything so far, Jim Martin is spot on. That is, he hits the dot in the middle of the target. Then he goes on to make a cross on all the other concentric rings – giving them a blessing, too.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:24:55 +0000

I believe in a God who weeps when humanity abuses the great gift of “free will.”
I believe in the immensity of the love of a God who chose to create us as humans capable of sharing God’s love. We are not puppets, mere playthings of a God who pulls strings. No we are what we are – free.

By: Tom Sheridan, S.J.

Tom Sheridan, S.J. — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:01:31 +0000

Thank you, Jim. Beautiful. I would only add this. To ask, as many have done, “Why would God allow something like this to happen?” really poses the wrong question. To ask why God could allow it implies that He was free to do something to prevent it. But the fact that He made us free human beings means that God set limits to His own freedom. That does not “solve the mystery of evil.” It merely restates it. The question then is why did He make us free, i.e. free to accept His love or to reject it. And that is the big question.

By: David Rojas

David Rojas — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:57:29 +0000

I have found comfort praying the rosary too. In line with your reflection, Mary suffered immensely, even, I think, after our Lord’s ascension.