“It is your providence, O Father, that steers our course”
Wisdom 14:3
After having increased the number of seminarians from 42 to 147 in eight years; and of minor seminarians from 200 to 500 in four seminaries; after providing ongoing formation to priests in six dioceses of the Metropolitan Church of Hue; after developing and reinforcing the formation of youth and laity in the diocese of Nhatrang (Vietnam), the then bishop of that diocese, Francis Xavier van Thuan, was appointed by Pope Saint Paul VI as coadjutor archbishop of Saigon. However, nine months after arriving there he was arrested by the communists and sent to a “re-education camp” –a euphemism for prison– where he remained from 1975 to 1988, suffering the “most grueling captivity.”[1]
Of those 13 years, 9 were spent in solitary confinement, with only two guards, something he himself describes as “mental torture, in absolute emptiness, without work, walking around the cell from morning until half past nine at night so as not to be destroyed by arthrosis, on the edge of madness.”[2] He was 48 years old at the time.
Certainly, his was an extreme case; nevertheless, it is common to many men and women of good will to suffer by no fault of their own from moral evils. In fact, it could happen to any of us, and indeed does happen to us when the things for which we fight so hard are destroyed overnight. Bishop van Thuan was tempted, and more than tempted, he was tormented by the fact that at 48 years of age, having worked eight years as a bishop, having acquired much pastoral experience, etc., he now found himself isolated, inactive, and separated from his people.
How many times in the course of our history –at the level of the Institute, but also on a personal level– have we had to leave a program or a project unfinished that had been well planned and well organized. How many times have activities that we started with great enthusiasm been hindered; apostolates or projects of great importance been reduced to minor activities. How many times, while seeking to do good, we have been slandered, persecuted, threatened… Despite this, we too, like Bishop van Thuan, must learn to “choose God and not the works of God,” [3] the God who arranges everything for our greater good.
Today God grants us to begin a new year. It may seem strange to be speaking of such an experience, when the whole world is planning for the new year with optimism. Yet it is all too often that these plans are made without God.
On our part, it is not that we do not have projects, it is not that we do not have purposes to achieve, nor old challenges to continue facing, but it is no lesser truth that divine providence has for us merciful designs that do not always coincide with our plans. This does not mean that God’s providential intervention must always be adverse, but rather, on the contrary, that it is always positive and seeks to smooth the way for us, even when the situations it presents do not please us and seem to us bad and very unfavorable. For this reason, it has seemed to us that it could be very healthy for our souls to take into account in ‘our planning’ that coordinated master, which in reality is the central axis on which depend the different variables that constitute the interweaving of the multiple events of our daily life. So, far from beginning the year with a pessimistic view of reality, we would like to offer a brief reflection on the special and merciful divine providence that manifests itself even when bad things happen to the good people and good things happen to bad people, since, as St. John of the Cross says, “His Majesty has so arranged matters, it is what most suits everyone.”[4]
1. The “Hidden Treasures” of Divine Providence
It happens to quite a few Christians that even when they profess their faith in divine providence and strive with all their might to give the best of themselves to do something good, for themselves or for others, they see their efforts scorned and the work of their hands vanish before their eyes. Thus, many are faced with the reality, for example, that their business has gone to ruin; that even though they have married and given everything, their family has ended up splitting up; that the mission that has cost them so many sacrifices has closed or an illness has taken them away from the apostolate; or simply, those from whom they expected help have betrayed them. Hence, the reality of evil and suffering present in so many forms in human life constitutes for many –even religious– the main difficulty in accepting the truth of divine providence (accepting understood in the sense of interiorly assimilating and not simply intellectually assenting to a truth).
Echoing this reality, St. John Paul II stated in one of his audiences: “In some cases, this difficulty takes on a radical form, when God is even accused of the evil and suffering present in the world, even to the point of rejecting the very truth of God and of his existence (that is, even atheism). In a less radical and yet disturbing way, this difficulty is expressed in the many critical questions that man poses to God. Doubt, questioning and even protest are born of the difficulty of reconciling the truth of divine providence, of God’s paternal solicitude for the created world, and the reality of evil and suffering experienced in various forms by mankind.”[5]
On the other hand, every year we do the Spiritual Exercises and every year, therefore, we meditate of the Principle and Foundation: “Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him toward his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him from it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.”[6] St. Ignatius calls it the Principle and Foundation of his Spiritual Exercises, but it is also the most fundamental truth of human existence and divine providence. This is how St. John Paul II expressed it when he said: “Faith in divine providence is intimately linked to the basic concept of human existence, that is, to the meaning of man’s life. Man can face his existence in an essentially different way when he is certain that he is not under the dominion of a blind destiny (fatum), but that he depends on Someone who is his Creator and Father. For this reason, the faith in divine providence inscribed in the first words of the Apostolic Creed: ‘I believe in God the Father almighty,’ frees human existence from the various forms of fatalistic thinking.”[7] However, it sometimes happens that under pressure or difficult circumstances we forget this or accept these words as mere abstract principles of the spiritual life without making them an integral part of our daily life. In other words, we do not assume them in a vital way. That is why in this first point we would like to bring up what the Magisterium of the Church and its illustrious Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, teach about this fundamental matter.
