When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. (And) Jesus said to her, Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, Fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now. Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. -The 2nd Luminous Mystery

Human pain and suffering

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Question from Lynn on 4/7/2008:

I am a CCD teacher for 7th grade and two of my male students cannot understand if God loves us and wants what is best for us why God does not stop all human suffering. They want to know why God allows babies to die and people to murder other people. They want to know why life is so full of pain and sorrow when God can make it go away.

Answer by Matthew Bunson on 4/22/2008:
What you ask goes to one of the greatest and most debated question in human existence, what is called in philosophical circles theodicy. I would encourage you to read and then present to your class Pope John Paul II’s magnificent work on human suffering, Salvifici Doloris. It is available here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_11021984_salvifici-doloris_en.html

You might also consider reading: John Paul II and the Meaning of Suffering: Lessons from a Spiritual Master by Robert G. Schroeder and Suffering: The Catholic Answer by Hubert Van Zeller and Dom Hubert Van Zeller.

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