Thank you Bishop Barron for your wisdom. I work in paediatric healthcare and often see the bewilderment on the faces of children as they look to their parents for help in their pain and suffering. I see the heartbreak on the faces of their parents knowing they cannot explain the reason to their child but holding them and comforting them nonetheless. I am inspired by the response of the children when they continue to place their trust in their parents. It reminds me to come to my loving Father always. That even when understanding fails, faith must remain.
Anna Mullins You are truly a blessed woman. You are willing day in and day out to experience the "Good Fridays" of the most vulnerable among us. Thank you for being the visible Christ in this imperfect, perplexing world.
@@JamesRichardWiley I know. I'm 63 and have grappled with it all my life. For me, it all comes down to my belief that Christ did rise from the dead. All else flows from that. I will never understand suffering in this life, especially the tragic, senseless kind to good people who make everyone else's life more beautiful and comfortable. My sister died of breast cancer almost 12 years ago. Her physical and psychological suffering was prolonged and immense. But her love for her daughters, our parents, her friends and me was so profound and intense, that she was willing to endure the unendurable. She refused to take ocycontin most of the time because she wanted to remain aware of what was going on. She rejected hospice care until her final days. I still am haunted by the suffering I witnessed, but concurrently remain awed that any human being could love that selflessly and sacrificially. The belief that she is now in perfect communion with God and still loves us perfectly sustains me and keeps despair at bay. I try to live each day being worthy of her love, and actively love her by loving her children and grandchildren. I am probably a fool, James, but will probably die a fool for Christ. What brought you to Father Barron's video? All the best to you.
James Richard Wiley I have had my butt go red, anytime I lied or directly disobeyed my parents. Now I have learned from the lesson to not lie or directly disobey anyone. That was some of the greatest love I have received from my parents. It made me a better person.
@@patsy7101 How ridiculous. He gave no explanation at all. After making a series of mutually contradictory statements (God is totally other and God id closer to me than I am to myself) he states that we don't and can not understand why we suffer because God's way of thinking is distant from ours. That is not an explanation of suffering; it is dishonest noise implying an admission that he has no satisfactory explanation.
Again you have given us a clear and engaging homily about how much we will have to learn about the Father. You are making this journey possible. Thank you!
James Richard Wiley I believe and I am not expert yet on the Bible nor God. Man corrupted the Earth by falling into sin. The world was good before man fell into sin. Thus man started doing horrible things. M*rder, r*pe, and etc.
It's just like a dog, he will never understand how a laptop works, or if there exists a moon orbiting the earth, just as we will never be able to explain to the dog in the dog's way of thinking about those things, because he has no capacity to understand them. But God, infinitely higher than us, can somehow shrink Himself so that we can see and understand Him through reasoned faith.
Thank you Bishop Robert. I'm a member of the seculat Franciscan order, and I always listen to your speeches, because they convey the Holy Spirit. It's a pleasure to share them with my wife and friends . God bless you, Peace and all Good. Dave
I'm not Catholic, but thank you for your sermon (or mini-sermon). I've been dealing with the sudden loss of a friend who was my age (32) this week. To top it off, I've been fighting intense spiritual warfare on and off as well. The questions of why? Has God abandoned listening to me? Does He even care? Do I even have a future if any one of us can go so young? And then there's how I'm supposed to deal with it as I come from a family where you don't talk about it. These questions are difficult to grapple with even though I know I must move through the grieving process. I keep trying to remind myself that God does have a plan for everything that happens. But we can't necessarly understand it. We're temporal beings bound to a finite level of existence. God is atemporal - existing outside of time and space within Creation at every moment. Yahweh (I AM) is truly an appropriate name. Like God said to Job: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?" In the same fashion, we can't fathom the why and God doesn't need to give us an explanation as we wouldn't get it. Thank you for this video.
Thank-you, Bishop Barron. I am always edified by your homilies and reflections. Recently, I have struggled with the reality of God’s “interruptions”. Our parish was poised to delve deeper in our devotion to the Holy Eucharist. The pandemic has disrupted our plans. “How come, dear Lord?!”
