Tag: <span>Providence</span>

July 31, 2021July 28, 2021

Order and Chaos

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

There is a striking contrast between the first reading and the gospel today; in one, we see obedience to God bring order, and in the other, chaos.

In the first reading, God Himself is bringing order to the lives of the Israelites who follow Him, by parceling out time for them and ordering it according to key festivals and jubilees that serve as milestones. It provides a comforting framework within which they can peacefully live once settled in the Promised Land.

In the gospel, faithfulness to God and his mission brings chaos to the life of John the Baptist. Not only had he lived a hard life, subsisting on locusts and wild honey in the desert (cf. Mt. 3:4); he was now to suffer a violent and cruel death in the prime of his life, based on the silly whim of the reigning monarch.

In reality, our world is full of both order and chaos. The order comes from God, and the chaos, from original and personal sin. What is different about the life of the faithful Christian is not necessarily that it contains a higher dose of either than the life of anyone else. Rather, what is different is that, for the person who trusts in God, He superimposes a deeper and more powerful order upon the whole mix, such that both the elements of order and those of chaos in our lives make sense against a deeper backdrop of order. By trusting Him and giving our lives to Him, we enable Him to weave both the logical and the random elements of our lives into a beautiful pattern of love.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that the only order you need is the same one that He lived by: The Father’s loving Providence for you, whether it is manifested in beautiful, harmonious, orderly, enriching gifts, or chaotic suffering and deprivation that enables you to grow closer to Him and contribute to salvation. Ask Jesus to help you always keep the focus of your priority on His will and trust in His Providence.

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June 25, 2021June 24, 2021

Light in Darkness

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The entire history of salvation consists in God’s action to undo, with the most delicate respect for man’s freedom, the damage that man has done to himself through sin.

In today’s readings, we see God reversing physical maladies introduced into the world with original sin: infertility in the case of Sarah in the first reading, and leprosy in the gospel.

And the joy this brings is represented in the psalm: “See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.”

But in the end, all of this presages and culminates in Jesus’ act to reverse the greatest damage of all done by sin: the inability of the human being to enter into a relationship of loving intimacy with God the Father.

It may frustrate us sometimes that so many maladies still exist in the world; that with His coming, Jesus did not reverse them all at once. But the fact that He did not perform a complete overhaul of this sort with His coming reflects His respect for our original, fundamental choice.

He did, however, completely overturn the limitation of our freedom to choose good, in particular the ultimate good of a relationship with God, that we had imposed upon ourselves with original sin. He threw the door to God back open for us. And while we cannot avoid every suffering that comes to us from this broken world, with His help we can thoroughly and completely choose to enter into that relationship, with all the interior light and joy that this brings–to the point that our sufferings begin to take on a very relative importance.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you trust in God’s providential plan for the world and for you, and that you trust the approach to salvation that He has chosen. Ask Him to fill you to bursting with all the fruits of His redemption.

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May 30, 2021May 24, 2021

Triangulated Love

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The richness of today’s readings, in terms of sheer revelation of God to us, is perhaps without peer in the liturgical cycle.

In the first reading we have God intervening, making a people His own, speaking to His people from within the fire, acting on their behalf to bring them out of slavery, acting among His people in a manner unprecedented in all of history.

In the second reading, we have the Spirit of God bursting into the hearts of the faithful ones, turning them into the very sons and daughters of God, adopting them into the Divinity to the point that they cry out to God, “Abba, Father!”.

And in today’s gospel, Jesus promises that He, the Son of God Most High, even after He ascends to heaven, will remain with them until the end of the ages.

These readings are not just a revelation of God; they are in the same breath a revelation of the steadfastness and, one may say, intensity of His commitment to us. We are His people, and He will take care of us; we are His children, and He will remain with us. We must remember that, in the midst of this apparently random world, His care for each of us is incredibly attentive and personal.

As today’s psalm says, “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that union with the Blessed Trinity, your destiny, is all you want, despite the attraction of so many other things in the world. As Him to send you His Spirit, to make you and adopted child of the Most High. And to remain with you always, until the end of the age.

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May 16, 2021May 5, 2021

Good from Evil

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The betrayal of Judas is a theme for today’s readings. But both of them address it in a positive way.

How? How is this even possible–to put a positive spin on the most heinous betrayal in human history? Such a take must be superficial, gratuitous sugarcoating. There is nothing good to say about how Judas sold the Savior of the World for thirty silver pieces and then, when overcome with self-loathing for the act, he took his own life rather than seeking redemption.

Let’s look at these positive spins. In today’s gospel, Jesus is in prayer with His Father. He is praying for His beloved apostles. He praises His Father, because none have been lost, except the one destined to be lost. Although God is not the direct cause of any evil act, the betrayal of Judas is a foreseen event that fits like a puzzle piece perfectly into the plan of the Father for the salvation of humankind.