First of all, we all know that the truth of divine providence is present in the whole of Revelation. Indeed, we can say that it “permeates all of Revelation.”[8] Likewise, it is found in the ordinary Magisterium of the Church from the beginning as a fundamental truth of the faith, although only during the First Vatican Council it was declared in the solemn Dogmatic Constitution De fide catholica, concerning the truth about creation. Here are the words of Vatican I: “God preserves all that He has created and directs it with His providence which ‘Indeed, she spans the world from end to end mightily and governs all things well.’[9] ‘Everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him’[10], even things that happen by the free initiative of his creatures.” Also following in the footsteps of the constant tradition of the Church’s teaching the texts of the Second Vatican Council deduce that God is the one Who “has fatherly concern for everyone”[11], and in particular “the human race”[12]. The Manifestation of this solicitude is also the “the divine law –eternal , objective and universal–whereby God orders, directs and governs the entire universe and all the ways of the human community by a plan conceived in wisdom and love.”[13] “For man would not exist were he not created by Gods love and constantly preserved by it; and he cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and devotes himself to His Creator.”[14]
In the Summa Theologica, I, q. 22 the Angelic Doctor deals with the providence of God. We will not transcribe everything that is explained there –although we strongly recommend reading
it[15]–, but we will simply present the basic concepts as a guideline to approach this subject.
- This type of order in things towards an end is therefore in God called providence.[16]
- We must say, however, that all things are subject to divine providence, not only in general, but even in their own individual selves.[17]
- Two things belong to providence—namely, the type of the order of things foreordained towards an end; and the execution of this order, which is called government. As regards the first of these, God has immediate providence over everything, because He has in His intellect the types of everything, even the smallest; and whatsoever causes He assigns to certain effects, He gives them the power to produce those effects. Whence it must be that He has beforehand the type of those effects in His mind. As to the second, there are certain intermediaries of God’s providence; for He governs things inferior by superior, not on account of any defect in His power, but by reason of the abundance of His goodness; so that the dignity of causality is imparted even to creatures.[18]
- The effect of divine providence is not only that things should happen somehow; but that they should happen either by necessity or by contingency. Therefore, whatsoever divine providence ordains to happen infallibly and of necessity happens infallibly and of necessity; and that happens from contingency, which the plan of divine providence conceives to happen from contingency.[19]
Now, the suffering that arises in man from the repeated experience of evil, especially when he is innocent, makes him ask himself those difficult and dramatic questions, which are sometimes a complaint, at other times a recrimination, or even a rejection of God and of his providence. In a way, these questions could be summarized as follows: “How can we reconcile evil and suffering with the loving paternal solicitude that Jesus Christ attributes to God in the Gospel? How can we reconcile them with the transcendent wisdom of the Creator? And in an even more dialectical way: can we, in the face of all the experience of evil in the world, especially in the face of innocent suffering, say that God does not want evil? And if He does want it, how can we believe that God is love, and furthermore that this love is omnipotent?”[20] The affliction or suffering of the just
–provided it is guiltless– is what seems to be opposed to divine providence.
Confronted with these questions, we too, like Job, experience how difficult it is to find an answer. Therefore, with humility in the face of the mystery[21], we seek the answer in the Word of God which the Holy Spirit has made fruitful in the truth[22]. For example, in the Old Testament we find the affirmation: … wickedness does not prevail over Wisdom. Indeed, she spans the world from end to end mightily and governs all things well[23]. We see then that in the face of the multiform experiences of evil and suffering in the world, the Old Testament already testified to the primacy of the Wisdom and goodness of God and His divine providence. This attitude is outlined and developed in the Book of Job, which is entirely dedicated to the theme of evil and pain considered as sometimes being the tremendous trial of the just which is overcome by the hard-won certainty that God is good.
Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Commentary on the Book of Job asserts the following: “after the majority of men asserted the opinion that natural things did not happen by chance but by providence because of the order which clearly appears in them, a doubt emerged among most men about the acts of man as to whether human affairs evolved by chance or were governed by some kind of providence or a higher ordering. This doubt was fed especially because there is no sure order apparent in human events. For good things do not always befall the good nor evil things the wicked. On the other hand, evil things do not always befall the good nor good things the wicked, but good and evil indifferently befall both the good and the wicked. This fact then especially moved the hearts of men to hold the opinion that human affairs are not governed by divine providence. Some said that human affairs proceed by chance except to the extent that they are ruled by human providence and counsel, others attributed their outcome to a fatalism ruled by the heavens.
This idea causes a great deal of harm to mankind. For if divine providence is denied, no reverence or true fear of God will remain among men. Each man can weigh well how great will be the propensity for vice and the lack of desire for virtue which follows from this idea. For nothing so calls men back from evil things and induces them to good so much as the fear and love of God. For this reason the first and foremost aim of those who had pursued wisdom inspired by the spirit of God for the instruction of others was to remove this opinion from the hearts of men. So… the Book of Job… is directed to this: to show that human affairs are ruled by divine providence using probable arguments.
[…] The affliction of just men is what seems especially to impugn divine providence in human affairs. For although it seems irrational and contrary to providence at first glance that good things sometimes happen to evil men, nevertheless this can be excused in one way or another by divine compassion. But that the just are afflicted without cause seems to undermine totally the foundation of providence. Thus, the varied and grave afflictions of a specific just man called Job, perfect in every virtue, are proposed as a kind of theme for the question intended for discussion.”[24]
In the Christian spiritual tradition Job symbolizes resigned suffering; the trusting acceptance of pain. That is why the ‘Holy Job’ is the archetype and paradigm of Christian patience. Moreover, he is, according to scholars, “the best typical and tropological figure of passive purification,”[25] because he goes through all the stages of the purgative night: from the physical trials –nudity, abandonment of friends, loss of goods– to the heart-rending cry of the afflicted and humiliated soul that “roars and bellows.”[26] And this purifying night functions as a means to the end, which is to reach union with God. For this reason, we must know how to recognize that whatever ‘our night’ is, it is a “night that hides the hopes of the light of day.” [27]
This being so, the affirmation of Sacred Scripture: wickedness does not prevail over Wisdom[28] reinforces our conviction that, in the providential plan of the Creator for the world, evil is ultimately subordinate to good. This is very important to always keep in mind. We are prompted by our proper law to give glory to God by trusting unfailingly in his providence when it tells us: “that all things work for good for those who love God[29]. When Saint Paul says ‘everything’, he leaves nothing out. This includes every situation, whether prosperous or adverse; whether concerning the good of the soul, goods of fortune or reputation. This ‘everything’ further includes all conditions of human life (family, study, talents, etc.), all interior states we experience (joys, happiness, deprivations, dryness, displeasures, tediousness, temptations, etc.), even faults and sins. It includes everything, absolutely everything. When he says ‘works for good,’ it is understood that everything cooperates, contributes, and happens for our spiritual good. We must have this vision, and not that of the flesh or the world. We must see everything in light of the loving designs of God’s Providence that are only discovered by the spiritual man: The spiritual man judges all things.[30] We must believe with unyielding steadfastness that even the most adverse events, those most opposed to our natural view, are arranged by God for our own good, even though we don’t understand His designs, and we ignore the end that He wants to bring us to. Yet for this to happen, we must fulfill a condition on our end, and this is why he adds ‘those that love Him’: those whose will is united and submissive to God’s, those who strive above all for the interests and glory of God, who are willing to sacrifice everything without reservation and are convinced that nothing is as advantageous as abandoning themselves into the hands of God, in anything He may deign to order, as Jesus showed us: If any one serves me, the Father will honor him.[31] He alone knows everything, including our souls, our feelings, our characters, the hidden desires that must be changed in order to bring us to heaven, and He knows the effects that this or that will cause in us, and He has all the means at His disposal.”[32]
Moreover, against the background of the integral truth about divine providence, and to better understand it, it is necessary to take into account the following affirmations: “God does not will evil as such” and “God permits evil.” St. John Paul II explains: “With regard to the first, it is appropriate to recall the words of the Book of Wisdom: … God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being.[33]
- As far as the permissibility of evil in the physical order is concerned, for example, in view of the fact that material beings (among them also the human body) are corruptible and undergo death, it must be said that this is part of the structure of these creatures. On the other hand, it would hardly be conceivable, in the present state of the material world, the unlimited subsistence of every individual corporeal being. We can therefore understand that, if God did not create death, as the Book of Wisdom affirms, he nevertheless permits it for the overall good of the material cosmos.