@@pamelahollins6711 Sometimes I wonder if God doesn't want us to get too comfortable in how we worship, so He has events happen that might show us ways we can adjust the way we do things to glorify Him. A church I volunteer with in their ESL program had to do that with the shutdowns here in Canada in March...and we had to learn how to serve God in a different way.
James Richard Wiley ok. It’s clear to me that you have little understanding of these topics by friend. Let’s discuss the first law of thermodynamics: If the first law of thermodynamics was apposed to a cosmic beginning why is the standard Big Bang model so widely accepted among scientists? Here’s why: Because the first law of thermodynamics is a law of nature and therefore is a physical law which only applies within the arena of space time. It does not apply to the origin of the arena itself. But you wanted to talk about the laws or thermodynamics so let’s discuss the second one. This tells us that the universe is slowly running out of usable energy. If the universe were eternal in the past, it should have experienced heat death an infinite number of years ago! Let’s not forget the scientifically proven Borde Guth Vilenkin theorem which states that any universe which has in average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be eternal in the past. Even among scientists, the past eternal universe is a minority view.. and we haven’t even gotten into the countless logical absurdities which would result! Imagine an infinite bookshelf with half its books painted red and the other half black. Take out all the black books (half) and you have the same amount of books. That’s mathematically absurd, and it’s only the beginning. An infinite amount of grim reapers want to kill Fred, if Fred’s alive at 1:00am then reaper #1 will instantly kill him, if Fred’s alive at 12:30, grim reaper #2 kills him, if Fred is alive at 12:15 grim reaper #3 kills him. An infinite number of grim reapers is trying to kill Fred, each at half the time of the prior. Yet.. no Grim reaper kills Fred. Fred is surely dead, but surely alive. Why can’t these paradoxes happen? Because actual infinites are just ideas in our heads, they don’t and can’t exist. Meanwhile, there is no real evidence FOR a past eternal universe! Also, why all the empty name calling? You say ‘Bronze Age god’ as if the time in which such an entity revealed itself to humans has anything to do with whether or not it existed. Thanks for reading, and I hope you reevaluate your position for a more reasonable one. God Bless.
I was thinking about this as well. Why do God let us suffer from a death of a loved one? Why are suffer has to be bound to the suffering or the lost of other one? Why other people has to be involved? Did God make this happened for me or for the deceased? It would be egocentric to believe it was for me, to teach me something or put me in certain path. Does he have a plan for the long run that does not even involved neither of the involved in the suffering?
Thank you for your message today. I too, as a mother who is suffering of the loss of my son Mark. With the struggle of not having a pastor who had the care to call....struggle is realm but my God is my Rock and faith He will keep His loving arms around me. You are a wonderful Gift to so many Bishop Barron....may God continue to bless you and all your endeavors.
As someone who, in my spiritual journey, has questioned multiple times why there is so much suffering in this world, I find comfort in today’s readings. His thoughts are indeed higher than our thoughts, beyond our understanding.
James Richard Wiley He is Hebrew, yes you are correct. I don’t see that as a negative or positive. Unless you are crazy Nazi, which I don’t think you are. He is tribal, kinda I see it more as a monarchy. More feudal than anything, he allows leaders to govern nations, but throws them out if they do evil with elections or revolution. Yes he is present everywhere. Lastly welcome to faith. Trusting what we can’t see, which is hard, but it is supposed to be hard. Following God is not supposed to be easy.
James Richard Wiley Man you are good at pumping these comments out, so am I though. God did not have to go through suffering. He was perfect in every way. He voluntarily went down to Earth to live with man. He felt starvation, sickness, pain, etc. He even used the bathroom I bet. He went through all that to tell us that he is with us and loves us. That he is there to give us advice. He even had the experience of death. Not only that but a gruesome one. Stop with the half-a*s comments. Get a grip on yourself, if you think you are so high and mighty, also above us religious folk, why try to convince us God is a sham. Why not let us wonder off to our “doom”
Thank you so much Bishop Barron, by the example of you as a 10 year old boy and your dog Tiger, can I now also explain it to people who also struggle with the question of why God allows suffering. Thank you so much for all your wonderful lessons. God's blessing, also in all your work. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Europe 🤩👍🙏🙏🙏
Good question.... a real homily that is interesting......I too have to wonder why God allows suffering......especially now with this virus disrupting our lives, causing so much to worry about, many suffering in so many ways.......listening to your homilies is so different to the quick, short ones from the priests at my parish.....every night I pray to God which is like a conversation and I sleep good all night......Thank you Bishop Barron.
