Why
Lord? Why do You allow this?
Why me?
What have I done to deserve this?
Etc., etc.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to illustrate - as clearly as God
allows us to - the one single answer that responds to those, and many
more similar, "Why's".
INTRODUCTION
If we pick up and dust off the copy of the Holy Scriptures that we have
in the already proverbial coffee table for decoration and we turn to
the First Book of Samuel - right there, clear as day - we may find the
answer as to the "Why?" of just about every calamity that afflicts
mankind.
As you may know, or at least we hope so, the Holy Scriptures are a
collection of Divinely inspired writings to instruct us on how to live
in this world in as near as perfect bliss as it is possible and to warn
us about the consequences we will face when we do not.
The portion which instruct us on how to live could be condensed,
without losing anything, in probably twenty pages. The rest of the Holy
Scriptures are just to demonstrate to us what happens when we do not
follow the "Factory Manual of Instructions". Those examples run well
over one thousand pages. Why such lopsided proportions?
The "Factory", God, knows that man without Him is basically stupid -
more so than any animal of creation; thus He hoped that with over one
thousand pages of examples of what happens to man without God, man
would be moved to be in communion with God. Unfortunately, satan
invented the proverbial coffee table and the Holy Scriptures did not
get past being a decoration accent.
DETAILS
Most of the following text is straight out of the Holy Scriptures (1).
When you finish reviewing the texts, you may have discerned the answers
to all the "Why's?", but if not, we shall make the appropriate comments
to assist those who need help to see it.
FIRST PART
First Book Of Samuel, Chapter 2
While Samuel was still a child and in training in the House of the Lord
in Silo and Heli and his sons were the chief Priests...
27 And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith
the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy father's house, when they
were in Egypt in the house of Pharao? 28 And I chose him out of all the
tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my sitar, and burn
incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy
father's house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
29 Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I
commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured
thy (Heli's) sons than me, to eat the firstfruits of every sacrifice of
my people Israel? 30 Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I
said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father should minister
in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me: but
whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise
me, shall be despised.
31 Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of
thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 32
And thou shalt see thy rival 33 However I will not altogether take away
a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint and thy soul
be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die when they come to
man's estate.
34 And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy
two sons, Ophni and Phinees: In one day they shall both of them die.
35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to
my heart, and my soul, and I will build him a faithful house, and he
shall walk all days before my anointed. (God was speaking
here about Samuel.)
First Book Of Samuel, Chapter 4
1 And it came to
pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered themselves together
to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and
camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec, 2 And
put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined
battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines, and there was
slain in that fight here and there in the fields about four thousand
men. 3 And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel
said: Why hath the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let
us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let
it come in the midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our
enemies. 4 So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts sitting upon the cherubims:
and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the
covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was
come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the
earth rang again.
6 And the
Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this
noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood
that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines
were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:
8 Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday and the day
before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high
gods? these are the gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the
desert. 9 Take courage and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you
come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take
courage and fight. 10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was
overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an
exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand
footmen.
11 And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni
and Phinees, were slain.
First Lesson - A Summary
Instead of serving and honoring God, Heli and his sons (the chief
Priests) allowed themselves to be honored over God and enjoyed the
first fruits of the people of Israel. Thus, even with the Ark of the
Covenant present in the battle area, they lost the battle and were
slain. It was not "magic" - it was Divine Action.
The Ark of the Covenant was not a talisman nor an amulet to be used at
the pleasure of man, and neither is the Holy Eucharist nor the
Sacraments.
For the Sacraments "to work" one must be striving to be in the Grace of
God and truly attempting to fulfill His Will; otherwise the abusers,
(2) who try to "use God and His Sacraments" through the
mechanical fulfillment of rituals, (3) will
increase their debt to God and their future misery will be
multiplied.
SECOND PART
Sometime after the death of Joshua [Judges 2] Israel apostatized and
the period of "Judges" started. These were the men who God assigned to
help his people out of the state they came into being after the
apostasy. They served as the conscience of Israel helping them to
judge/choose what was right in the Eyes of God as well as communicating
to them what God Willed.
