Making sense of tragedies

Purple Catholic Saturday Post

Feb 02, 2025

Get a free month or three months for $0.99 by going to AudibleTrial.com/Purple

Good morning and happy Saturday. This is the Saturday Post from the Purple Catholic.

A lot happened in Washington this week, including the deadly mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport. Sadly, there appear to be no survivors.

It is in times like these that atheists and agnostics like to point to the problem of evil as some sort of proof that God simply cannot exist. If they are honest, they will add the adjectives “all-knowing” and “all-loving,” at least.

While the question seems like it deserves a complicated answer, faithful Catholics know that isn’t the case. God permits evil only because he knows what good comes of it.

Now that answer does nothing to provide comfort to the hearts of those grieving their loved ones after this plane crash. There is no clear plan or good that you or I can see that comes of a tragedy like this.

In times like these, it is important to remember that we ought to comfort the sorrowful and pray for the dead; both are part of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

We must be ready, however, to defend our position that we believe in an omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent God that permits tragedies like this to happen. Here are a few simple concepts to keep in mind:

God did not create us merely for happiness in this life but in the next.
God does not manipulate our free will.
We live in a material world.

If being synodal is meeting people where they are, then we must be able to approach those who question and provide comfort and guidance. It is one of the reasons I like the “Words of Comfort” in the Ordinariate liturgy. After we have been admonished for our sins, the priest or deacon will offer the words of comfort. Typically it is a verse such as this:

Here also what Saint John saith: If any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1)

For futher reading on the subject, I have some recommended articles below. I also suggest you read about the priest who showed up to the crash site this week to offer what help he could. Finally, remember to pray for the dead.

Investigators find black boxes after deadly Washington plane crash | FMT — American Eagle flight 5342 in the Potomac River after colliding midair with an US Army Blackhawk helicopter. Image by Free Malaysia Today. CC BY 4.0

Quit saving passwords in your browser! Generate secure passwords and store them in an encrypted vault.

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The readings at Mass will be Malachi 3:1-4, Pslam 27:7-10, Hebrews 2:14-18, and Luke 2:22-40.

In the Office of Readings, we are reading through St. Paul’s first and second letters to the Thessalonians, except for Sunday when we will read from the book of Exodus.

Here is a calendar for the rest of the week:

Monday, February 3 - Memorial of St. Blase, bishop and martyr (optional) or St. Angsar, bishop (optional)
Wednesday, February 5 - Memorial of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr
Thursday, February 6 - Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs
Saturday, February 8 - Memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, priest (optional) or St. Josephine Bakhita, virgin (optional)

[A] light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.

Luke 2:32

In the news:

Have a good weekend,

Matthew

Making sense of tragedies

Purple Catholic Saturday Post

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

In the news:

The United States

The Vatican

The World

Discussion about this post