James Richard Wiley I have noticed you just comment, but never debate. Also your comments are more mockery than anything, which I don’t recommend when debating about super religious peoples one and only GOD. Bishop Barron directly discusses this on his video “creating atheists”. He talk about from Atheist website for creating atheists, how you just keep asking questions, but don’t answer questions creationists ask back. Also when this tactic is pointed out, you fall flat. If you also watched this video. The bishop answers a the question on why bad things happen. Gods ways are far more complex then our ways. Now this probably won’t be the answer you want, but this is the answer creationists get. Hell, sometimes I don’t believe it. So, start adding to the conversation and debate back. Quit throwing out strawmans and walking away thinking you are triumphant. Also I see you in almost every video the Bishop puts out. Can’t you spend more time on something else if you don’t think there is a afterlife. You should be doing as much as you can with this life, not trying to debate people online who are just like you in death. Nothing but worm food. You probably didn’t read any of this. That’s ok, I understand, but if you want to argue, be prepared to defend it.
Thanks so much Bishop for a great lesson. I was also taught many years ago that God allows suffering because he can obtain good from suffering and evil. This is not always seen at the time of pain and tragedy, but part of his enormous plan for good.
I'm currently taking a Philosophy of Religion course and this topic is incredibly central to the discipline. Thank you for this sermon and for shedding some wisdom on the subject!
There is no triumph without adversity There is no free will without choice There is no love without fear or hate And if everything is perfect, nothing and no one is special
So you are saying your comment is god's supposed unknowable or incomprehensible reason why there's suffering? You are special, if you have access to god's thoughts.. 😏
@@silverscorpio24 Oh, so you are better than the bishop.. 😏 he said god's thoughts and ways are different from us.. which implies that only god knows his reasons, yet you seem to know these thoughts and ways.. are you god, perhaps? 😏
@@terminusadquem6981 I never said I was better than the bishop. I said I know more about God than you do. Because unless you're under the delusion that *you are* God then all you're trying to do is trying to make fun of me and trying to make me seem stupid for being Christian.
Thank you Bishop Barron, for today's sermon, as usual it was very interesting, and I liked your story about your little dog Tiger . From morning i was waiting to hear your sermon. You are tooooo good in preaching, i wish you were here in India with us. I can never thank you enough for your lovely sermons. May GOD bless you, and keep you safe . Have a nice week. I'll be looking forward for next Sunday's sermon. GOD bless you ➕ ❤
Let's bring this to the human realm or human understanding, you all seem to be talking high. Okay, I'll concede, his thoughts or purpose may be unknowable or incomprehensible to us, but can he not maintain that unknowable purpose and remove suffering still? He is god right? So he should be able to do that, but why didn't he? I'm not dictating god in what to do here, you might object, I'm just making you aware that it's possible for him to be incomprehensible in his thoughts and ways and yet remove our pain or suffering. Why didn't he?
Sometime all we have is to trust in our Lord! There is suffering in our lives and he lightens the load often! But his Goodness is even greater; and hears our prayers in his time! Can anyone truly determine the will of God all the time? Enjoyed all the different views shared!
Thank you Bishop. I had the same experience with my dog some year back. I almost came to the same conclusion about the difference between the thinking capacity of a dog and a human as being similar to the ways of God and those of morals like us. It was a joy hearing you had the same experience and using the story to explain how we can never elevate our thinking to that of God.
Your story reminded me of a sermon I heard while visiting St. Joseph, MO. The priest was at his parents' farm with his dog and went to get the mail. From that walk the dog ended up full of burrs. The priest said he had to remove them all. His dog couldn't understand why he was hurting him. This analogy stuck with me over 10 years.