- But if it is a question of moral evil, that is, of sin and culpability in its various forms and consequences, even in the physical order, this evil is decidedly and absolutely not willed by God. Moral evil is radically contrary to the will of God. If this evil is present in the history of man and of the world—and sometimes in a most oppressive form—if in a certain sense it has its own history, it is only permitted by divine providence, because God wills that in the created world there should be freedom. The existence of created freedom (and therefore of man, and even the existence of pure spirits like the angels, of whom we will speak on another occasion) is indispensable for that fullness of good that God wants to bring about in creation. The existence of free beings is for him a more important and fundamental value than the fact that those beings abuse their freedom against the Creator and that, for this reason, freedom can lead to moral evil.”[34]
Therefore, in a fatherly way our proper law calls us to offer with our lives –with all its vicissitudes and particular circumstances– “endless worship of Divine Providence”, holding for “certain that ‘bodily danger does not threaten those who with the intention of following Christ, abandon all their possessions and entrust themselves to Divine Providence.’[35] The Father, full of goodness, Who takes care of the birds and the flowers of the field[36], will not abandon those who confidently surrender their lives to Him.”[37]
Undoubtedly, reason and revelation shed great light on the mystery of divine providence, which, although it does not will evil, tolerates it for the sake of a greater good. Nevertheless, the ultimate light can only come from the victorious Cross of Christ.
The Spiritual Father of our Religious Family masterfully develops this in a series of catechesis saying: “In the eternal plan of God and in His providential action in the history of man, all evil, and in a special way moral evil –sin– is submitted to the good of redemption and salvation precisely through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. It can be affirmed that, in him, God brings good out of evil. He draws it, in a certain sense, from the very evil of sin, which was the cause of the suffering of the spotless Lamb and of his terrible death on the Cross as an innocent victim for the sins of the world. This is why in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil we exclaim: ‘felix culpa’[38].”[39]
“Thus, to the question of how to reconcile evil and suffering in the world with the truth of divine providence, no definitive answer can be given without reference to Christ. Indeed, on the one hand, Christ—the Incarnate Word—confirms by his own life—in poverty, humiliation and fatigue—and especially by His passion and death, that God is there beside man in his suffering; indeed, that He personally takes upon Himself the multiform suffering of man’s earthly existence. Jesus reveals at the same time that this suffering possesses a redemptive and salvific quality and power, that in it is prepared that incorruptible inheritance of which St. Peter speaks in his First Letter: this inheritance is kept in heaven for you[40]. The truth of providence thus acquires, through the “power and wisdom” of the Cross of Christ, its definitive eschatological meaning. The definitive answer to the question of the presence of evil and suffering in man’s earthly existence is offered by divine Revelation in view of the ‘predestination in Christ’, that is, in view of man’s vocation to eternal life, to participation in the life of God himself. This is precisely the response offered by Christ, which He confirmed with His Cross and Resurrection. Thus everything, even the evil and suffering present in the created world, and especially in human history, are subject to that inscrutable wisdom, about which St. Paul exclaims, as if transfigured: Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways![41] In the whole salvific context, she is in fact the wisdom against which wickedness cannot triumph.[42]”[43]
Consequently, the above –although as we have said, we will deal with it on another occasion– also applies to the action of the demons, who are mere creatures and who cannot escape the causality of God, the First Universal Cause of all being and acting. In spite of themselves, they end up fulfilling the plan of God, who arranges everything for the good of those who love him[44]. For the more they rage against the works of God and against Christians, even provoking martyrdom, the more they contribute to the sanctification of the elect and to the spread of the Kingdom of God. This is why Tertullian said that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of new Christians.”
