Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - August 5, 2007

Does Evil Exist?

The university professor challenged his students with this question, “Did God create everything that exists?” A student bravely replied, “Yes he did.” The professor glared at the students and then said, “If God created everything, then God created evil. Evil exists and according to the principal that our works define who we are, we can then conclude that God is evil.” The student was silenced. The professor was quite pleased and boasted to the class that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was just a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, “Professor, can I ask you a question?” The grinning professor replied, “Of course.” The student stood up and said, “Professor does cold exist?” The professor responded, “What kind of question is that? Of course it exists. We’ve all experienced cold before.”
The student was undaunted and replied, “Actually sir cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy and heat is what makes a body have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is total absence of heat. No energy is created or transmitted. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”
The professor was silent. Then the student asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor was becoming annoyed and said, “Of course it does.” The student replied and said, “Once again you are wrong sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is actually the absence of light. Light we can study but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You can’t measure darkness. How can you know how dark a certain place is? You measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light.”
The professor once again offered no reply. Finally the young student said, “Sir, does evil exist?” The professor was now visibly angry and shouted back, “Of course! We see it everyday. It is an example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”
The student responded, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is not like faith or love that exists just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. God did not create evil. Evil is like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light. Evil is simply the absence of God.” The professor was stunned and sat down at a loss for words.
So who was this student who took a stand for God and fought to prove His existence? His name was Albert Einstein.

What is Community?

“Community is like a large mosaic of the face of Christ. Each little piece seems so insignificant. One piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold. Some look precious, others ordinary. Some look valuable, others worthless. Some look gaudy, others delicate. As individual stones, we can do little with them except compare them and judge their beauty and value. When, however, all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, who would ever question the importance of any one of them? If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. Together in one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. That’s community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.”
- JM Henri Nouwen

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