Rome, December 1st, 2018.
“Abandoned to Providence”
Constitutions, 231
Dear Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians and Novices:
The mystery of Christmas that we are about to celebrate brings us face to face with God’s providential mystery. This Child who seeks a place to be born in and is rejected because there was no room for Him in the inn; this Child who will spend most of his life hidden in the simple life of a family from Nazareth; this Child is the Incarnate Word, “poor in his birth, even poorer in his life, and utterly poor on the Cross.”
This Child is the same Son of God who one day, with ineffable sweetness, taught us about “that Father, full of goodness, who takes care of the birds and the flowers of the field, and who will not abandon those who confidently surrender their lives to Him.”
This Child is Emmanuel, God-with-us, who, “entering into human history, assures us that God, His providence, love, and mercy, are to be found in it.”
As you all know, as religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, we are called to live “abandoned to Divine Providence.” Indeed, all of our proper law is a living illustration of how to practice holy abandonment to Divine Providence. You also know that to have a “supernatural view of life” was indicated in the Fifth General Chapter as one of the non-negotiable elements included in the charism and that, therefore, it is not a subsidiary or minor subject, but one of great importance for our individual religious life, as well as for the life of our Institute as a whole.
This is why it seems fitting to me to write you these lines about our trust in Divine Providence in the light of our proper law. I would like this to help us delve more deeply into the magnificent mystery of that Child who, even being so small, bears in his little hands the entire universe; that Child of whom Saint Paul said that all things were created through him and for him.
1. A specific way of giving glory to God
To talk about Divine Providence is to talk about God Himself, who “as the Omnipotent and wise Father is present and acts in the world, in the history of each of his creatures, so that each creature, and specifically man, His image, can live out his life like a road directed by truth and love towards the goal of eternal life in Him.” Said in other words, to talk about Divine Providence is to talk about God who walks next to man, as Saint John Paul II wisely said.
Therefore, nothing is more actual than the fact that the Word became flesh and that He surrounds us with His loving providence. Because, speaking absolutely, there is nothing more actual than God, who is not only Creator of all that exists, but also the one who conserves it in being and, what is more, governs it with His providence.
Let us realize that our whole life and our vocation itself have their origin in the sweet plans of Divine Providence.
Our Constitutions, from their first lines, are a hymn that declares aloud our firm faith in this “God [who] is the Lord and Father of all things, the beginning and end of everything; [in] His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, [who] was made flesh, died, and rose from the dead to save all men; [in] the Holy Spirit [who] is the Lord and giver of life [and who], for the glory of the Holy Trinity, for a greater manifestation of the Incarnate Word, and for the honor of the Church founded by Christ ‘subsists in the Catholic Church which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.’”
However, the solidity of our faith in this marvelous truth about God, who with serene countenance and sure hand guides our history, shows itself especially through our limitless trust in His Providence, since to believe in God and to believe in His Providence are inseparable acts.
Therefore, our proper law gives us this masterly instruction: “A particular way of giving glory to God is by infinitely trusting in His Providence, based upon His design of salvation, that manifests itself most eminently in the Incarnation. We must learn to look at everything as having come from The One who doesn’t even forget a sparrow… and who has even counted the hairs on our head. For that reason Saint Paul teaches that all things work for good for those who love God.”
And with paternal attention, the Directory of Spirituality explains part by part what this teaching of the Apostle means:
– “When he 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”.
With this filial trust in the Provident God, Saint Isaac Jogues, North American martyr, wrote to a confrere: “Though I am extremely miserable and have badly used the graces that Our Lord has given me in this country, I do not lose courage, because He takes care to make me better, providing me again with new opportunities to die to myself and to unite myself inseparably to Him. […] My hope is in God, who has no need of us to accomplish his aims. Our task is to try to be faithful to Him, and not to spoil His work by our cowardice.”
Saint Peter Julian Eymard even said that “the soul’s spiritual states are always the object of Divine Providence’s direction, since they are the indispensable condition of sanctification.”
Don Orione also wrote about this to a priest who suffered from the loss of his mother: “Do not let yourself be troubled by the sufferings of the present life and by these difficult trials and tribulations, because you know that we, followers of Jesus Crucified, are destined for this: for the crown through the cross, because it is written: It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Affliction is momentary and allowed by God for our purification and elevation to Him: it prepares us for a higher and incalculable degree of glory, and makes us direct our courage, not to things and people that are seen, but to those that are not seen; as St. Paul says: what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. ”
– “When Saint Paul 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. 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”.
