Dear Friends,
Welcome to my very first Friday Memo to you. It hope it finds you and your family well. It is good to be able to talk with you, especially given the tough times in which we now find ourselves. As we all know, tough times can either tempt us towards sadness and surrender or impel us towards greater fortitude and faith. Let me put that in a broader context.
God does no evil; he is goodness itself and thus can be only a source of goodness. So, the question many may have is why does God allow evil to take place? Why this pandemic? Why all this isolation? Why this death? The only reason that God allows evil is because he knows he can draw good from it.
I only have to look at the Crucifix before me on my desk to be convinced of that. The Father in Heaven allowed this painful and shameful death of his Son on the Cross because he was going to draw the great good of the Resurrection from that death, not just for his Son but for all of us, "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it," (cf. John 1:5).
And he knew that, as Jesus said, once the Son was lifted up, all would be drawn to him. The very life of the Holy Spirit given to us is the fruit of that death and resurrection. So, God is allowing these evils in our time in order to draw good from them. And the greatest good is our salvation.
If these times lead us to repent of sin, to turn to prayer, to invoke the Holy Spirit, to show charity toward one another, to be good examples to our family members and neighbors, to allow the faith in us to grow, to open our hearts to the hope which God desires to give us, then great good will be drawn from these times.
It is then pretty clear that we must desire the same goodness that God desires for us in order for that goodness to take root in and be fruitful in our lives. We know what God wants to come of all of this.
Are we ready to work with God, to desire what he desires, to open our hearts and lives to the grace he is continuously pouring out upon us, and to be the daughters and sons he has called us to be? If so, then there will be great fruit from this time. Instead of a time of darkness, it will be seen as the time in the tomb of Jesus on Holy Saturday, awaiting the bright light of Easter Resurrection. God bless all of you.
Assuring you of my prayers, I am sincerely yours in Christ,
+ Earl
Bishop of Lansing
P.S. With many of you preparing to prayerfully participate in Sunday Mass from home, click here for a list of where and how you can watch Holy Mass from across the Diocese of Lansing.
Watch: Diocese of Lansing priest Father Mark Rutherford led a Eucharistic Procession, March 21, around the entire diocese … from 10,000 feet in the air! And he did so to ask for God’s healing and protection for all below from the COVID-19 outbreak:
Watch: How do we make sense of all that is going on at present during the COVID-19 outbreak? How do we deal with an aversion to suffering and fear of death? They are just some of the questions posed to the popular Catholic columnist, Father Joe Krupp, in this Diocese of Lansing Podcast:
Bishop Boyea asks you to please support your parish:
"I know that many of you may be laid off and your sources of income may be lower. This is also true of our parishes and our diocese. If you are able to make up for what our other sisters and brothers cannot give, please, I appeal to your sacrificial generosity. This is especially true for your own parish. I have already heard from several that they are in serious straights especially as they try to pay those who work for your parish and these parish workers often receive lower wages than they could get in the public sector. So please help your parish!"
Bishop Earl Boyea, Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 22, 2020