2. Some Practical Wisdom of the Saints
It is well known that the saints also suffered and purified themselves in the crucible of the hardships that often befell them ‘unjustly’ in their innocence. Now, since the saints did not err in the practice of the virtues,[45] we should learn from them how to complete what is lacking in the Passion of Christ.[46] As is expected of us,[47] we ought to make an affective… effective… and afflictive reparation… for our own benefit and for that of the whole Mystical Body. So that if ever everything should fall apart and if everything we assiduously fought for and defended should come to ruin; if the things we planned to do should face destruction and we should find ourselves entangled in moral evils and suffer the crushing weight of humiliation and slander; if the question “what to do when nothing seems to make sense?” should knock at the door of our souls; our answer is this: it is time to believe. It is time to exercise our faith. It is time to cling all the more to God. It is time to live with confidence the folly of the Cross which is to live the beatitudes.[48] It is time to live “It is the folly of limitless and immeasurable love. It is to bless those that curse us, to repay no one evil for evil[49]”[50] It is time to strive to acquire the wisdom of the Cross, by which the world cannot deceive us.[51]
It is precisely this wisdom that informs the apostolic writings in order to help us, in times of trouble, to recognize the action of God’s grace. Thus, St. Peter writes to the first generation of Christians: In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while you have been distressed by various trials, [52] and He adds, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ[53] These last words refer to the Old Testament, and in particular to the book of Sirach, in which we read: For in fire gold is tested, and the chosen, in the crucible of humiliation.[54] Thus the Apostle, using the same theme of trial, continues in his letter: but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that at the revelation of His glory you may also rejoice and be overjoyed.[55]
The Apostle James expresses himself in a similar way when he exhorts Christians to face trials with joy and patience: Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.[56] Finally, Saint Paul in his Letter to the Romans, after having compared human sufferings with the “pangs of childbirth” adds: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…[57] and further on, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?[58] He concludes saying: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life… nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.[59]
This is why we must learn to recognize the pedagogy of God along with His paternity, which is manifested in divine providence: It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?… God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.[60]
Thus, seen through the eyes of faith, suffering, although it may seem to be the darkest aspect of our earthly lot, enables us to contemplate the mystery of divine providence, contained in the revelation of Christ, especially in his Cross and Resurrection.
The saints of all times had this truth of divine providence deeply rooted in their souls. Thus, whenever things did not go well, whenever they saw their plans upset and the fruits of their labors destroyed, whenever they were reviled and thrown out of their towns (even in some cases by the bishops of the dioceses), whenever they were forbidden to preach, whenever they were falsely accused, whenever they were threatened with death and led to the scaffold, they were not disturbed, they did not lose their calm, they forgave their enemies and even rejoiced.
Just like all Christians, we are not exempt from these trials. If any of this should happen to us, we must do ourselves a favor and pray, not by telling God what to do about the injustices we undergo and the sufferings that plague us. God already knows what to do. Rather, ours should be a prayer that anchors us even more in our center, namely God himself –who was nailed to the Cross for us[61]–. Our prayer should confirm that we are in his hands, trying, as St. John of the Cross says, to “keep our hearts in peace” without being “troubled by any event of this world”; for “behold, all things must come to an end.”[62]
The Mystic Doctor had so imbued in his soul the truth about the paternal solicitude of our Lord that even in the most arduous battles his confidence never wavered; on the contrary, it grew in proportion to the trials he faced. He guided souls along the same path, as we can see, for example, in the letter to Doña Juana de Pedraza: “[your afflictions] are comparable to knocks and rappings[63] at the door of your soul so it might love more, for they cause more prayer and spiritual sighs to God that he might fulfill the soul’s petition. I have already told you there is no reason to become disturbed over those little things, but do what they have ordered you to do; and when they impede it, be obedience and let me know of it, for God will provide what is best. God watches over the affairs of those who truly love him without their worrying about them.”[64]
And in another letter, he advised a Carmelite nun something applicable to us: “When something distasteful or unpleasant comes your way, remember Christ crucified and be silent. Live in faith and hope, even though you are in darkness, because it is in these darknesses that God protects the soul. Cast your care on God, for he watches over you and will not forget you. Do not think that he leaves you alone; that would be an affront to him.”[65]
