NOTHING IS CONCEALED THAT WILL NOT BE REVEALED
Though I have been a practicing Catholic my whole life, or, at least since I was baptized as a newborn in July of 1988, my faith journey has not been a simple, straight-drawn line. Like most, I’ve had to wrestle with certain teachings of the Church from time to time, and my faith has been shaken and tested. In my late teens and some of my early twenties, there were a few questions that I struggled with:
How can so much unjust suffering happen in a world created by a God that is all powerful and all good?
Why is it that our God, who cast ten plagues on Egypt and aided and abetted the escape of the Israelites, now remain seemingly silent in the midst of great evils, allowing them to go unpunished?
Finally, viewing the last two questions in combination really confounded me. I asked: “Why is it that some individuals or groups that perpetually commit evil or neglect the legitimate needs of others seem to grow and thrive while those who are selflessly committed to the cause of good face trial upon trial.”
These questions have puzzled many people for several millennia, and it would crazy for me to think I can give adequate answers in this short column. Nonetheless, I at least want to give some basic framework for how we as Catholic Christians might grapple with these problems. In Jesus’ time, many refused to accept that Christ was the Messiah on the grounds that he “failed” to overthrow the Romans and end earthly persecutions and sufferings. If he is supposed to be our Redeemer, why is he telling us something crazy like “taking up a cross?” Isn’t the whole point for him to squash this tyranny? While Christ does strive to free us from tyranny, but not in the manner that some utopian social reformer might promise. In fact, pretty much all human attempts at bringing about a societal utopia have not eliminated the oppression of people, but have increased it. We cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven by dodging the Cross, and in fact, each of the Beatitudes—which serve as a map or guide to the Kingdom—highlight that our heavenward pilgrimage will not come without cost and struggle. The more we study the Beatitudes, the less our faith will be shaken when bad things happen to good people. Prior to the Fall of Adam and Eve, suffering was not in the cards for us, but by uniting our sufferings to Christ, the New Adam, we are made coheirs of his redemption. Our source of joy cannot be a mere absence of crosses, but rather the certainty that each struggle brings with it an exponentially greater blessing. As for the converse question of the evildoer who seems to go unscathed from prosperity to prosperity, we must likewise refrain from losing our internal peace, for today’s Gospel tells us: “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” The fact that someone “gets away” with something does not mean that they will never be held accountable for their actions. It is at best a distraction to ruminate upon such a situation, for even if the most heinous crime were to be overlooked and acquitted by a court, it won’t escape Divine Justice. Christ says as much in the following passage from today’s Gospel: Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.
In considering the plight of innocent suffering on the one hand and rampant injustices and evil on the other, we must remember that God’s thirst both for mercy and for justice grossly overshadows ours. God, who is infinitely good, will not overlook evil, nor will he fail to richly reward those who have suffered for the sake of righteousness. Do not repay evil, for evil, but love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Mt. 5:44) Finally, if you have struggled with the questions I’ve outlined above, I would strongly recommend praying through Psalm 37—it deals poignantly with this very vexing question.
~Samuel Backman, Director of Sacred Music