Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
(John 3:16-21)
Why does it happen? After a tragedy such as the massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute last year or a similar slaughter this year at Northern Illinois University we want to know how such mass murders could take place in America today. There is no shortage of answers.
Many point fingers at school administrators. They criticize their failure to provide enough security or to act decisively when trouble starts. Ideologues certainly have their say. From the left they charge that permissive gun laws make every meeting place in the country a potential blood bath. From the right they argue as stridently that violent movies start time bombs ticking in many individuals. God will be accused for not intervening as well. Some will charge that His plan of allowing humans free will is defective. Others will rebut that idea saying, “Whose will is really free?” and add for argument, “Does not God’s power transcend human freedom?”
The Gospel of John does not provide a detailed answer to why mass murders take place. It does tell us today, however, that people prefer darkness to light. From almost the very beginning the world has been marred by wickedness which is not about to stop. The gospel shows us how God acts to relieve suffering. He sends His son to mend many hurts and to teach better ways than the narrow self-interests many people pursue. He further gives His son on the cross, more cruel a death than any rendered by an automatic firearm. He does this, first, to show solidarity with the suffering around the world and through the ages. But much more significantly, His gift provides us the opportunity to stand with him in death so that we may experience the resurrection which inevitably follows.
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