Sign of Hope and Restart: If we are to blame someone for the death of a fellow man, it is certainly not to God
Relief worker Rogério Fernandes , from the Emergency Mobile Service (Samu), was part of a team that left Arapongas, Paraná, to assist in the rescue work in Brumadinho , Minas Gerais, after the rupture of the dam at Córrego Mine of Beans.
On January 28, he published on Facebook a video showing a small chapel with the image of Our Lady Aparecida found intact amidst the massive amount of waste and tailings that destroyed everything in its path, killing more than 130 people and leaving almost two hundred missing, according to the partial figures released so far.
The rescuer wrote:
“I know that I have friends here who do not cope with the same devotion or religion as I do. But when I came across an image of Our Lady Aparecida that had been taken from a house that disappeared in the mud and totally intact, I was moved to see the scene. ”
The video moved thousands of netizens, who responded with offerings of prayers for the victims, the survivors directly affected and the heroic people engaged in the rescue work:
“May Our Lady cover all of you who are there, struggling to save lives.”
“It touched me greatly and I ask Our Mother to bless the families that are suffering from this tragedy and to you who are on this mission.”
Sign of hope
It is quite common that, after natural disasters, images of Mary or Jesus are intact even though dozens of people have lost their lives.
The discovery of these images is not considered miraculous, since their preservation can be explained by different perfectly natural reasons. Much less is meant that the image as such has more value than a life.
What stands out is the symbolic character of a religious image being found entirely in the midst of rubble, for the fact can be interpreted as a sign of encouragement, hope and resumption. After all, God can inspire us all the time through the events of everyday life – some of them unusual and therefore extraordinary.
But why did not God save people instead of the image?
As for the ever-sad fact of the loss of life, it is important to understand that God does not kill anyone: He only respects the consequences of human freedom and is consistent with His own decision to create us autonomous and responsible for what we do with creation, including when we put our neighbor’s life at risk. If we are to blame someone for the death of a fellow man, it is certainly not God.