It is in this sense that Saint John of the Cross wisely counseled a nun who complained about an negative incident: “Since His majesty has so arranged matters, it is what most suits everyone. All that remains for us is to accept it willingly so that, since we believe he has arranged this, we may show it by our actions. Things that do not please us seem to be evil and harmful, however good and fitting they may be.”
In 1848, Blessed John Henry Newman experienced many failures and misunderstandings. During this time, he wrote a beautiful reflection that gives us glimpse this providential view of life that we ought to have in every moment, but especially in adversity, in order to not lose our bearings. Here is an excerpt of it: “God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission – I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow, I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his – if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling. Therefore, I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me – still He knows what He is about. […] O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I – more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfil Thy high purposes in me whatever they be – work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument. Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see – I ask not to know – I ask simply to be used.”
– Our proper law continues: “Yet for this to happen, we must fulfill a condition on our end, and this is why he adds, for 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. 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. If we love God, it is impossible for anything in the world not to coincide with, or contribute to, our own good”.
Therefore, Saint Francis de Sales said, “Be firm in your trust in God’s providence, which, if it prepares crosses for us, will give us courage to bear them. […] Do not worry about future difficulties in this life; prepare yourselves with perfect hope that, as they arrive, God, to whom all belongs, will free you from them. He has protected you up to now: cling fast to the hand of His Providence and He will assist you in every moment, and, if you cannot walk, He will support you. What do you fear, since you are all God’s, who has assured us that all things work for good for those who love Him? Do not think about what will happen tomorrow, because the Eternal Father Himself, who takes care of you today, will continue to do so tomorrow and always: He will never give you anything bad, and if He does, He will give you invincible courage to bear it.”
That is why our proper law clearly and forcefully tells us, “you must be supernatural men.” In such a way that we know how to raise our souls to God’s supernatural plans, individually as well as with regard to the life of the Institute, the situation of the Church, our mission in particular, the state of our soul, etc. For this we need a firm and robust faith in Divine Providence, which never fails, as Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo said to his followers. We need a “living, firm, unshaken, eminent, heroic faith; a faith convinced that God would not be God if we were capable of grasping Him with our limited intelligence or if we understood all His judgments and ways.”
Saint Peter Julian Eymard gave his followers the following advice, and it seems to me that we can well apply it to ourselves, whether we are in formation or have been years in the mission: “Divine Providence makes all events and circumstances around a beloved soul work together for it, as if it were the center of heavenly and earthly activity, so that everything helps it achieve its supernatural end. […] Divine Providence not only prepares the creatures that will train us in virtue during our life, but also determines, through His great mercy for the soul, the state of its body, sick or healthy, and has drawn up the plan of each day, according to which we must glorify Him. […] The natural states of the soul are likewise regulated according to the graces that God will concede and the works He will ask of us.”
As religious and missionaries, it is very important that we have this deeply engraved in our soul. I will say it again in other words: let us be persuaded that everything that God arranges for us is necessary, and invariably for our good, and is, ultimately, the best that could happen to us. We must “arrange our mind” and see in all circumstances that all around us, a means for our sanctification is being orchestrated. Saint Thomas masterfully gives us the reason for this: because “as there can be nothing which is not created by God, so there can be nothing which is not subject to His government.” In God’s hands, all creation is like an instrument: there is no effect in the created order that can escape from the causality of the first universal cause that is God.
Therefore, nothing of vain illusions: “in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must have great, immense, universal feelings; but we must know how to be content with little things, with the will of God as it is manifested in the fleeting present moment, with the daily joys that Providence offers; and it is also necessary to make each work, though hidden and modest, a masterpiece of love and perfection.”
