Being a Catholic and strong to my faith, I would respond by praying hard individually and as a group, with my fellow believers. I have a strong faith that being dispossessed of material things will not dislodge my faith in God and I will respond by believing that the tragedy will soon pass away and that God will intervene to help me and my loved ones who are affected by it. Every mighty man or woman of God passes through the fires of trials and troubles.
Because God loves us, He strives to hone us. To do this, He constantly burns away all human dross, refining His children to perfection. It’s not the process, however, that separates the weak Catholic from the strong Catholic. It is learning to keep cool when the heat is on. It is coming out of the furnace with our fleshly weaknesses burned up. It is passing through the fires without being singed—with no lingering hurts, fears, grudges or resentment—with not even the smell of smoke about us—just well-tempered love and faith in God.
How would you deal with it?
One of the most important and difficult of all spiritual truths is that we see the world only as a reflection of how we see ourselves. As far as my spiritual journey is concerned, I know that the thoughts I think and the emotions I choose to express in any given situation affect my external reality. I know that the grace and compassion of God is greater than any kind of dispossession I would ever experience. I would even rationalize to myself that I am better off that the Biblical character Job who was stripped of everything that mattered to him, yet in his sorrow thanked God for everything, nevertheless.
The Essay on Jewish People Wiesel God Faith
In Night, by Elie Wiesel, there is an underlying theme of anger. Anger not directed where it seems most appropriate- at the Nazis- but rather a deeper, inbred anger directed towards God. Having once been a role model of everything a good Jew should be, Wiesel slowly transforms into a faithless human being. He cannot comprehend why the God who is supposed to love and care for His people would ...
How would you keep your faith or would you lose it?
I have faith that because I also possess a soul, and not simply mind and body, I have the power through God’s grace to transmute negative experiences such as being dispossessed, into positive opportunities and that it is possible to find meaning in such a situation. I would keep my faith and in fact, now, more than ever, pray for courage and fortitude to be able to withstand the challenges that such circumstances bring forth.
Would there be a replaced life theme you would develop?
Thus, if there is one theme that will characterize my life after such trauma, it will be: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of the Father for you in Christ.”
