If you watch Fox News there is a good chance that you have seen Fr. Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic priest, in his role as religion commentator. His 2008 book, The Promise: God's Purpose and Plan for When Life Hurts, addresses the question of human suffering, God's allowing of evil and suffering, and the Christian's approach to that suffering. The book is written with lay people in mind, but clergy should find it very useful as well. Fr. Morris combines theological study with pastoral experience and actual stories to give us a very easy to read, yet very informative book. It is laity friendly, and completely non-technical, in fact, he relegates his more theological treatment to the appendix, but it is delivered via a conversation between a priest and a somewhat agnostic person, and is really a very good treatment of the subject. The book is written in two parts: Part One is titled God on Trial, which looks at the common views of God and suffering, and Part Two Emotional and Spiritual Healing, which tries to apply what was learned in the first part to bring understanding and healing to the suffering. I have read several books on suffering recently, and have found them all lacking, with only one or two worthwhile sections in each - it seems to go with the subject. I found that The Promise was overall more helpful and satisfying than the others. This book can still be found in most bookstores, and it is readily available from any online bookseller. I highly recommend this book, for you and your parishioners, as the question of suffering will inevitably come up sooner or later.
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