Dear D.J.,

We, as Catholics, hold that God speaks to us in a variety of ways, sometimes He does speak with words — that is the basis for Sacred Scripture. He also spoke through the prophets, through the councils of the Church, and many more ways. When you say He speaks with actions I am imagining that you mean something like the consequences of actions:

• you do something bad
• something bad comes around. Almost like Karma.
  
  
• Is that what you are thinking?

Maybe you can clear that up for me. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm trying to understand where you are coming from.

If you are frustrated that God doesn't make things clearer to you by just plainly hammering it out, join the club. Sometimes, we all feel like we are struggling to know what He wants us to do, especially in very difficult circumstances. I think when He is silent, He wants us to be better listeners. If we slow down, take the time to pray and seek His Will, He will let us know, sometimes in the strangest of ways. But He is God. He is free to do this any way He wants, otherwise He would just be one ordinary dude. He stretches us beyond our understanding and comfort all the time.

Secondly, when preachers talk about the Second Coming, they are talking about Jesus' Return, in a visible way. Jesus, the Son of God, or God the Son, promised to come back at the end of the world. You're right in saying He is always here, but He does manifest himself in different ways.

When Jesus became born of the Virgin Mary, He entered into time and space in a very distinct way. He took on flesh, He burped, pooped, and cried in his mother's arms when He was hungry. Then He died, for our sins, and rose again to sit at the right hand of the Father. Since He was always God his ontological core never changed, but something did change in the way He came to us:

His Incarnation, and that means for all eternity He has taken on our nature, a body, soul and connectedness to us; that is mind-blowing! The fact that He will return in a way that we can see Him with our own eyes, this side of Heaven, is what Christians call the Second Coming.

• Do you read much of the Bible?

I don't know if you have a clear understanding of what I am saying, but if this seems foreign to you, get a Bible and start reading the New Testament to get a clearer picture of who Jesus really is and why Christians hold these beliefs.

You can find Bibles online if you don't already have one. We'd be happy to help with questions as they come along.

Peace,

Bob Kirby