Overwhelmed by disaster

In responding to the massacre of people in New Zealand we can struggle to make sense of great evil visited upon people going about the normal activities of their daily life. What has shocked many people is not just the immediacy of the impact upon ourselves but also how we make sense of evil events that occur in life. We seek answers and solutions which seek to prevent similar events from occurring in the future but we often struggle with how the evil fomented in the life of one person can draw out a sense of a greater evil which can threaten to overwhelm us. It is in these times when Jesus calls us to a sense of how we can experience inner darkness ourselves and how we need to discover an honesty to repent of whatever can harm us and harm others. There is a call to be open to a person who does not abandon us to that inner darkness but draws it to the light so that our lives can be fruitful.

I think in all the things of life we need to examen our own hearts and response. I am very conscious of how quickly the media calls us to respond to situations of great horror. It can bring out the best and worst of us at the same time. I believe in our current age we need to become people of great spiritual reflection who listen to the heartbeat of God in our age. As John Paul II said that this will be the age of the spirit or not all. Our call is to become people of prayer in word and in action. This calls upon us to be open to where the Spirit is leading us and to be aware of how we are called to live. This is the most powerful witness of how we become aware of people within our own square metre. One of the realities of the internet is that this has been expanded to the one square metre around our computers, television, newspaper and radios. Our lives have become centred so much on what other people think and feel that we tend to lose sight of how to be present to our own thoughts and feelings. I believe what St John Paul would pray for us is that we do not become reactive in our responses but more deeply reflective on our vision for humanity. In all things, this is contained within his Gospel of Life which seeks to be present to what heralds God's Kingdom in our current age. I believe that this is the most engaging and challenging question of our age where we are called to grow in personal holiness. Like Mary, we are called to ponder great horrors but respond to them with great love.