That analogy of you and Tiger wasn't stupid at all. In fact in its innocent simplicity, it conveyed a deep, rich understanding of our relationship with God. I do however question the conflict of God providing joy and peace but then allow suffering.
I remember these words from the Bible "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts." Trust in the Lord with all your hearts and lean not on your own understanding,acknowledge him in all your ways and he will straighten out your path.Amen Thank you, Bishop Barron.
Great homily Bishop. My struggle with this topic is always the evil perpetrated on others. Not a surgeon who has to inflict pain for healing but those who inflict pain and suffering for evil purposes.ie murder/rape/ child abuse etc. I always struggle with where is a loving God in those situations...but I think the answer lies somewhere in our free will. There are times when I have struggled with God’s decision to let us choose freely. We make some horrific choices.....Blessings to all the Word on Fire team🙏
Thank you Bishop Barron. Like so many others I wait for your Sunday sermons . It is pure joy to hear them because they are so heartfelt and sincere. In these times. of covid, and civil unrest it means so much to hear peaceful words of encouragement.
This is an insightful homily, it just made me understand the reason why there are times that we do not understand suffering and the will of God. Thank you
Thank you Bishop Baron. I'm wrestling with my husband suffering from esophageal cancer. I dont understand but I know ( not feel) Hod has me in His palm
Honestly the dog analogy was much better. For most of the suffering that we question we do so in part because we know we will never understand. I will never understand something like a terrible war, and I know I will never have the capacity to understand. In that sense the dog analogy was much closer and honestly very insightful.
Mt God, my God, why have you forsaken me. That cry from the cross is one we all have uttered at some point in our lives. Many have done so more than once, and many to a degree of suffering I don't think I could ever endure. Sometimes our suffering is miniscule compared to that of others (I'm writing this as I watch my beloved Eagles being trounced by the Rams 😫). There are more important things to worry about. Suffering is part of the human condition, not caused by God but allowed by him for his greater glory and our salvation. If we don't know suffering, we cannot appreciate our salvation. Suffering is the fire in the crucible of life that reveals us for who we are and what we make of ourselves. We come to admire as heroes those who rise and overcome great suffering from those who had everything given to them and indulged every luxury in life. That makes the difference between someone like Louis Zamperini in Unbroken, and the "Affluenza" guy. Not that every person born to priviledge goes the way of the affluenza guy. St. Katharine Drexel too, was born into great wealth and priviledge yet she chose to become a nun and use her inheritance to benefit others. Whenever I hear people ask where was God during the Holocaust, or some natural calamity, or a child dying of cancer, or someone being the victim of a terrible crime, my answer always is - he is on the cross suffering with us. God is suffering with us and we must trust and hope that something greater will result from our suffering. When you look at the symbols that identify any religion, most can be identified by some celestial body, a wheel or some other lofty symbol. Chistianity is the only religion that has for a symbol an instrument of torture and death ✝️. Christianity gives meaning to the problem of suffering, and the promise of a greater outcome. Thank you Bishop Barron for your teaching.
Thank you for this beautiful teaching. So simple and relatable! God please give strength and courage to all those who suffer and let them trust in God’s truth however difficult it is to understand the “why” of his will and love ❤️!
I think Robert Barron is superb and what he teaches so grounded in the faith. This talk is very encouraging. However, I think of a friend whose father raped him when he was small and I am not sure how the fact that God’s ways are higher than ours, or the Vet analogy, would really help in that case. Trusting God is so damn difficult after going through intense trauma and pain, but we choose with our will to do so even though our feelings may take a lifetime to catch up.
This is the best explanation of suffering from a Catholic perspective that I have heard. The two analogies of Tiger's vet visit and BRB as a ten yo boy and the father dealing with the pain and suffering of his young son's surgery make it crystal clear. There simply are by nature quantumly different levels of understanding which cannot meet. God said it so clearly, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts." Thank you, Bishop Barron.
