Michael Kelly
“At times of immense darkness and pain, the mission of people of faith is to keep the rumour of God alive”, writes Editor Michael Kelly
Late on Sunday evening – Palm Sunday – news of the almost unspeakable tragedy that occurred in Buncrana, Co. Donegal began to emerge.
What started out as a Sunday outing to the seaside, ended in heartbreak as five members of the McGrotty family lost their lives. Just four-month-old Rionaghac-Ann survived.
In an instant, Louise Daniels’ world had been torn apart, her spouse, two children, mother and sister killed.
It’s hard to find words in the face of such an unbearable disaster. The family’s local priest, Fr Paddy O’Kane, spoke of how he tried to comfort Louise in the midst of her devastating loss. “I thought of the words of Jesus, ‘my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Fr O’Kane said on radio giving voice to the desolation and anguish felt by many.
Where is God in the midst of such darkness? It’s a question as old as the human family and one that is almost impossible to answer without sounding trite or platitudinous.
Marie Lindsay, principal of St Mary’s College in Derry where 15-year-old Jodie Lee was a student, spoke on radio about how the school was trying to help pupils to come to terms with the news.
Speaking to Mary Wilson on Drivetime on RTÉ Radio One Mrs Lindsay ended her remarks with an appeal: “I would just ask your listeners to remember us and the wider community, but particularly these young people and their family – all who lost their lives in this tragedy – because I do believe prayer will make a difference.”
Tragedies
It’s been said more than once that, at times of immense darkness and pain, the mission of people of faith is to keep the rumour of God alive. Fr O’Kane and Mrs Lindsay did so admirably without resorting to clichés or attempting to offer simple answers.
Where faith has been lost in the midst of terrible tragedies, it is often because people have been failed by false pieties. They have been told “it’s God’s will” or “only the good die young” or “God needed more angels in Heaven”. We must resist such sentiment. Who would want to even know, never mind serve, a God who wills such appalling loss?
No, God does not will tragedy, but as believers, we are convinced, he is there in the midst of the pain and suffering.
Solace
There is solace in the scriptures when the heart is numb and we need reassurance that, despite all, God is still near and hears our tears. The Psalms are the songs of the human heart, they express our deepest longings – joys and hopes, sorrows and despairs.
In the anguish of the Psalms of lament, we see the soul of the believer crying out for light in darkness, for comfort in sorrow, for healing in loss. Holy Week takes on an extra significance this year for all those touched by the events in Buncrana. For them, Calvary is a hill that is very near.
We’ve heard the account of the passion and death of Christ so often, it sometimes loses its power to move or even to shock us. We find it difficult to sit with Good Friday, and we long for the joy of Easter. This is natural, God has made us for happiness, not for sorrow. There is darkness in Good Friday, but the promise of Easter assures us that the dawn will soon be at hand.