There are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God

Rating:
Summary: A Man Who Put's His Life Where His Faith Is
Review: On January 11, 2004, a car in Orlando, Florida struck Father Benedict Groeschel and nearly took his life. I heard about the accident on the morning of January 12th when I arrived for work. News about Father's condition was slow in coming that morning and like countless others who were shocked by the news that day, I did what I knew Father Benedict would want me to do- I prayed.
Later that same morning as I was opening my mail, I found among the parcels received a large envelope from overseas. Contained within the packet was a letter that began--"Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. suggested that you might be interested in publishing this..."
The "this" in question was a lengthy interview, book length, which the author John Bishop had conducted with Father Benedict. Reading it I was reminded of the greatness of this humble friar and the difference that he and his religious community the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have made in the Church in the United States and throughout the world.
As I read through the interview, I was struck with the irony of receiving it on the very day that Father had suddenly been silenced, and how John Bishop had asked all the right questions-the range of which covers every conceivable question that a Catholic living in the United States in the twenty-first century would like answered.
I have known Father Benedict for over twenty years, first as a Capuchin friar and then as a co-founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. I have benefited from his wisdom while making both individual retreats with him and as a member of group retreats he has preached. I have been blessed to work with him on two previous books that Our Sunday Visitor has published: The Cross at Ground Zero-a response to the attacks of 9/11 and From Scandal to Hope-a response to the current crisis in the Catholic Church. I have seen Father in action and what he is able to accomplish on an average day is nothing short of miraculous. Even now recuperating from his injuries he continues to reach out through the Friars Internet site with daily meditations drawn from his recovery in the hospital and now in this book that you hold in your hands.
This book contains the interview that I first read on the morning following Father Benedict's accident in Part One. In Part Two you will read Father Benedict's reflections upon his accident, recovery and how all that he has experienced has only validated what he has preached to others throughout his years of ministry.
There is one part of the interview where the John Bishop, quizzes Father about how he came to start all the charitable enterprises that he has during his life. Father Groeschel repeats his answer a number of times..."No plans, be led." Whatever God wants, Father Benedict will be led in that direction, hopefully you and I can learn that lesson too, as Father says after the accident, "there are no accidents"-may this great man's faith help you and I to trust in God ever more, no matter what may happen!