問 Q: Fr. Ching, Hope you are well. This is the first time I email you. I am bothered by this Japanese Ryo Tatsuki’s predictions of the massive earthquake in 2025. I know we shouldn’t believe in it, and shouldn’t even read it, but people are talking about it and hard to avoid. I could only ask people to keep praying to God, but i feel that i am promoting it when I ask people to pray about this “predictions”. I have this conflicts in me. What should I do? And why would God allow this kind of disaster happen in the world….. Thank you for your time in advance.

05/01/2026

【 問題來自Question from】 Vancouver, Canada

程明聰神父答Fr. Francis' Answer:

Did not Jesus in the Gospel say the world as we know it is passing away? And in the book of the prophet Isaiah as well as Revelation, both mentioned there will be new heaven and new earth. All will pass away by fire.

We Christians are not concerned about the truth that the created world as we know it will pass away. We all too will pass away. We are concerned if we are reborn in heaven. This life here is short, very very short. That life above is eternal. But in Jesus, all life is renewed.

I am not familiar with these predictions, but they are not alone. I am not concerned about them. My concern is whether people I meet each day know Jesus.

On the question about “why does God permit disasters”, I have in various ways answered this question before. And there are many good answers on the internet today. So, this time, let’s look at how Jesus answered this question.

In Luke 13,

When Jesus was asked about the gruesome death of some Galileans, as well as when he commented on the untimely death of some workers in Jerusalem, instead of addressing why evil happened to them, He said in essence, do you think they suffered evil because they somehow deserved it? “But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus is not being heartless here. He is pointing out clearly, as I mentioned above, that how we died in this life is not important, as we all have to die one day. Rather, it is whether we are reconciled with God that is truly important, for without it there will be no eternal life. If I am prepared every day, it does not matter if my death is violent, or untimely, or seemingly meaningless. I rather prefer to be prepared daily, than to die comfortably, even after a long life, for those things mean loss to me if I don’t gain heaven.

Likewise, I prefer to suffer more now if I can bring Jesus to more people, for comfort and ease only makes me lazy and complacent, and long life and prosperity deceive me to suppose all is well. Rather, be it peace or strife, if God permits it, then today is a day to testify to God, today is a day of conversion. My purpose remains the same: to testify, to love, to sacrifice. Nothing else matters.

關鍵字 Keywords: disaster