Then, in the first reading, we contemplate the gaping hole left by Judas in the company of the twelve apostles. Jesus had called twelve. Now there are eleven. That gaping hole needs to be filled. We see the apostles give the matter careful consideration, looking only at individuals who have been in the company of Jesus from the very beginning. Then, with the casting of lots, a man’s life is gloriously transformed forever, and the Church gives us St. Matthias.

Now, let us look through the apostle John’s eyes at the moment of Judas’ betrayal. The kiss. How could he do this? We had trusted him, relied on him, laughed and joked with him, considered him a brother. And now he leads the guards to our Master? He has brought utter disaster!

As heinous as Judas’ crime was, today’s readings remind us that God had the matter well in hand. Effortlessly in hand, it would seem. He brought about the salvation of the world through Judas’ crime, and ultimately, didn’t even leave his place unfilled.

Bitter discouragement comes directly from Satan, like few other works that he can call truly his own. Why does it tempt us so sweetly, when it is so bitter? Let us reject its whisperings without hesitation, and offer the suffering they bring in union with the cross of our beloved Nazorean.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to grant you the grace always, always to place your most heartfelt sorrows and disappointments in His hands, certain that He will bring from them glorious outcomes.

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May 1, 2021April 19, 2021

Randomness

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

We may think ill of Philip for demanding of Jesus that He show him the Father. After all, Jesus had been working miracles in His Father’s name for a long time now. Did Philip not realize that the Father was with Him? As Jesus Himself asks, ““Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?”

But in a way, Philip’s wanting that extra bit of encouragement is understandable. It happens to us, too. No matter how much we have experienced Christ in our own lives, the pitiless randomness of the hand of evil and of misfortune is a formidable power to shake our faith. How can I believe myself to be protected by the hand of Providence, when so much random evil seems to befall me? Not to mention the evils that happen to so many others in the world?

Evil is real, and it does have a certain random pitilessness to it. When evil was introduced into the world with original sin, a massive rupture in nature came with it, that makes our lives in many ways a misery. This earth as a dwelling place is, as an ancient hymn calls it, a “valley of tears.”

In promising His providential action in our lives, God does not promise to eliminate all suffering in our lives, and all misfortune. To do so would be to reverse human freedom by eliminating its effects.

But, as St. Paul says, we know that “all things work for good for those who love God.” For those who love God, He curates their lives so intimately, attentively, and personally, that all that befalls them becomes an occasion of grace and even joy.

So we see it to be in the first reading, when St. Paul and St. Barnabas are preaching. The Jewish leaders shout them down to the point that the preachers announce that they are moving on to the Gentiles with their message–and the Gentiles rejoice. Then, those same leaders stir up the faithful Jewish people to initiate a persecution, and Paul and Barnabas are exiled, right as they are starting to reach the hearts of the Gentiles.

Yet, curiously, the two saints’ reaction is not one of anger and frustration–though they did shake the dust from their feet in protest, per Jesus’ command in the Gospel (cf. Mt. 10:14). Rather, they “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” They sensed the action and plan of the Holy Spirit leading them on the path of Providence, even amid the evil that befell them.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for unshakable faith, that no evil or misfortune can threaten. Tell Him that you are ready to walk the path that He walked, subject to the randomness and evil of the world, and to carry your cross behind Him. And, tell Him that you trust Him to take care of you.

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April 27, 2021April 13, 2021

Safe Sheep

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Jesus’ words in reference to the sheep of His flock in today’s gospel figure high on the list of His reassuring utterances:

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.

At times as we strive to live our Christian life, the words of the now-invisible Jesus can seem so faint, as the roar of the world antagonistic to His word swirls around us, that we can become frightened and perturbed. We can feel like the disciples in the boat on the lake, when Jesus was asleep. At those times we need to call to mind that, even if He is invisible and cannot be heard, Jesus is active in our lives. He is active, not only to inspire us and demand a certain way of life from us, but also to protect us in His grace.

Today’s gospel shows that Jesus is well aware of the dangers threatening His sheep. We don’t need to understand fully those dangers, overpower them, conquer them. All we need do each day is cling to Christ, who assures us that no one can take us out of His protecting hand.

It was with this confidence that the disciples in today’s first reading launched out past Israel into the country of the Greeks, trusting that no pagan influence could take them out of the hands of their Lord. If we have this confidence as well, no fear will keep us from doing God’s will for the salvation of our brothers and sisters.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you the same confidence in His protection and guidance that the first apostles enjoyed. Tell Him that you trust Him to lead you actively, even when you do not sense His presence.

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April 16, 2021March 29, 2021

A Lot of Bread

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“‘And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?’ They answered him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?’ They answered him, ‘Seven.’ He said to them, ‘Do you still not understand?’ (Mk. 8:18-20)

With these words, Jesus reprimanded the disciples, sometime after the events from today’s gospel. He was cautioning them about the “leaven of the Pharisees,” and they thought He was cross with them for forgetting to bring bread for an outing.

And truly, the events of today should have proven difficult to forget. Philip’s estimate of the cost of feeding the five thousand was two hundred days’ wages. There are about two hundred working days in a year. Philip is talking about a year’s salary.