Thank you So much for this talk I Now under Stand That God Never leaves us. And Understands Us God bless You Bishop. Barrat. Thank. you for the Tiger story 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇮🇪🇺🇸
Let's bring this to the human realm or human understanding, you all seem to be talking high. Okay, I'll concede, his thoughts or purpose may be unknowable or incomprehensible to us, but can he not maintain that unknowable purpose and remove suffering still? He is god right? So he should be able to do that, but why didn't he? I'm not dictating god in what to do here, you might object, I'm just making you aware that it's possible for him to be incomprehensible in his thoughts and ways and yet remove our pain or suffering. Why didn't he?
Yes Infinitely close yet infinitely far; I would add infinitely deep, so transcendent we do not have understanding or words to describe. I am so humbled and grateful those infinite transcendent thoughts and plans for us are from God's Love.
As always Bishop Barron, you clarify things about our faith many of us think about as we live our lives. Thank you for yet again another thought-provoking homily. One thing that keeps me grounded is a realization that much of how we live has to do with the gift of free will. In addition to time, talent, treasure and baptism, God has given us free will. While many things in our lives seem to be out of our control, our ability to respond and the ways in which we respond to life events, determines what we do, what actions we take, going forward. If we are honest with ourselves, our use of free will, the decisions we make, determine how our life progresses, living the consequences of those decisions. In spite of ourselves, God is with us every second of our lives. What I have learned from St. Paul is to pray without ceasing; bringing God into as many facets of my life as possible, wanting to "be awake" to the Lord's, workings in the world and how I respond to life events. Another thing that has helped me immensely, is the Serenity Prayer. In the first six lines it says; "GOD grant me the serenity, to accept things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." The prayer is longer, and I have memorized all of it. I refer to this prayer daily and each time in life I encounter a circumstance that causes me to pause and decide how to react. It has made life a bit more "black and white" for me; sorting events into situations I might be able to influence through conversation, money donated, a good deed for someone in need, a listening ear, counsel when it is asked for, etc; and those circumstances I can't control, which in aggregate to me means, "controlling" the reactions of others to life circumstances. The coronavirus comes to mind. I cannot control the spread of the virus on a large scale. I can wear my mask and safely distance myself from others. If a vaccine becomes available, I can decide to take or reject the vaccine as I consider its safety for me in its early delivery. Yet, in spite of all these things, GOD is with me, guiding my thoughts, beliefs and actions. In that I take great solace.
God brings meaning to us through your sermons. It's so helpful and beautiful. The Lord often seeks me, personally, out and answers my questions through your sermons, as, I am sure, He does for many. Thank you and may the Lord bless you and keep you.
Thanks Bishop Barron for this very insightful sermon ; indeed it sheds a light on one of the ancient ( if not the most ancient) problem of human experience . Nevertheless I would like to play the Devil Advocate ( I am a practicing committed Catholic) : we often ask "Why" in face of major events of our life , but it seems to me that it begs what it assumes : who said there is a " why"? Why this or that person died ? Because deseases are part of the natural world and we are vulnerable to these agents . It seems to me that we assume that if something cause pain , therefore is not "right" or" fair ". We tend to project our wishes and make them an absolute standard of how things ought to be . I think is a fallacious thought because it depicts life as a moral agent. Life is not "fair" or "just" , in fact , life does not care about moral principles... Life is not a deity or a higher consciousness : is rather a network of.process that interacts together . Where do we derive the idea that there is major "Why" to the problem of suffering? I mean within a logical and philosophical framework , not religious . I think this is a good.point for the naturalistic worldview: suffering is a possibility and doesn't necessitate an explanation beyond his own realm . Hope Made myself clear ,God bless you all
Suffering is the greatest problem, but holds the deepest insights into the One Who Loves us. I learned to embrace this, and so many people have been helped
Thank you! Your explanations are so clear and meaningful and help me to a deeper understanding of our Father and His love! Also gives me the words to use in explaining my faith to others. May God bless you and your work!
People focus too much on the problem of suffering, and they dont see the much more obvious problem of pleasure. The whole of Jesus' message centered on detaching from worldly pleasures and taking our crosses. In Christ, God in fact ceased to be totaliter aliter, and told us that we are here to grow in spirit, and become worthy of His Kingdom, whether we laugh or cry - not to seek a comfortable life.
