Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

I’ve recently been reading about herem warfare – God’s command in the Old Testament that the Israelites destroy their enemies, including animals and babies. It’s hard to understand this, especially in light of the New Testament’s emphasis on loving one’s neighbor. The world is a troubled place and it’s tempting to ask why a good God allows these things to happen.

In my book, Gift of Death – A Message of Comfort and Hope, I tell the story of Matthew Shea, a little boy who was killed when he slipped out of his older brothers’ grasp, jumped on a sled and took off down a hill on the family farm. At the bottom of that hill, his father was clearing snow and didn’t see his son. In an instant, Matthew was under the back tires of the tractor and he died on the way to the hospital.

Whenever something like this happens, especially if it’s the death or illness of a child, it can cause us to wonder why God would inflict such a thing on those he loves, or even if there is a God. It’s a question that people have been asking since the dawn of time. When Jesus was asked this very thing, he said, “He lets the sun rise for all people, whether they are good or bad. He sends rain to those who do right and for those who do wrong.” (Matthew 5:45) Contained in that verse is the idea that God doesn’t inflict the bad, he simply allows it to happen. But why?

“Our Lord created us to live in paradise,” says Msgr. Patrick Schumacher. “His plan was that we not experience death. Worries, stresses, are not created by God, they’re allowed by God as we live in this fallen world.” Schumacher says it's most likely to come up when the bad thing happens to a child. “It gets us to our core because we think it’s not fair. But that’s because we can’t understand God’s plan. Bad things can happen for our salvation.”

That can be hard to accept, especially since we can’t see with God’s long lens. We pray and then wonder why God didn’t answer. What we often fail to recognize is that God’s answer comes in his own good time. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways’” declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8).

If you want a perfect example of the benefits of looking at the world through a long lens, consider the life of Jesus. “Sinless, yet betrayed by his closest friends,” says Schumacher. “Sold for the price of a slave, his agony in the garden when he was alone, beaten by Romans who occupied his homeland, betrayed by his own people before Pilot and nailed to a cross. The one truth after Adam and Eve is that there would be no redemption without suffering, without the cross. And that’s why Jesus Christ is our model to answer that question.”

Little Matthew Shea died in 1994. Here is an excerpt from the book:

"In the same month that Matthew died, Pat became pregnant again. She was 44 at the time. Nine months later she gave birth to Maria, a long-awaited baby girl. (Msgr. James) Shea believes that Maria was a special gift, influenced by Matthew, and he says the little boy’s death brought the entire family closer together.”

In the years since 1994, two of Matthew’s brothers have become priests, and Msgr. Shea believes he continues to bring good things to all of their lives. Few can doubt that Matthew is with God. It’s possible that the terrible thing that happened to his parents paved the way for the salvation of many. 

Thy Kingdom Come: Why We Shouldn't Fear the End Times

Hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist threats, mass shootings – if you watch the news these days you could be tempted to go hide under the bed. These events bring on talk of the end times that we are warned about in the New Testament. The apostles expected Jesus to return at any moment, though He told them they "would not know the day nor the hour." We don’t know it either, and every generation has seen it coming. Still, there’s no doubt that the events we’re experiencing today can bring on anxiety. So what do today’s theologians have to say?

“We’re definitely facing some 'apocalyptic' problems right now: the prospects of nuclear war, genetic manipulation and a breakdown of family life,” says Dr. Jared Staudt, PhD, the Catechetical Formation Specialist for the Archdiocese of Denver. “We can’t say for sure that we are facing the end times, but we are at least seeing a foreshadowing of those challenges.”

St. John Paul II also felt change coming, and said in a speech in 1976, “We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the Antichrist.”

Talk like that can bring on a sense of helplessness and even a temptation to despair, but that’s where faith comes in, because St. John Paul also famously said, “Be not afraid.” In the same address, he pointed out, “The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s plan.” Meaning God has us in the palm of his hand. He will take care of us.

“For Christians, the coming of Christ is not something to fear, but to expect with hope,” Staudt adds, pointing out that a central prayer for the early Christians was 'Maranatha,' meaning ‘Come Lord!’ As Christians, we do have to expect suffering and persecution. I say that so that we don’t despair when we face them. Jesus has promised to be with us and to give us His comfort and joy even in the midst of trials.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also talks of the end times in a spirit of hope:

In the Lord's Prayer, "thy kingdom come" refers primarily to the final coming of the reign of God through Christ's return.⁸⁸ But, far from distracting the Church from her mission in this present world, this desire commits her to it all the more strongly. Since Pentecost, the coming of that Reign is the work of the Spirit of the Lord who "complete[s] his work on earth and brings us the fullness of grace."⁸⁹"The kingdom of God [is] righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."⁹⁰ The end-time in which we live is the age of the outpouring of the Spirit.

And that’s the key. Without the end times there can be no Second Coming, there can be no “new heaven and a new earth.” We can find comfort in the very prayer that Jesus taught us. While we don’t know when, we do accept with faith that He will come again, He promised it, and we should mean it when we say, “Thy kingdom come.”

Fake News and How to Spot It

"Fake News" will go down as one of the catchphrases of the decade, and with good reason. The proliferation of talk radio and talk TV, where individual views are batted around endlessly in 24-hour news cycles, has led to opinion spouting by people around the globe. They may not be journalists so much as entertainers.

It's so pervasive, in fact, that Pope Francis has made it the theme of his message at the 2018 World Day of Social Communications, in an address entitled "The Truth Will Set You Free: Fake News and Journalism for Peace."

This isn't society's first run-in with slanted news. It used to be called yellow journalism, when reporters wrote "purple prose," embellishing a story for the shock value. The idea was to sell newspapers at a time when there were many papers competing. There were also the reform-minded muckrakers, who wrote their stories during the Progressive Era, to shine a light on particular societal ills, such as children working in factories or the exploitation of immigrants in the early 1900s. Good intentions perhaps, but slanted nonetheless.

So what is fake news today? Is it gossip, is it simply biased, or is it more nefarious than that? It often is just people spouting off without knowing the facts. Perhaps a television or radio talk show host ventures an opinion and it's quoted and then misquoted until a distorted story is taken for truth. But it's also journalists manipulating the facts to tell a story in a particular way to further their particular view, not unlike the muckrakers of the past.

J.R. Havens is the news director at KFYR-TV in Bismarck, ND. He says news mistakes or factual errors happen for a variety of reasons, not the
least of which is stations or networks looking for a competitive edge. "It can happen because they want to be first. Sometimes they sensationalize because they want to pump their own tires. And sometimes it's just carelessness."

Does this mean you should distrust all journalists? Havens says at the local level, at least in his newsroom where reporters tend to be young, there is somebody senior looking over shoulders to try to ensure they are balanced in their reporting.

"Another set of eyes makes sure there are no opinions in there. Training is the key," he says. "Training, training, training."

But he can't vouch for every newsroom. So what can you do to make sure you're getting the real story?

Al Aamodt, a longtime news manager at a television station in Fargo, N.D., says the important thing is to be educated and know what's going on in the world around you. "Have a good understanding of both sides of an issue," he says. "You can spot the bias on any story simply by being informed. Ask questions. The reader or viewer is not as stupid as some people think they are."

Or,  you can rely on the good reporter's favorite question: how do you know that? If you can't verify it, don't repeat or repost it.