Is Hurricane Katrina an example of the wrath of God?

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DaMaMaXiMuS

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Greetings and peace unto you all,

Is what’s happening in New Orleans the wrath of God? I know we all call it a natural disater, but is such destruction really God’s wrath? I would like to hear people’s opinion. What does scripture says about things such as this?

Let’s all pray and do what we can for all those suffering heavily right now in New Orleans.

God Bless,

Nelson
 
I heard Raymond Arroyo on EWTN radio yesterday. He and his family had to evacuate from New Orleans. He pointed out that New Orleans is a very “Catholic City” in that it has more Eucharistic Adoration Chapels and Prayer Groups per capita than any other city. I can’t vouch for his statistics, of course, but I think the point he was making was that the majority of the people of the region are good, God fearing and loving folks.

I also heard Michael Savage point out that if this was God’s wrath against New Orleans for being a ‘sinful’ place, San Francisco doesn’t stand a CHANCE :rotfl: .

No, I think this is part of natural law and that God’s Love can be seen in the way people who trust in Him behave during these kind of disasters.

Does that make sense?
 
I don’t think it is God’s judgement on New Orleans that caused Katrina; I think it is his natural laws. New Orleans has a lot of crime in it, but a lot of Catholics as well.

Even in Sodom God promised not to destroy the city if there were 10 righteous men.

“And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.”
 
I also heard Michael Savage point out that if this was God’s wrath against New Orleans for being a ‘sinful’ place, San Francisco doesn’t stand a CHANCE :rotfl: .
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Yikes! I’d better start packing…
 
I see the points being made and they do add more insight to my question.

And yeah, I guess San Francisco, New York (where I’m at), and Los Angeles are all done for if this devastation were God’s wrath upon New Orleans.

I keep pondering about this disaster. I can’t help think that’s it’s going to get much worse before it get’s better. America has never experience something like this before.

Thanks again everyone for your (name removed by moderator)ut,

Nelson
 
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LSK:
I heard Raymond Arroyo on EWTN radio yesterday. He and his family had to evacuate from New Orleans. He pointed out that New Orleans is a very “Catholic City” in that it has more Eucharistic Adoration Chapels and Prayer Groups per capita than any other city. I can’t vouch for his statistics, of course, but I think the point he was making was that the majority of the people of the region are good, God fearing and loving folks.

I also heard Michael Savage point out that if this was God’s wrath against New Orleans for being a ‘sinful’ place, San Francisco doesn’t stand a CHANCE :rotfl: .

No, I think this is part of natural law and that God’s Love can be seen in the way people who trust in Him behave during these kind of disasters.

Does that make sense?
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Remember the San Francisco earthquke? As for New Orleans, given the bad rep of its Borboun St., maybe it is retribution. Also, SF was hit by AIDS long ago–another sing of divine justice on those that sinned.
 
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777:
Remember the San Francisco earthquke? As for New Orleans, given the bad rep of its Borboun St., maybe it is retribution. Also, SF was hit by AIDS long ago–another sing of divine justice on those that sinned.
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Or maybe it’s not retribution…perhaps it’s just a lot of wind and rain. If it was retribution, I’d venture to say God “missed” and got the “good ones”, because the looting, raping, and shooting all happened AFTER the storm.

Mike
 
I think it’s tempting to think that things like natural disasters are divine retribution because it makes it easier to figure out. For some, it can even be a type of pride: “Bad things haven’t happened to me, so that proves that I am a better person than you are.” I don’t think that’s why most people who think hurricanes, etc. are acts of divine wrath believe what they do, but there are a few people who have this attitude. For most people who think that these are acts of God, I think this idea is appealing because it gives us a simple reason for why bad things happen, instead of making us grapple with the difficult question of why bad things happen to good people.
Despite the temptation to believe this, it’s really not an explanation that’s in line with Christian beliefs.
Luke 13:1-5:
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them–do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.
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John 9:1-3:
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind that God’s works might be revealed in him.”
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Salvifici Doloris:
  1. …suffering strikes the innocent…Already in the Old Testament we note an orientation that begins to go beyond the concept according to which suffering has a meaning only as a punishment for sin…
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Certainly, suffering can be punishment for sin, but it’s a mistake to take this truth and say that suffering must be a punishment for sin.
 
From the mouth of our Lord and Savior: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Mathhew 5:44-45)
 
Hi Nelson, if God were to go after N.O. as his judgement, would he not do it this week? rather than last month? This week, N.O. was scheduled to host a gay pride event.
 
Jesus has a special affinity for the poor. THose were the very people that were harmed most during the storm.

If GOd wanted to punish NO for Mardi Gras or the gay pride event, I think that God has enough wisdom to do it during those events. Not when most of the participants are far away in their air conditioned, safe homes.
 
Question:

All that we can know of the Heavenly Farther is through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. All else is “hidden” from us.

Is this consistent with Catholic theology?🙂
 
I’d rather think of it as a “test” by God, not as wrath.

Will we turn back to God?
Will we thank Him for every blessing he sends? (I once heard that the first sign of rebellion against God is the failure to say “Thank you” to Him.)
Will we learn to love (and help) our neighbor as ourselves?
Will we learn to see Jesus inside every person we encounter?
Will we learn that having our families and friends safe and sound is more important than getting caught up in the materialistic society that we have?

Maybe the only way we “stubborn, stiff-necked people” can ever learn is to be stripped down to the core so we can see what’s really important. He has His reasons why the gulf coast was chosen for this particular installment of the “lesson,” I don’t have the wisdom to know why, but that’s how it is. I’m afraid there may be more “lessons” in the future. Hope we all pay attention so we don’t fail the final exam.
 
God does not punish the innocent with the guilty so this is not the wrath of God. Besides, any punishment is handed out in the next life.

PF
 
WanderAimlessly said:
God does not punish the innocent with the guilty so this is not the wrath of God.
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Since when? The same God of the Old and New testament, throughout the Old testament allowed His straying and unfaithful people, the Israelites, to become afflicted through natural disaster and enslaved and exiled through pagan nations. Do you suppose that every last Israelite was “guilty” of turning their heart from God? No. But God allowed these terrible afflictions to occur, as a prescribed chastisement for the collective sins of His chosen people. The end result: the pride of the Israelites was eventually broken, worn down, and as a collective as God’s chosen people, they repented and pleaded to God for mercy to end their suffering and exile from the chosen land and the freedom to live culturally their belief in God.
Besides, any punishment is handed out in the next life.

PF
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There are different types of punishment as the justice and mercy (yes, mercy allows punishment as discipline and an opportunity to repent) of God demands and is prescribed–individual, collective, temporal, final afterlife. Luke 13:1-5, “…I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.” God’s purpose and loving overatures are not random as that of natural disasters. In His loving scheme, nothing happens without His underwritten divine purpose to bring all souls to salvation.

Besides, who of us “innocent”? I certainly am not. IMO, the reason that this nation is in the mess it is on issues that offend God, is due to what we as a Christian people have not done to prevent the spread of evil in its various forms (secular humanism, relativism, …). I believe that St. Paul in Romans chapter 3 offers insight into the universal bondage to and consequence of sin apart from justification through faith in Christ.
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WanderAimlessly:
God does not punish the innocent with the guilty so this is not the wrath of God. Besides, any punishment is handed out in the next life.

PF
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Code:
I must disagree with you here, WanderAimlessly. Why did Our Lady of Fatima warn that there would be a second world war when the first one wasn’t finished yet? And that the second one would be much worse? The warning did fall on deaf ears on the whole…and we paid the price for such stubborness of heart.

Unfortunetly, the innocent do die with the wicked. We see this in all of our salvation history. BUT, the wicked (according to scripture and church teaching) will meet their final reward in the end, as well as the innocent…
 
Daniel Marsh:
Hi Nelson, if God were to go after N.O. as his judgement, would he not do it this week? rather than last month? This week, N.O. was scheduled to host a gay pride event.
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Is it possible that since God lives outside of time, he wasn’t informed of the exact arrangements? 😛

OMG, maybe he was informed of the arrangements and has a purpose beyond that which is “obvious” to some of us? :hmmm:

I’m thinking maybe we will see increasing disasters until we wake up since 9/11 didn’t do much for our outlook other than empower our government more, make us a bit more paranoid, and make massive layoffs yet more common and emotionless. We in the U.S. think we have a constitutional right to a cushy life and we just can’t believe this stuff could happen here!

When we realize our protection is from God and not from Big Brother maybe we will have learned whatever we are to learn.

Alan
 
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DaMaMaXiMuS:
And yeah, I guess San Francisco, New York (where I’m at), and Los Angeles are all done for if this devastation were God’s wrath upon New Orleans.
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Now that you mention it, if God’s wrath can direct a hurricane to NO, then why can’t God’s wrath direct some airplanes to a building in NY? Maybe He’s just increasing the stakes a little bit, much like we had to drop the second bomb after the first one to end WWII, since the first one wasn’t taken seriously.

If God is going to take out a big group of Americans, wouldn’t it be more “His style” to go with a flood rather than exploding airplanes? It’s kind of hard to tell since revelation ceased before airplanes were invented, so we don’t have really good Biblical examples. Storm, locusts, things like that are from God. Terrorist activity involving airplanes just doesn’t sound right. Sounds too “human” or something.

Alan
 
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