2. Temptations against trust in Divine Providence
Naturally, our soul’s enemy will seek to keep us from trustful abandonment to our Lord’s provident care. In fact, the big temptation for missionaries is to mistrust God’s Providence. This temptation can take different forms according to what our weak point is. Some fall into the temptation to think that “trusting in Divine Providence is imprudence” and so they abstain and excuse themselves from taking on apostolates simply because they fear that they will shrink from the difficulties and expenses that will have to be made. Others claim a “false need for material security” and abandon Divine Providence as the cornerstone of their work, often putting themselves in great risk of ending up as tributaries of the State. There might be some who, “looking at the tree of difficulties, lose sight of the forest of good things,” and want to abandon what they have started, forgetting that our Constitutions order us to “to work in the most difficult places and in the most adverse conditions.” There could be others who, as Saint Vincent de Paul said, “those who suffer their afflictions and illnesses with impatience, and this is a great wrong. Others let it be known that they desire to change their place, to go here and there, to that House, to that Province, under the pretext that the air is better elsewhere… And why? They are men attached to themselves, with frivolous spirits, who want to avoid any kind of suffering, as though bodily illnesses were evils that one absolutely has to avoid. To flee from the state in which the Lord wills us is to flee from one’s own happiness.”
Let us be sure of this: “God is infinitely great, God is infinitely powerful, and is in all places. And His providence manifests itself in heaven, on earth and everywhere. There is no place on earth in which God’s loving Providence does not work: in the densest jungle, in the most inhospitable deserts, in bitter cold or blistering heat, on the steppes or high mountains, in the rough seas or placid lakes, in megacities or primitive villages, in the midst of war and in the midst of peace, where one lacks everything and where all is plentiful, in all cultures, in all languages, in all ethnicities… God is always Father! And a Father who is infinitely good to all! How much more to his missionary apostle!”
The saints of all times understood this. How else can you explain, for example, that Saint Junipero Serra, a 56-year-old theology professor, would embark on a seemingly impossible mission: evangelizing the peoples of the New World? He alone founded nine of the fifteen missions that today give their names to cities in California. Asthmatic and with a wound in his leg that bothered him for the last fifteen years of his life, he walked more that 38,000 kilometers (23,600 miles), often battling cold and hunger. Nevertheless, he was able to say: “Always forward, never back.” Why? Simply because he trusted firmly in the one who said: seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. This is the trusting spirit that we also must have in order to act as God wishes in the circumstances arranged by His Providence, with the grace that He Himself grants us to do so.
Therefore, unlimited trust in Divine Providence is characteristic of each member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. The worship of Divine Providence should be our very life. This does not mean adopting a passive attitude that hopes that solutions will appear out of nowhere, or that material goods will rain down, or that souls will come knocking on the door. We should not fall into a false quietism that distorts our necessary and free cooperation with providence and grace. No. As Saint Ignatius of Loyola said, “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.” Without ever being tributary, that is, without unduly subordinating oneself to temporal powers, to cultural fashions, to the spirit of the world, as though they were the ultimate end, and not God; but rather, ours is to “fully live the Christian and priestly kingship and lordship.”
Let us realize that the Incarnate Word is ours! Just like that, without exaggeration, He is ours! He tells us this Himself through the mouth of the great doctor of the Church, Saint John of Avila: “I am your Father because I am God, I am your firstborn brother because I am man. I am your payment and ransom. Why do you fear debts, if you with penance and Confession beg to be absolved of them? I am your reconciliation. Why do you fear wrath? I am the bond of friendship. Why fear the anger of God? I am your defender. Why fear adversaries? I am your friend. Why are you afraid of lacking what I have, if you do not separate from me? My Body and my Blood are yours. Why do you fear hunger? My heart is yours. Why do you fear forgetfulness? My divinity is yours. Why do you fear miseries? And for further assistance, my angels are yours to defend you; my saints are yours to pray for you; my blessed Mother is yours to be your attentive and pious Mother; the earth is yours for you to serve Me on it, the heavens are yours because you will come to them; the devils and hell are yours, because you will humiliate them as slaves in prison; life is yours because with it, you win what lasts forever; good pleasures are yours because you offer them to Me; hardships are yours because for My love and your [own] profit, you suffer them; temptations are yours because they are the merits and cause of your eternal crown; death is yours because it will be your nearest transition to life. And all this you possess in Me and for Me, because I have gained this not for Me alone, neither do I want to enjoy this alone; because when I entered into fellowship with you in the flesh, I assumed it to make you partakers in what I would work on, fast, eat, sweat and weep, [participants] in My pains and in My deaths, if it was not given to you to do. You who have so much wealth are not poor, if you who lead a bad life, do not want to lose it knowingly!”
Therefore, each of us, in each particular circumstance of life and wherever we may be, must banish all undue solicitude and trust ourselves to the provident care of our Father in heaven. Let us always go to Jesus Christ with absolute trust, in search of grace and all that we need, because, “The measure of Divine Providence acting upon us,” said Saint Francis de Sales, “is the degree of confidence that we have in it.”