Moreover, let us keep in mind that the truth of divine providence is also closely linked to the truth of the kingdom of God, and for this reason the words spoken by the Incarnate Word in his teaching on providence are of fundamental importance: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness… and all these things will be given besides.[66] The truth concerning divine providence, that is, the transcendent government of God over the created world, becomes comprehensible in the light of the truth of the kingdom of God, of that kingdom which God has always planned to bring about in the created world through predestination in Christ, who was begotten before every creature.[67] For this reason, it is common among the Saints to exhort the faithful to live poverty of spirit as a fundamental disposition to receive divine gifts. Indeed, this is how our life “becomes endless worship of Divine Providence.”[68]
The Mystic of Fontiveros recommended: “See to it that they preserve the spirit of poverty and contempt for all things, with the desire to be content with God alone… and keep in mind that they will neither have nor feel any more needs than those to which they desire to submit their hearts. For the poor in spirit are happier and more constant in the midst of want because they have placed their all in nothingness, and in all things they thus find freedom of heart.”[69]
For his part, Doctor of the Church Saint John of Avila, along the same lines as Saint John of the Cross, invites us to see the adverse events that God allows to happen to us as moments of special purification for the good of our soul. This is what the Doctor of Avila writes with a sapiential pen to a married woman whose son had suffered a misfortune: “Our Lord… is careful to send us tribulations so that we may see our weakness and expose our illusion of self-sufficiency, that we may experience the strength that God gives us to joyfully suffer them and know how powerful his hand is. In His goodness, God puts virtue in such weak vessels and makes us victorious over evil.”[70] He then points out to her that through these sufferings, God “cleanses us [of] our faults and fashions for us crowns in heaven; and the gratitude we give to God amidst tribulations is like a sweet Christian melody in His ears. I say Christian, because many give thanks in consolations, but only good Christians give thanks in tribulations.”[71]
Therefore, continues the Saint of Avila, those events that are adverse, painful, and even at times grievous, should not disturb us, nor should we consider them a punishment, “For the Christian truth confesses that nothing happens by chance, but all things are under the providence of God; thus, you must accept all things that come as a gift from His hand. As you receive it from His hand, look at his heart because even though it seems very severe in His hand, you will see that he sends everything with great love. God truly loves us, even if He sometimes conceals His love and seems to disappear. He does not forget us, for He has sworn: If I forget you, let my right hand wither, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you[72]. Afterall, at His expense He indeed has us written in his hands;[73] He only distances Himself that we might sigh and hunger for Him, so that we may savor the bread that sustains heaven and earth.”[74]
So, although at that moment everything may seem to be over and we find it all too hard, St. John of Avila says: “In truth, he who perceives anything will find that there is no other joy or rest except that the will of God be done in us; and true consolation is to rejoice in the will of God, even if it disturbs us. And if these desolations seem to come from our lukewarmness (which may often be the case), I say, after having examined ourselves, it is better to bear our guilt with a calm equity of heart and with confidence in divine mercy than to, as they say, “por matar la mosca que me pica en la frente, darme un golpe con que me mate.”* We don’t have to all be the same to go to heaven, nor should we despair because we are not among the greatest or even among the average; but we should thank our Lord that, through His clemency, He has given us hope of salvation. And in this our hearts should rejoice and be thankful to God, lest being ungrateful to God for not making us the greatest in heaven, He takes back what He has given us, and we fall into hell. Believe me that the peace of heart which the perfect have is not granted to the grumbler nor the complainer, but God gives it to whom He pleases, however or at whatever time He is pleased.”[75]
St. John Paul II taught something similar to this, inviting souls not to be anxious when at times they feel that they cannot bear with resignation or find consolation in the events that oppose them. Nor when they experience interior and sometimes even exterior grievances because of ‘injustices’, mistreatment, etc., that they are suffering. Because “gradually,” the Holy Father affirmed, “and with the help of faith nourished by prayer, one discovers the true meaning of the suffering that each one experiences in his or her own life. It is a discovery that depends on the word of divine revelation and on the ‘the message of the cross’[76] of Christ, which is the power and wisdom of God[77].”[78]
The Master of Avila continues with the following warning: “Let us not fail to do what we can and have full confidence in God, in whom we ought to set our hearts so firmly, that even about ourselves we dare not judge how we are doing; but trusting in Him, run the path of His commandments[79] in His footsteps with joy and in hope that He will reward us for our good and forgive us our evil, so that we may praise and bless Him forever and ever.”[80] And St. John of the Cross might well add at this point what he wrote in a letter to one of his spiritual daughters: “But everything is brief, for it lasts only until the knife is raised; and then Isaac remains alive with the promise of a multiplied offspring.[81]”[82]
It is clear, then, that we must “ask for the grace of knowledge and joy of the cross which are only achieved in the school of Jesus Christ,”[83] as our proper law expressly states. Because, “If in the
actual salvific economy Christ’s Passion was necessary, then it will also be necessary for us to suffer. If there were another way to Heaven, Jesus Christ would have followed it, and moreover, He would have taught it. However, He did not. Christ went by means of the royal road of the Holy Cross, and He taught us to go by it as well.”[84]
