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There Are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God

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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!

Father Groeschel, a Franciscan priest living in the Bronx, reflects on part of his philosophy of life, formed from a lifetime of contemplation on religious and other issues. If you have seen him talk, you already know his straight-forward, frank approach, combined with his deeply religious approach to life. This books helps the reader know him better, and provides some worthwhile incites. He is the holiest man I've ever met (I met him in 1992 and 1993, spoke with him for only a few sentences).

Done in an easy conversational style, this books reads quickly and easily. Every couple pages, though, a profound concept is delivered so clearly that it just might change your life.

Everything that Father Groeschel has written is excellent in one way or another. Some of his books are more deeply theological or philosophical; some, written as much from his perspective as a world-renowned psychologist, and former teacher at Columbia as from his priestly perspective - require pondering and meditating in order to absorb the teachings. Others - like this slim volume - present his practical spirituality and his almost Zen-like outlook on resting in our trust in God. Half of this book is a fascinating interview, and the remainder is taken from his speaking and writing on the terrible events surrounding his near fatal accident. The reader does come away with a feeling of hope and courage to face life's challenges.

I loved this book, it took me only a day and a half to finish it. You will not be sorry if you purchase it, I just love the simple way he has of making sense of things, that my friends, is very hard to do.

Again Father Groeschel leads the reader to see that every thing that
happens in our life has a purpose. He helps the reader to make sense of the
many challenges we face and to rid ourself of "why me or poor me" attitudes
and replace those negative attitudes with an attitude of thanksgiving!

Anything written by Benedict J. Groeschel is always good. I have been blessed to have heard him speak and also read his material.
ALWAYS TRUST IN GOD!

Wonderfully insightful book that helps us realize our blessings and be grateful for the wonders that God has placed in our lives, helping us grow through our experiences. Highly recommend!

There Are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God
Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., with John Bishop
Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2004
paperback, 124 pages, no index
ISBN-10: 1592761208
ISBN-13: 978-1592761203

Review by Reverend Brian Van Hove, S.J.
Alma, Michigan
Published in The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1 (Spring 2006):57

Academics, intellectuals, and scholars are hard to reach spiritually. Devotional material tends not to impress them. But here is a little book that anyone who "lives in his head" should read.
The first half of the book is a lively interview with Father Groeschel by John Bishop, an Englishman who takes note that the friars are opening a mission in Canning Town located in London's East End. They discuss the current crisis in the Church, the post-conciliar trauma, the need for reform in Religious Life, the hunger of today's youth for religious orthodoxy, terrorism, abortion, liberalism, EWTN, and the apostolic efforts of Groeschel's Community of the Franciscans of the Renewal. At every corner the theme of suffering and death is raised.
Then, perhaps two years after this interview, Father Groeschel suffered a serious accident in Orlando, Florida, on January 11, 2004. He nearly died after a car hit him while he was crossing the street near the international airport. The second half of the book is a series of short meditations and reflections on some of the same themes, except this time from someone more intensely living out the mystery of suffering and the Cross he had been discussing while he enjoyed relatively good health at the age of 70.
Any academic, intellectual, or scholar could in an instant be similarly reduced to helplessness in a hospital, and so the sober realism of Father Groeschel comes as a style of faith quite attractive to those hard to attract. Sober, fierce spirituality is difficult to find, especially since American liberal religion became infected with "pop psychology" and the therapeutic culture. Groeschel more than once describes liberalism as "faith without content". In this little book we see the objective content of the Faith keeping him going under the direst of circumstances.
Catholics are generally unfamiliar with the Christian East. But Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of London wrote in a way that is similar to Benedict Groeschel. Bloom was a medical doctor and a monk (+2003), and Groeschel is a psychologist trained to help disturbed adolescents. Bloom's "Death and Bereavement" (Oxford: St. Stephen's Press, 2002) is the type of tough and pure spirituality that we need, but unfortunately it is far less accessible than Groeschel's writing published by Our Sunday Visitor.
On page 117 we have the heading "Death is Never Far Away". Groeschel says, "My experience during the two months I was on a respirator and unable to speak, eat, or drink gave me a new view of purgatory. I used to joke about this reality--I will no longer joke about it, however, because in some ways I was there."
There Are No Accidents is a book about experience, especially the experience of a Franciscan priest who had an accident, was expected to die, did not die, and wrote for us through his suffering. The pages of this book radiate hope for every reader. Suffering and death come to us all, even to academics, intellectuals, and scholars. Groeschel recommends that our suffering and our death be in union with Christ.

Great account of Father Groeschel's recovery from a near fatal accident. He recounts his experiences from a very positive perspective. Gave me great comfort in trusting all to God.