“How Did That Happen”

Do you ever wonder why things turn out the way they do? In some cases, it seems like coincidence, happenstance, fate , or just pure luck.  In sports, we can analyze the last minutes of the big game… the bounce of the ball as it rolls off the rim (or rolls into the basket), the fly ball that pops off the top of the glove into the stands (or stays in the glove). What about David Tyree’s catch with the ball on the top of his helmet in Super Bowl 42…a one in a thousand catch. Everyone has their own list of crazy endings. 

Even on serious global events like wars and pandemics and revolutions,  it’s not always clear why something happened….possibly a combination of reasons and happenings…with  one event being “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. 

But if you could peal back all the confusions and fog surrounding these happenings what would you find? What role does providence play, what about man’s freedom, where does prayer fit in, ….. does luck have a role?

Certainly God is almighty and nothing happens that he doesn’t allow. But, God did give us “free will”… so we do play a role in how things play out. (Check out quotes from The Catechism of the Catholic Church below.)

Sometimes I think, “what are the chances that some dope did not accidently or intentionally “push the button” and rain nuclear rockets down on some city over the past 70 years?”  I picture Comrade Igor (or General Tex ) sitting around a concrete bunker with an open bottle of Vodka or a Cold Bud saying  “what the heck, I’m sick and tired of this crummy life…bla,bla,bla…. Some would say, “oh that could never happen Dave…we have safeguards… we are too smart for something like that…bla, bla, bla.”

 Gee, I think maybe there’s other reasons why this world is still kicking. It always begins with God and his love for this world. But, I think prayer has played a major role…directly and indirectly. Here’s a couple of examples: 

• The Magnificat estimated  “in every second of the day and night four elevations of the Host take place all over the world.” (August 2020 Magnificat, page 42)… WOW! 
• The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris (Sacré-Cœur) has had perpetual adoration of the Holy Eucharist since 1885…thru WWI and WWII…. 135 years … some 50,000 days in a row of perpetual Eucharistic adoration….WOW!

But then what about all the other millions of people celebrating Mass, going to Adoration, saying the rosary, taking their personal prayer, offering up their suffering, preaching the gospel, fasting, giving alms… essentially “loving the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength…and their neighbor as themselves”. 

This gives me a lot of hope. The future of the world is not in the hands of Satan and people opposing God. The future of the world is in God’s hands and his people. We have a big role to play. Our prayers and sacrifice makes a difference. Keep praying. Keep sacrificing. The Lord God will have the last word about his creation…. and  I think that is very encouraging.

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(Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1704-1707) “…. The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. By his reason, he is capable of understanding the order of things established by the Creator. By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. He finds his perfection “in seeking and loving what is true and good.” …. By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him “to do what is good and avoid what is evil.” …. he still desires the good, but his nature bears the wound of original sin…”