While using different words, this is what the Master of Avila tried to convey to a bishop of Cordoba (Spain) when he went to preside over a provincial council held in Toledo (1565). For the good of our souls, it would be well to keep it in mind at the beginning of the year: “Do not think to persuade anyone to reform, if he is not reformed. Nor should you suppose that your mission will be profitable by any other means than those by which Jesus Christ, by his Father’s ordinance, took to fulfill his own. For if there were more convenient means, neither would the divine wisdom ignore them nor would his providence fail to prescribe them. Given that with such accord and at such a cost to his own Son, he ordained these means that we know of, it is a great folly for the servant and slave to flee from these means and to prefer his own carnal wisdom to that of God. Let your Lordship lift up his eyes to the Son of God placed on a Cross, naked and crucified, and let him strive to strip himself of the world, flesh and blood, lust, honor, and himself that thus he may be all like Jesus Christ and his mission may be efficacious and fruitful. Let him die to everything and he will live for God, and will be a source of life to others, for if he does not do this, he will lose himself and others, for the word of Christ our Lord cannot fail: Nisi granum frumenti[85], etc.”[86]
Finally, St. John of Avila recommends the reading of Sacred Scripture, because from it “He will draw great joy, founded on the mercy of God; he will draw contentment and patience in the labors and sorrows that will come. He will see that, if even the leaf on the tree does not change apart from the will of God, neither will those labors have come apart from his providence. Thus, he will understand that the one who sent them is his God who died for him, and that it must be something that is accomplished for his salvation. He will also show long-suffering in those petitions made to God yet not granted in the way he had asked for them, since he will understand that He who delivered up His own life for him will also give him that which is less, if it be for the accomplishment of his salvation. And thus, as a very wise man, he will see that if these be not granted, or not for the time being, he understands that the delay comes by the mercy of God.”[87]
*****
Therefore, in times of trial, whatever they may be, these are the moments to dispose oneself to experience true joy, as St. Francis of Assisi calls the supernatural acceptance of the merciful designs of divine providence upon us. You will remember that chapter of “The Little Flowers” when the Saint replies to Brother Leo: “If, when we shall arrive at St Mary of the Angels, all drenched with rain and trembling with cold, all covered with mud and exhausted from hunger; if, when we knock at the convent-gate, the porter should come angrily and ask us who we are; if, after we have told him, ‘We are two of the brethren’, he should answer angrily, ‘What ye say is not the truth; ye are but two impostors going about to deceive the world, and take away the alms of the poor; begone I say’; if then he refuse to open to us, and leave us outside, exposed to the snow and rain, suffering from cold and hunger till nightfall –then, if we accept such injustice, such cruelty and such contempt with patience, without being ruffled and without murmuring, believing with humility and charity that the porter really knows us, and that it is God who makes him to speak thus against us, write down, O Brother Leo, that this is perfect joy. And if we knock again, and the porter come out in anger to drive us away with oaths and blows, as if we were vile impostors, saying, ‘Begone, miserable robbers! to the hospital, for here you shall neither eat nor sleep!’– and if we accept all this with patience, with joy, and with charity, O Brother Leo, write that this indeed is perfect joy. And if, urged by cold and hunger, we knock again, calling to the porter and entreating him with many tears to open to us and give us shelter, for the love of God, and if he come out more angry than before, exclaiming, ‘These are but importunate rascals, I will deal with them as they deserve’; and taking a knotted stick, he seize us by the hood, throwing us on the ground, rolling us in the snow, and shall beat and wound us with the knots in the stick if we bear all these injuries with patience and joy, thinking of the sufferings of our Blessed Lord, which we would share out of love for him, write, O Brother Leo, that here, finally, is perfect joy. And now, brother, listen to the conclusion. Above all the graces and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ grants to his friends, is the grace of overcoming oneself, and accepting willingly, out of love for Christ, all suffering, injury, discomfort and contempt; for in all other gifts of God we cannot glory, seeing they proceed not from ourselves but from God, according to the words of the Apostle, ‘What hast thou that thou hast not received from God? and if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?’ But in the cross of tribulation and affliction we may glory, because, as the Apostle says again, ‘I will not glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’” [88]
Now at the dawn of this new year, we entrust ourselves to Mary Most Holy, Mother of Divine Providence, so that she, who like no one else has abandoned herself to God, may grant us to face this year 2022 with all its graces and all its trials, abandoned entirely to the will and good pleasure of our Good God.[89]
In thanksgiving and confidence let us advance along the straight road of the Divine Will, striving to fulfill perfectly everything He asks of us, according to the times and circumstances that He arranges, which will always be the best.
Happy New Year to everyone!
[1] F. X. Nguyen van Thuan, Five Loaves and Two Fish, chap. 2.
