THE EDITOR, Sir:I HUMBLY beg to differ with the views of Father Ho Lung's recent article titled 'Understanding the tsunami' in which he mooted that 'The all powerful God has acted' in the recent national grief of the eastern world.
The God described by Father Ho Lung is not the same God I have come to know as a Catholic and as a Christian. The God I have come to know is a God of compassion and love. He loves all of us despite our human flaws and stains. He loves us so much that he sent his only son to die on the cross for all of us so that we might be saved from sin and have hope of everlasting life.
None of us can fully understand God's plan because it is a mystery of life. None of us can understand why we experience personal or national grief in our lives. Maybe it is a personal reminder to us of God's power and glory and our dependence on him. However, what I do know is that despite the bad times and the good times God is present with us and his only desire is for our happiness, peace and joy.
When we sin and fall out of grace or miss the mark we choose to disrupt and disconnect that intimate and loving relationship with God. But our God is a forgiving God and he will wait and pursue us to reconnect by repenting and having a change of heart. If we choose not to repent during our lifetime then we deny ourselves the gift of God's grace and hope of everlasting life.
As Catholics and Christians let us not portray our loving God as a punishing God bringing grief and doomsday in our lives. Let us leave that thinking to the other religions. We cannot win souls through fear but through love as Jesus taught us love one another as I have loved you.
I am, etc.,
WILLIAM HYLTON
