From Tragedy to New Life

Although all the saints have much to teach us, I am most in awe of those like St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (1533-1617), who became a Jesuit lay brother after the death of his wife in childbirth, followed by the death of his two children. As Robert Ellsberg remarks, “He had responded to tragedy by opening his heart to God.”

Most of us respond to tragedy by getting angry at God, asking, “Why did you let this happen?” We don’t seem to be able to grasp that suffering is not just part of the human condition, it is also part of what it means to be God. The freedom that God chose to give all creation, so that we aren’t just God’s subjects but are part of God’s life as co-creators, means that God suffers too in the face of destruction and pain. As St. Alphonsus intuited, we can seek healing and consolation from God precisely because God suffers too—but, as we know through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God is also able to transmute suffering into new life. Different life, to be sure, different from what we have known and loved, but still filled with goodness and promise.

Let us be grateful to St. Alphonsus and all the saints who have shown us that we can trust God to make all things new despite the tragedies we experience during our life on earth.