[2] Ibidem.
[3] Ibidem.
[4] The Letters, Letter 25, to Mother Ana de Jesús, July 6, 1591.
[5] General Audience (06/04/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[6] Spiritual Exercises, [23].
[7] General Audience (05/07/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[8] Ibidem.
[9] Cf. Wisdom 8:1.
[10] Cf. Hebrews 4:13.
[11] Gaudium et Spes, 24.
[12] Dei Verbum, 3.
[13] Dignitatis Humanae, 3.
[14] Gaudium et Spes, 19.
[15] https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1022.htm
[16] S. Th., I, q. 22, a. 1.
[17] S. Th., I, q. 22, a. 2.
[18] S. Th., I, q. 22, a. 3.
[19] S. Th., I, q. 22, a. 4.
[20] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (06/04/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[21] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 142.
[22] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 236.
[23] Wisdom 7:30 – 8:1.
[24] Taken from the Prologue of the aforementioned work.
[25] Eulogio Pacho, Estudios Sanjuanistas, t. 2, p. 327. [Translated from Spanish]
[26] Saint John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, book 2, chapter 9, 7.
[27] Ibidem, chapter 8.
[28] Wisdom 7:30.
[29] Cf. Romans 8:28
[30] 1 Corinthians 2:15
[31] John 12:26
[32] Directory of Spirituality, 67.
[33] Wisdom 1:13-14.
[34] General Audience (06/04/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[35] Saint Thomas Aquinas, S. Th., II-II, 186, 3 ad 2.
[36] Cf. Matthew 6:25-34.
[37] Constitutions, 63.
[38] Cf. Exultet in the Liturgy of the Easter Vigil.
[39] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (06/11/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[40] Cf. 1 Peter 1:4.
[41] Romans 11:33.
[42] Cf. Wisdom 7:30.
[43] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (06/11/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[44] Cf. Romans 8:28.
[45] Cf. Constitutions, 213.
[46] Cf. Colossians 1:24.
[47] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 169.
[48] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 181.
[49] Romans 12:17
[50] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 181.
[51] Ibidem.
[52] 1 Peter 1:6.
[53] 1 Peter 1:7.
[54] Sirach 2:5.
[55] 1 Peter 4:13.
[56] James 1:2-4.
[57] Romans 8:28.
[58] Romans 8:35.
[59] Romans 8:38-39.
[60] Hebrews 12:7, 10.
[61] Directory of Spirituality, 135.
[62] Avisos Espirituales, 182 [Translated from Spanish].
[63] In spanish: “Golpear con la aldaba” (RAE: 1. f. Pieza de hierro o bronce que se pone a las puertas para llamar golpeando con ella).
[64] The Letters, Letter 11, to Doña Juana de Pedraza, January 28, 1589.
[65] The Letters, Letter 20, to a discalced Carmelite nun suffering from scruples, shortly before Pentecost, 1590.
[66] Matthew 6:33; cf. Luke 12:13.
[67] Colossians 1:15.
[68] Constitutions, 63.
[69] Saint John of the Cross, The Letters, Letter 16, to Mother María de Jesús, July 18, 1589.
[70] Saint John of Avila, Obras completas de San Juan de Ávila, IV, p. 438. [Translated from Spanish]
[71] Ibidem. [Translated from Spanish]
[72] Psalm 136:5ss.
[73] Cf. Isaiah 49:16.
[74] Saint John of Avila, Obras completas de San Juan de Ávila, IV, p. 438. [Translated from Spanish]
* Kill the fly that bites me on the forehead by dealing myself a fatal blow.
[75] Ibidem, pp. 439-440. [Translated from Spanish]
[76] Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18.
[77] 1 Corinthians 1:24.
[78] Saint John Paul II, General Audience (06/11/1986). [Translated from Spanish]
[79] Cf. Psalm 118:32.
[80] San Juan de Ávila, Obras completas de San Juan de Ávila, IV, p. 440. [Translated from Spanish]
[81] Genesis 22:1-18.
[82] Saint John of the Cross, The Letters, Letter 11, to Doña Juana de Pedraza, January 28, 1589.
[83] Directory of Spirituality, 136.
[84] Directory of Spirituality, 134.
[85] John 12:24: Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[86] San Juan de Ávila, Obras completas de San Juan de Ávila, IV, p. 1002. [Translated from Spanish]
[87] Ibidem, p. 1268. [Translated from Spanish]
[88] The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi, chapter 8.
[89] Cf. Constitutions, 9; 38.