3. God our Father takes care of us
Notice that to give our hope greater incentive, our Lord makes us incessantly experience His ineffable paternal care of our dear Religious family through the countless blessings that He places in our hands. This is not only very comforting, but also an indescribable source of peace, serenity, security, and therefore delight and joy for our souls. All these blessings are linked one to another and cry out to us repeatedly, “Live clinging to Divine Providence.”
Our own history as a Religious Family is a song to Divine Providence. How can we not be amazed as we contemplate the admirable providence with which God has raised up our beautiful charism, right at this time when the negation of the Incarnation is a painfully palpable reality. Even the date on which we were born as an Institute, March 25th, the same day that Saint John Paul II consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was ordained by His Divine Providence. It was also through the loving plans of His Providence that during our first years we did not have many foundations in Argentina, allowing us to found in many other countries, which today already amount to 41 in total. It was also a divine gift that we have a Feminine Branch, religious brothers, a Contemplative Branch (which celebrates its 30th anniversary this Christmas); that the General House moved to Rome; that we were entrusted with one of the eight Missio sui iuris of the Church in the world; that we met Sor Rosa Goglia, Fr. Cornelio Fabro’s secretary, and that she bequeathed the custody and diffusion of his works upon us. It is also undeniable that it was through God’s unfathomable plans that we began so many of our works: the Humanistic High Schools, the Mercy Homes, and, to tell the truth, each one of our missions, houses of formation, construction of churches, etc. And what can we say of the tangible help that was offered us to maintain all of them? We could continue with an unending litany of events, persons, circumstances… ultimately, of heavenly graces that make us see again and again that God is our Father and that He takes care of us.
But let us also notice that trials, difficulties, often senseless attacks, painful, inexplicable and often unjust experiences: how much good they have brought to our Institute, how many blessings. What a missionary expansion we have had in so little time, which would have been impossible if we had not had these trials, these difficulties! Impossible! But as Saint Augustine said, “If evils are lacking, so will many goods be lacking.” In all truth we can say that Divine Providence fills us with the best goods, the most exquisite graces, especially when we find ourselves in the midst of crosses, as we have so often experienced.
How can we not see God’s paternal condescendence that in every situation tells us that what is of God cannot be destroyed by any man, nor by all men together. It pacifies our souls to assure ourselves again and again that He frustrates the plans of the cunning, so that their hands achieve no success; He catches the wise in their own ruses, and the designs of the crafty are routed.
And so, our Religious Family, though as small as young David in the Valley of the Terebinth, and our strength as disproportionate against the powers of the heavens, has always carried on, driven by Divine Providence. This will always be possible if we are only concerned about the Kingdom of Heaven and about the works that lead to it, and if in us is found that firm trust in the truth of Scripture that assures us that the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him, upon those who count on his mercy.
This is why we ought to engrave in our souls an unshakeable trust in God our Lord. From all eternity, God had already decided on the moment that the different contradictions that trouble us will be resolved, because in His infinite wisdom, He knows everything. For specific ends, He makes specific means converge, and this is God’s Providence, from which nothing can escape. Therefore, we must have absolute confidence that that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it (Phil 1: 6). “Everything is brief,” said Saint John of the Cross, “for it lasts only until the knife is raised; and then Isaac remains alive with the promise of a multiplied offspring.”
Born, then, from His Goodness itself, guided by His provident hand and supported by His strong arm, each of us can say that, in our Institute that possesses nothing, nothing necessary for life has been lacking, and that, even more, we have been given much more than what our human expectations could hope for, to the point that we can say with Don Orione, “It is Divine Providence that does everything.” Therefore, with the help of this loving Divine Providence and even in the midst of great tribulations, we have been able to found missions and religious houses and to provide them with what is necessary, even with very modest means. Even more, many of us have been able to study and get university and post-graduate degrees, while others have learned arts and other skills, without lacking anything, either for these studies or for life itself. Moreover, since God, “with marvelous foresight directs the course of the ages and renews the face of the earth,” we have been able to send missionaries to countries where missionary work, because of different circumstances, is a greater challenge: Syria, the Gaza Strip, the Solomon Islands, Iceland, China, etc. How can we not see the care and provident love of God in the fact that the Institute’s apostolic work does not stop, but, by God’s grace, continues and grows. Divine Providence itself furnishes us not only with the means for carrying out this apostolic work, but also shows itself conspicuously through the coordination of the different circumstances that make as it is.
