Recently, I came across the author Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits and was stunned by one phrase of his. I have been reflecting much lately on the nature of evil in the world as part of my thinking of the Goodness of God.
Berkovits noted one thing about the Holocaust which opens the door to our thoughts on evil in the world.
He wrote that we should not be asking "Where was God in the Holocaust?" but, "Where was man?"
To be truly human is to respond to the natural law which is in every human being ever created.
Natural law is the same as the Ten Commandments, that law given to us by God because we are made in His image and likeness.
That millions of people disregard natural law and become sub-human as a result of evil choices forms an anxiety for many Catholics.
Nature and nurture determine evil in a person, but in today's world of psychology and worse, pop-psychology, nurture seems to trump nature in many people's mind.
Education, good housing, and food do not make saints. In fact, many comfortable, wealthy people with loving families do not become saints and many people who are impoverished in so many ways do so.
The two most prevalent heresies are universalism, which holds that all people go to heaven, and Pelagianism, which holds that people get to heaven without grace.
Sadly, too many Catholics cannot see that the divide between those who believe and those who do not believe is growing.
Where is man? Where are the humans who respond to natural law? We need to stop making excuses for those who pass up grace and God, creating strong friendships in the Lord, so that we are not swept away by the waves of trials to come.
Prudence and wisdom dictate that Catholics join together to help each other stay strong. The early Church community was built on friendship, based on common beliefs and goals.
Without this, the Church is weak.