In a way, we see the original purpose (4)
of the Successors of Peter precisely as that. The first amongst equals
- having the last word on matters of faith and morals. After all - in
any system, someone has to make the final decision regarding his/her
area of responsibility.
First Book Of Samuel, Chapter 8
After thirteen or fourteen judges, when Samuel was serving in that
capacity the following took place:
1 And it came to pass when Samuel
was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 2 Now the
name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was
Abia, judges in Bersabee. 3 And his sons walked not in his ways: but
they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
4 Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled, came to Samuel to
Ramatha. 5 And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk
not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
6
And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should
say: Give us a king, to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And
the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that
they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that
I should not reign over them. 8 According to all their works, they have
done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as
they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto
thee. 9 Now therefore hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them,
and foretell them the right
of the king, that shall reign over them. 10 Then Samuel told all the
words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,
11 And said: This will be the
right of the king, that shall reign over you: He will take your sons,
and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his
running footmen to run before his chariots, 12 And he will appoint of
them to be his tribunes, and centurions, and to plough his fields, and
to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots. 13 Your daughters
also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and
bakers. 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your
best olive yards, and give them to his servants. 15 Moreover he will
take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to
give his eunuchs and servants.
16 Your servants also and
handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses he will take
away, and put them to his work. 17 Your flocks also he will tithe, and
you shall be his servants. 18 And you shall cry out in that day from
the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves. and the Lord
will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a
king. 19 But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they
said: Nay: but there shall be a king over us. 20 And we also will be
like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us,
and tight our battles for us.
21 And Samuel heard all the words
of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And
the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king.
And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.
Second Lesson - A Summary
Israel did not want a man in tune with God to guide them, they wanted
someone to Lord over them. Let us now remember the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ regarding the pseudo sado-masochistic human tendency to
lord over others and wanting to be lorded over.
Gospel of Luke, Chapter 22
24 And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should
seem to be the greater. 25 And he said to them: The kings of the
Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are
called beneficent.
26 But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him
become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth.
27 For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth?
Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he
that serveth:
and
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 20
25 But Jesus called them to him, and said: You know that the princes
of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater,
exercise power upon them. 26 It shall not be so among you: but
whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister: 27
And he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. 28 Even as
the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and
to give his life a redemption for many.
CONCLUSION
We have, in the political arena and in the organized religion arena
exactly what we wanted and, thus, deserved, just as His chosen people
received what they wanted and deserved: Someone - an earthly king - to
lord over them even though God explained the serious consequences of
their request through Samuel.
In the political arena there are many, many examples of God allowing
upon us what we wanted even though it would lead to disaster - Hitler
being a shining example, but certainly not the only one.
In the case of Christianity, it became even worse. After a short while,
the descendants of the first Christian "Judge" [Peter] (4)
shed - on their own accord - their role of "Judge", appointed
themselves as Rulers and Kings (5) of the
temporal rulers of the world and the rest is history, and a very sad
one at that (6). The Imperial Church was born and
true Evangelization died.
This "action-reaction" cycle, of course, applies to everything we do.
When we insist in "our way", then we better be ready to endure the
consequences.
We hope and pray that this new document will assist the reader in
better understanding what we mean when we state that: Pain is the
megaphone that God uses for the deaf to hear. (7)
EPILOGUE
Let us pray with contrite hearts and humble spirits. Then He will hear
our prayers and come to our assistance without fail. Otherwise,
He will do just as He explained in the First Chapter of the Book of
Isaiah (8) - that is, He Will continue to turn a
deaf ear to the millions upon millions of prayers offered with unclean
and arrogant spirits.
There is no mystery (8) why the world is in the
state it is in spite of the millions upon millions of Masses and
rosaries offered - He is simply NOT paying attention just as He has
warned us over and over again.
NOTES
En Español: ¿Por qué yo, Señor?
¿Por qué lo permites? ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto?
Originally Published on
February 2006. European Union
© Copyright 2006 - 2022
by The M+G+R Foundation.
All rights reserved. However, you may
freely reproduce and distribute this document as long as: (1)
Appropriate credit is given as to its source; (2) No changes are made
in the text without prior written consent; and (3) No charge is made
for it.
The M+G+R
Foundation