Last year was a tough year. This year has gotten off to a rocky start.

Many of us – on more than one occasion – have thrown up our hands and said, “Why God? Why is this happening?”

Joe Hoover, a Jesuit brother, actor and writer, asked this very question in his new book, O Death, Where is Thy Sting? He asked it again and again as he reflected back on experiences his had throughout his own life: experiences in El Salvador, experiences at the gravesides of young people, experiences coping with 9/11 and the wars that followed.

Suffering, as it turns out, is not a question easily answered. But it is one that demands contemplation – that very Ignatian approach to prayer.

As Joe discusses in today’s episode, sometimes it just is, and we’re left to stand in wonder and awe, shock and horror at this unavoidable part of human existence.

Nevertheless, there is hope to be found. And Joe speaks to that, too.

Check out Joe's book: https://www.orbisbooks.com/o-death-where-is-thy-sting.html