Brutal Murders raise questions for all of us...
The callous, calculated murder of the parents of 17 children, 13 of them adopted, in Beulah may lead to questions about security and safety in Escambia County, but it also raises questions of faith. Why did God allow such a bad thing to happen to such good people?
If the reality is that there are many things that happen in life for which there seem to be no explanation, this is one of them. But it doesn’t mean that we stand bewildered and confused, for it is precisely at these moments that we turn to faith. In Christian belief, God allowed Jesus, the most perfect person who ever lived, to be humiliated and killed. But the story did not end with his death. God raised him up on the third day and the story concludes with our understanding that this is what leads us to God. Jesus’ death and resurrection are seen as redemptive and as reasons for hope in a world that often seems without meaning and without hope.
The death of this extraordinary couple cannot be seen in ordinary terms – that is, as the end of the story of two lives of self-sacrifice and self-giving – but as an opportunity for this local community to come to a deeper awareness of itself and our relationships with others. On learning of their deaths, the first question that may be asked is “Who will care for the children left behind?” Maybe this is a question that can only be answered in the silence of our own consciences. This first question leads to others, like “Where do I stand in light of other children who are in great need?” We can certainly imagine that, at one moment in their lives, Byrd and Melanie Billings asked themselves this same question. Their amazing response remains clearly evident to all of us. Perhaps we may be able to see similar signs of redemption and hope in the midst of this immense tragedy if we find ourselves moved to ask the same question as they did and respond accordingly.
Most Rev. John H. Ricard,
Bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee