Please read the insert in the bulletin today. Archbishop Chaput's letter to his diocese is moving and offers us some sense of making meaning out of this tragedy. Only God understands fully the mystery of human freedom.

I, for one, would not have the world any other way. It could be different. We could have a world where nothing bad ever happened. That is possible. But if it were true, we would need no doctors (illness is a bad thing), no nurses, etc. There would be no teachers because ignorance would not exist. There would be no insurance agents because no accidents would occur. No fire departments or police stations.

Irresponsibility would be as good as responsibility, carelessness as worthy as diligence, etc. Fidelity would mean nothing because it would be the only choice. Love would come down to a meaningless emotion. There would be no misbehaving children or sibling rivalry.

Yes, God could have made this world differently, but it would not be the best world for us. Who would want to live in a world where choices were predetermined? You would have to pick this person only for your spouse, so you wouldn't fall in love. None of us would experience the joys of seeing her or him for the first time and getting that funny feeling in our stomachs.

Since freedom would not exist, climbing a mountain, reaching out to the moon, finding a new path, would be of no significance. Human achievement would be fixed and we would, most likely, still be walking around in the caves. There would be no rich or poor. If one worked, good. If one did not, good. After all, nothing bad would happen.

Human freedom is a terrible responsibility. It carries the responsibility for each of us to BE responsible. We cannot escape that aspect of our freedom. We all must look into our own hearts and see how we have contributed to the presence of evil in our world. Who reading this has not abused his or her freedom? Who has not sinned? Who of us has not misused our God-given freedom?

Perhaps others have done worse. Of what import is that? Maybe God has given me much more than those. St. Francis worried that he might not go to heaven. When asked why, he said that, "If the grace God has given to me was given to another, he would be so much better." This from a man who reformed the Church. In fact, all the saints started from the point that they were great sinners.

Maybe one of the reasons we don't see as many saints today as we would like, is the fact that many of us think we're OK. We attribute those little faults in ourselves to a poor upbringing resulting in a poor self-image, leading to somewhat negative behavior which concludes that this is the way God made me, or at least that He is not finished with me yet. Talk about avoidance of responsibility.

God will never abandon us. Even when human freedom is abused, mutilated, adulterated, God will be with us. He will forgive any abuse of freedom when sorrow is sought.

While not a perfect world, it is the best world God could have made for us. I wouldn't want it any other way. If it could have been better, God would have done so.