Pat McCloskey, OFM

If God was taking care of me when I was in the military and killing people, then why was God not taking care of them at the same time?

Where is God when someone takes a life in self-defense? A just war presumes that soldiers on each side are acting in legitimate self-defense.

Where was God when Cain murdered his brother, Abel? When children are abused by family members, teachers, or members of the clergy? When elderly people are swindled out of their life’s savings?

Why were Lucifer and his band of angels created when God knew what would happen to him and the human race?

Your question presumes that God acts in time as humans do: past, present, future. That, however, is a human restriction on God. God created Lucifer for the same reason that God created everything else: to share life. Unfortunately, Lucifer eventually resented his subordinate status and led a revolt of angels. The question “What did God know when? ” is framed in terms of human time.

Although I was raised Catholic and attend Sunday Mass regularly, in recent years I am finding the Church’s position, or perhaps its silence, on many political issues disturbing. I understand pro-life concerns, but I don’t understand why the only pro-life issue the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) really seems to care about is abortion.

Pope Francis is the best thing that has happened to the Catholic Church since St. John XXIII. I know there are lots of dedicated priests, religious, and laypeople working on the front lines with refugees, the poor, the elderly, single mothers, and other at-risk groups of people. But where among today’s leaders are the Oscar Romeros, the Daniel Berrigans, and the Dorothy Days? I don’t think I’m having a crisis of faith; it feels more like a crisis of religion because of tepid leadership.

I understand that if I pray for someone, that action affects me and how I deal with that person and perhaps others. All our lives, Catholics are geared to praying for others, but what we do after that praying is also crucial. Pope Francis usually ends a homily or talk with a request that his listeners pray for him. What good does that do?