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May 2, 2019I found myself early on Good Friday in a car repair shop, sitting in the waiting room. I glanced up and noticed the TV screen across the room. Father Price Oswalt was approaching a microphone. I recognized him right away, but couldn’t hear what was going on, so I went over to turn up the volume. For the next 30 minutes or so I watched the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Service. It was beautifully done. As I watched, I was struck by two thoughts. One, how interesting it was that the date of the bombing anniversary fell this year on Good Friday. And two, the bombing anniversary was one day before the anniversary of the Columbine shooting, which I had experienced when living in Colorado.
Twenty years ago, I was the youth minister at a Catholic parish just a couple miles down the road from Columbine High School. More than 200 of our teens were in the building that day. Three of the 13 killed were from our parish as well as many of the wounded. My life was deeply impacted by that tragic day. I was quickly immersed in recovery efforts, helping with counseling, planning funerals, feeding people, etc. We literally served three meals a day at the parish for several weeks. In the face of tragedy, everyone wanted to be together. It was a time of deep grief, and lots of confusion. And, it seemed to last forever. I remember wondering at the time if the heaviness would ever lift, and if things would ever get back to normal. They really never did, but we did eventually realize a new normal.
Both of these tragedies left people reeling with grief and an overwhelming sense of loss. These kinds of events also leave us with questions about evil. Where does such evil come from? Why in the world would God allow it? As I sat at the Easter Vigil Mass, though, I was struck by the significance of the way the dates fell this year. It was a unique convergence – the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary on Good Friday, April 19, the Columbine anniversary on Saturday, April 20, and then Easter Sunday on April 21. I was somewhat moved by an amazing reality of our faith that Easter Sunday always follows Good Friday!
This isn’t just a nice idea or some super-spiritual notion that is unattainable. I have experienced the reality of it in my own life, and I know many others who have as well. God triumphs over evil. The evil never goes away, evidenced once again on Easter morning as I woke to news of the Sri Lanka bombings – terrorist activity that killed more than 250 people on Easter Sunday. This evil is the poverty of humanity. But, we can find great solace in the fact that Easter morning will always follow. Evil will never win in the end!
The other amazing truth of our faith is that God somehow can take tragic events and bring good out of them. Romans 8:28 says, “all things work together for good for those who love God, and who are called according to his purpose.” Revelation 21:5 says, “Behold, I make all things new.”
As I have made new friends here in Oklahoma City over the past couple of years, I have heard many stories about the federal building bombing 24 years ago. Every single one of those stories has been marked by the amazing response of the people who rushed to help and came together to heal. The lasting memories seem to be of the human solidarity and hope that resulted from it. I think this is what Paul means when he says that all things can work together for good. God has the victory, and in the end will always win, because even when it seems like the enemy has triumphed, God somehow turns evil into something good and for his purposes.
This is a fundamental principle of lived discipleship – learning to trust God in the midst of life’s difficult circumstances.
So many can be tempted to lose trust and abandon faith in the face of tragedy and loss. Be encouraged. If the Church had gotten stuck on Good Friday, they would have missed the resurrection altogether. With every Good Friday, Easter follows! Don’t lose heart and don’t lose faith. Wait for it!