Faith in action

Did you know that long before the soft drink Coke was produced the Bible had already a commercial on it? The "ad" goes: "Have a Coke." In Hebrew, Hab-a-kuk!

- WORD ALIVE FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD

Levity aside, "Habakkuk" is the name of an obscure prophet in the Old Testament. In the first reading of the 27th Sunday, we read about him. What's amusing about this man is his audacity to stand up to God, saying, "How long, O Lord? I cry for help but you do not listen!"

Then seeing all the violence and miseries around, he dared to question how God is governing the world. "I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not intervene. Why do you let me see ruin; why must I look at misery?" (Hab 1,2-3)

Habakkuk may well represent a good number of us in situations when everything seems to be going wrong, when we feel that God is so distant and does not seem to care about our problems.

For instance, why does a good God allow unimaginable misery to fall on people devastated by earthquakes, typhoons, floods, and other calamities?

Or, why do godless people continue to sow terror and misery as in corruption in governments as is happening in our country, kidnappings, and senseless killings?