"Where the hell is God?"

“Where the Hell is God” is the provocative title of a new book by the Australian Jesuit author, Father Richard Leonard who talks of the mystery of human suffering. The book comes from his struggle to come to terms with the tragedy that befell his own family when his 28 year old sister was left paralysed from the neck down in a car accident. Father Leonard says he wrote the book after becoming convinced that his struggle and reflection in dealing with own family’s suffering following that accident could help other people maintain their faith in God when tragedy strikes their lives. Susy Hodges began by asking what made him choose the provocative and somewhat shocking title “Where the Hell is God?”.......
Father Leonard said it came from the day of his sister's car accident when his mother "who is a daily mass going Catholic turned to me with tears in her eyes and asked me "Where the hell is God?" He said his own faith "was severely tested by his sister's accident, not so much for the event itself but because of some Catholics' response to the event." One example, he said, was somebody who wrote "Tracey must have done something terrible to offend God and God has seen fit to punish her in this life so she now needs to accept that punishment."
Father Leonard says that in his book he is trying to get across that there's a very big difference between God inflicting pain, disease, suffering and death and God permitting it" .... and he went on to say "I know people who have walked away from their faith over really bad things that have happened to them because they believe God did it to them."
Listen to this report: