We often project our notions of power onto God and then attempt to enlist God as we imagine him into our battles, eagerly expecting the divine power to be deployed to root out and destroy what we consider evil. But God is God, and his power will not be domesticated by our petty battles. Indeed, the divine power is immense and marked not by petty vindictiveness but rather by overwhelming magnanimity. God rules with forbearance and mercy, provisions for repentance and forgiveness.
—Fr. Martin Connell, SJ is Professor of Education at John Carroll University and Rector of the John Carroll University Jesuit community.