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Our Faith
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 SUFFERING AND GRIEF
- By Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
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Suffering and grief are common in human life. However, how
people react may differ from person to person and from group to group.
Recently, I read in the daily local newspaper Kompas
the story of a man, who due to landslides in his village had lost, not
only all his possessions but his entire family as well: his wife, his two
children, both his parents, a brothe r
and a sister, and a number of nieces and nephews. All together, thirteen
people who had been living in the same house before it collapsed. He was
the only survivor! In broken language, he told the press that now,
everything in life had come to an end and become meaningless. He started
shouting and then faded.
Others might be able to interiorize and assimilate trials
in positive ways. Once I read about a woman by the name of Theaphista.
Day after day, she worked hard in her garden by growing bananas, beans and
maize. Her husband had been ill with AIDS for a year. The couple had
three children.
Then one day, Thea also became very sick with AIDS. As
time went by, she began to get worse. She was unable to do much; so the
burden fell on Sergito, her twelve-year old son. He cared for his mother,
and looked after his brother and sister, doing the cooking and fetching
firewood and water. He began to be in school less and less. As a result,
he failed his exams. When Sergito was asked what he wanted to do when he
finishes school, his reply always was, “I want to be a priest!”
One day, Sister Ursula MMM, a good friend of the family,
went to see Thea and found her lying in the darkest corner of the room in
awful pain. She suspected that Thea had cryptococcal meningitis.
When Sister Ursula held her and saw her suffering, she prayed hard to God
to take her. In her words, “Holding her, I screamed inside myself,
‘God, why don’t you take her? How can You allow someone to suffer like
this?’” But there was nothing. God was deaf! The woman continued
to suffer. Sister Ursula thought to herself, “When I meet God someday,
I’m going to have many questions to ask Him.”
Thea died two days later. Sergito and his brother and
sister went to live with their aunt and uncle. They, too, were sick
with AIDS, and lived in two rooms with twelve children from other
relatives. Sergito was one of the two oldest children, so his workload
increased again.
Sister Ursula told later, “Sergito challenged me
incredibly. He had suffered so much and yet his faith was so strong
and sure. Sergito and his mother challenged my faith. When I saw them
suffer, I wondered whether there was a God at all. And yet, they, the
suffering ones, never doubted for a moment He was there.”
- TELL US LIKE IT IS!
- Has something
wonderful and unique happened in your life lately? Did God answer your
prayer in a very unexpected way? Did you, like Isaiah, meet God’s
whisper?
- Have you felt His
powerful hand working in your life recently?
- Everyday, people are
experiencing God’s mighty Word in their lives and it is a pity that very
few know about it. Do you have a story to tell? Some Good News to
share?
- E-mail us (genesis@catholic.org) or fax us
(021-6627384), and tell us about it. That’s right! You don’t have to be
a great writer to do this. We can help you write it – just tell us like
it is!
- Don’t forget to write
the subject: “Let Me Tell You A
Story”
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This site has been awarded
IN THIS ISSUE:
HIS Servant
by Bro. Pete Lapid
The Father Speaks
By Fr. Siegfried Binzler, SJ
Surabaya Corner
By Ramon Martillano
Our Faith
By Fr. KJ Veeger, MSC
Community Life ~ Here's the Latest
By Leslie Freires
Place of Refuge
By Philip Yuson
The LampLight
By Fr. Agustinus Tupen Belo, PR
God Answers Prayers
By Beth Manibog
Straight from the Heart
By Carolle Bautista
Surabaya Sharing
By Bombet Malinao
G* KIDSPACE
By Tintin Magbitang
Reflections
By Fr. Harry Toledano, OAD
Saint for the Month
Source: Catholic Online
Catholic News
Compiled by Armand Sol
On Focus
By Sansu Garin
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