All this, and so much more that is left unsaid, God has done it, His Divine Providence! How can we not recognize the God’s loving paternal signs in all the Institute’s work! We cannot be indifferent, but must rather respond to God’s grace and, therefore, feel, like a thorn in our soul, the sweet duty to distinguish ourselves in living “abandoned to Divine Providence”. This is and must always be the trusting attitude that should reign in our members and that we should transmit to future generations. This is the spirit that has been bequeathed to us. I insist: ours is to live clinging to Divine Providence, holily abandoned in His arms, because our “particular spirituality and apostolate” is the folly of the cross, as the Incarnate Word Himself taught us and practiced it.
Pervaded with this holy trust in our Provident Father for the great good that is waiting for us, let us take on every sacrifice, rejoice in every tribulation, desire each cross, let us flourish in expansive apostolic initiatives and be committed to multiplying Christmas in men’s hearts, taking advantage of the opportunities that Providence offers us. If God multiplies gifts un us, let us multiply our forces, our sacrifices for God, our activities for the good of souls. Because God does not let Himself be surpassed in generosity.
To stray even a little from the trust due to Divine Providence is to expose oneself to sterility.
May men’s injustice, the adversity of circumstances, our own or others’ miseries, “contradictions of good men,” failures, difficulties of the times, or lack of means, never weaken our absolute trust in God’s goodness or diminish our zeal for the mission or for our personal sanctification.
Saint Alberto Hurtado said, “In life there are no difficulties: there are only circumstances. God guides all of them, and he guides all well. We only have to abandon ourselves and serve as far as possible in each moment.” This should be our attitude.
It is our responsibility to be men of “great works, [of] extraordinary undertakings,” works born of great charity in imitation of the Incarnate Word, discerned in prudence, and supported firmly by Divine Providence.
Act according to what Don Orione wrote to one of his priests: “I do not want statues in the congregation, but living men who go forward, looking at the heights, at God! At Him on whom all depends and from whom come all gifts and help. To live means to expand: he who does not produce, loses; he who does not advance, goes backwards.”
In all our works and in each aspect of our life, even regarding the Institute as a whole, let us not forget “Mary’s dominion and maternal providence over all things” and let us greatly entrust ourselves to Her. Our Institute, which honors itself in having her as Queen, is a gift of her Immaculate Heart and rests under the mantle of her far-sighted maternal love. The Incarnate Word reminds us of this when He tells us, “my blessed Mother is yours to be your attentive and pious Mother.” So may we have great faith in God and in His Divine Providence, and may we have absolute trust in the maternal goodness and assistance of the Most Holy Virgin, who does not forget our affairs. May we take care to live each day according to the spirit and Constitutions of our Institute, to which, in His merciful providence, the hand of God has brought us.
Today and always, may us hope for everything from His Divine Providence, as Christ Himself encourages us to do: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him!
Finally, may we advance with happy mind and trusting spirit, saying with Saint Peter Julian Eymard, “God loves me and disposes all my ways according to His goodness; He regulates everything in my life for my greater good. I can, therefore, be sure that whatever happens to me comes from the hand of God, from His goodness, whether it is a joy or a sorrow in His holy service, whether consolations or desolations, whether success or failure in an undertaking, whether health or sickness. Since it is Divine Providence who directs my little ship, who gives wind to the sail, and good weather or storms, my duty is to trust in the Divine Navigator, who will guide me safely to the port of our heavenly homeland.” And with this same providential vision, let us recognize God’s merciful plans for our Institute.
May we always trust in God. As Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo said, if God responds with His Divine Providence to ordinary trust, as we have experienced so many times, He will provide extraordinarily for those who trust extraordinarily.
May the sweetly simple and, at the same time, magnificent solemnity of the Birth of the Incarnate Word, illustrate for us the truth of God’s Providence, the truth of this God who came down from heaven to walk together with men.
May this same Providence that sweetly and with ineffable tenderness shows itself in the Child lying in the manger, arrange everything so that peace and joy reign in our souls and in each of our communities.
May you all have a very spiritually fruitful Advent.
In Christ, the Incarnate Word, and His Most Holy Mother,
Fr. Gustavo Nieto, IVE
General Superior
