tsunamy tragedy (3)" "
Even though the answers may be different, the question posed before the mystery of death is the same for believers and non-believers alike: “why?”. So said the archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, in his homily during a mass celebrated in Brussels Cathedral on 15 January, in memory of the victims of the tsunami that devastated the coasts of South-East Asia on 26 December. In response to events of this kind “what remains, other perhaps than despair?” asked the cardinal. But referring to the Book of Job he urged, instead, the hope that is based on three successive phases. “The first he said is the emotion that touches the heart. It is therapeutic, because it cures us from the facile calculation that makes us say ‘every man for himself’. It demolishes the wall of our egocentrism and our selfishness”. The second “is the phase of reflection. We become aware of our mortality, our limits. Faced by tragic events like those we have experienced, we are led to push forward our knowledge to curb the brutal power of nature”. Then a provocation: “What would we have done if the countries struck by the tsunami had not been places we love to visit as tourists? What of the victims of hunger and violence in Africa, or those who live on less than a euro per day? This too is a therapeutic reflection, not only for us but also for all the poor faceless people in the world”. Lastly action, the third and last phase of this process of hope: “Action that serves to transform our prompt and generous aid into structural and long-term aid and doesn’t stop only at the threshold of 0.7% of gross domestic product”. “When the emotion produced by these events has died, we need to pass to action. The road before us is still long but we have made a good start!” Representatives of the various Christian churches, of other religions and philosophic positions were also present at the rite.