Believe it or not, we can ask God...nay, we SHOULD ask God...what he is trying to do with our suffering. I used to be a gourmet of sorts until I fell and broke my hip in the parking lot rushing out of an expensive grocery store. During my painless recovery in a beautiful rest home (I actually suffered very little), God made it clear my love of great food expressed a love of the world rather than a love of Him and I had to give it up. I have also lost about 35 pounds since then. LESSON? We can be smart pedigrees.
This is a very good example of someone who is open to hearing what God has to say - even when it is a chastisement- not a lot of people have hearts open to hear. You’re blessed that you are close to the Lord and hearing his spirit speaking to yours.
@@beatricebarry2060 My secret? "Whoever has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches..." Rev. 3:22 "You have not because you ask not." James 4:2
Unfortunately, suffering is a part of life. When we suffer, God is teaching us a lesson. When we suffer, we can pray to God to make it go away, or we can ask Him: " What can I learn from this experience, so that it does not happen again?" God loves you but He will test you, He does not want His children to be weak forever, He wants you to learn to be strong. That is God's ultimate love for us. ❤
Yeah, totally especially those that are tied to bed and mother needs to wake up every 2 hours during night to turn her from side to side so she doesnt get open wounds bc she is constantly on one side lying.. such a great lesson and suffering is a gift stuff from her birth.. its obviously some generational sin .. dont you think? /sarcasm off
Dear Bishop Barron Thank you for this great homily I congratulate you because with the Holy Spirit you’ve made so much progress as a preacher (I’ve been watching you for a few years). I thought that this timely homily was important and moving because it practically addressing the problem suffering especially during Covid 19. I thought it was a great explanation of one of your most important but difficult ideas you have namely that God is in a whole other category than the whole created universe. Also, I think a brief teaching on the concrete reality of Catholic teaching on “offering up suffering” For the salvation of others in the concrete day-to-day benefit would have been a great addition. To me offering up suffering in union with Christ’s sacrifice so that it is not meaningless but really of priceless value is one of the best but misunderstood teachings that Catholics have and other religions miss. And it’s important I’m glad that you said that you can’t give the definitive answer to the question. Why does God allow me to suffer? In my own life experience how giving a uncompassionate or empathetic “offer it up” response to a suffering family member can hurt relationships even though they should offer it up. I loved your example about Tiger that really connected with my heart. Great job blending your analytical knowledge with your pastoral heart! Sincerely, Dana
Bishop Baron please pray for me and my full recovery. I was so blessed to have met Bishop Aclan but please pray for my recovery it has been 6 long arduous years
I love your thinking. It is so refreshing and really builds me up. I shared the scriptures with about 25 people today and everyone wrote back thanking me for the lift it gave them. I get so much from your thinking... You are so spot on... Be Blessed this week... looking forward to next week.
Gracias Bishop Robert Barron por subtitular el video. Ciertamente todo lo relacionado con el sufrimiento es de mucho interés. Como siempre, es magistral su sermón.
I have a similar story to BRB's story about the vet. When I was a kid our family dog had a huge litter of puppies. We tried to give them away but nobody would take them. We kept one, put the rest in a burlap sack and drown them in the river. They looked so sad going into the sack, but how could they know it was for the best. We couldn't explain to them we were poor and couldn't afford to keep them all, they wouldn't have understood that anyway.
As ever your homilies really challenge and help me understand faith - and I know that any pain I have experienced in life has in many ways made me a stronger and better person, but I struggle with understanding if there is a God, how He can allow innocent beings, say kids, be tortured and eventually killed by others.
After reading David's Morgan story, I am crying because I have been praying for somebody to love and love me. I know that God's way is not my ways. Nevertheless, trust in Him as you, remind us in today's homily
I wish that these videos could come out earlier... on a Saturday, so that families can use it for their Sunday devotion. Where I live, in my part of the world - and attending mass comes with a lot of restrictions still - these videos only come out at 10pm on a Sunday night.
From Romans 8: " we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." We are called to share the suffering of God's love. "The peace of God is beyond understanding." I.e. Incomprehensible.