For any of us who has had to pay for the wedding of one of our daughters, the cost of an average working person’s salary to feed a large crowd is not beyond the scope of imagination.

Jesus fed the multitude with a miraculous multiplication of bread. And yet, the disciples later thought that he was cross with them for forgetting a small meal’s worth. “Do you still not understand?”

In the first reading, the Pharisee Gamaliel, it seemed, had not forgotten. On its face, his logic does not seem foolproof. Whereas he posited that the works of mere mortals disappear quickly, a cursory look at history reminds us that this is not always the case. Consider the millions, for example, cruelly butchered in the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. True, these regimes are now gone, but not before perpetrating their travesties for many years.

Behind Gamaliel’s reasoning, we glimpse that he is remembering the signs of Jesus–and that he does in fact have an inkling that this Christian movement may be from God.

So why is it so hard for believers, the disciples and us too, to remember the powerful works of Jesus? To recall that the apparently random events in our lives are under the close care of Providence?

After performing miracles in the Gospel, Jesus often credits the faith of the requestor. The truth is, His providential care is only limited by our trust. If we do not abandon ourselves completely to His care, His miraculous Providence in our lives will be limited and modest. But if we truly abandon ourselves, He will weave the most beautiful story of tender and powerful care.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Abandon yourself totally into the powerful hands of Him who effortlessly performed a miracle to feed five thousand. Tell Him you trust Him, and ask Him to increase and protect your trust.

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March 31, 2021March 11, 2021

Destructive Chaos

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The world crumbles in chaos. It is World War II, and whole towns are ravaged by bomb and mortar; nations succumb to conquest and tyranny. Bodies of countless young men in the very prime of their lives are ripped asunder by machine gun fire.

Elsewhere, after World War II, innumerable religious and political exiles, who have done nothing wrong besides hold to their convictions, freeze to death in Siberian work camps.

What are the signs of evil and chaos in your time?

Whatever they are, however great and broad, they are inferior in magnitude to the betrayal of God Himself to torture, for the price of thirty pieces of silver. For what the good thief said of Jesus, all of us who suffer on this planet may well repeat: “And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” This man, who is God Himself.

And so, if in smaller catastrophes, even though we believe in God’s Providence, we feel helpless against the overwhelming power of destructive chaos, how are we to blame the apostles for feeling that the Jesus they loved had lost control of the situation?

And yet, in control this sovereign Lord was. So serenely was He in control, even in His greatest agony, that the clues may slip by us, as they did the apostles.

But today’s gospel is full of those clues. Jesus obtains the designated room for the Passover with a mere word. He predicts His betrayal. His restraint in the face of the knowledge of His betrayer bespeaks His will to allow it, and more broadly, His sovereignty over the situation.

And more broadly still, the first reading eloquently shows that this drama was planned from all time, and foretold.

What are the signs of evil and chaos in your time? In your life? Having seen Christ’s sovereignty through His Passion, death, and Resurrection, do you still not see that He has your life and history itself in hand?

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider the travesty that was the torturous execution of God, and then consider the clues that Jesus was the Master of that moment: His predictions at each step, His “I am He” causing the soldiers to faint in the Garden of Gethsemane, His mitigation of Pilate’s blame and stubborn refusal to defend Himself even at the hour of His condemnation, etc. Then, consider the frightening and anxiety-causing elements of your own life. Ask Him, dare to ask Him, if He has those in hand as He did His own hour. And tell Him that you trust Him.

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March 27, 2021March 9, 2021

The Long Game

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The gospel tells us the purpose of Jesus’ approaching death. He will be dying for the nation, but not only for the nation; also, to gather into one all the dispersed children of God.

This glorious plan is described even in the midst of the narrative of the evil jealousy of the Pharisees, who want to do away with Jesus, not in spite of His miracles such as the resurrection of Lazarus, but because of them. We must remember that the Pharisees are truly, intensely fearful of the popularity of Jesus–not because of the power of the Romans, who prove rather sleepy relative to the Jews’ internal religious squabbles, but because of what they stand to lose. Not only their status, but likewise their wealth depends, not on some official position that they have in the community (they are not rulers), but on the religious stranglehold they exert. They have a tenuous respect among the Jewish people as experts who hold the keys to understanding God’s Law, the Law on which Israel’s welfare on as a nation depends.

Jesus constitutes a massive threat against this stranglehold, as He preaches liberating mercy through God’s gratuitous gift of salvation. The more He proves the power of His message through miracles, the more the Pharisees want to do away with Him. They do not care about exploring where the truth lives. They only care about sustaining the wealth and status that is theirs, which hangs in a delicate balance.

The irony is that the division that the Pharisees cause is precisely the one that Jesus will be healing by submitting to the death that they are planning for Him. As prophesied by Simeon, He is the “light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for His people Israel.” (cf. Lk. 2:32) He has come to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

God is the Lord of history, and His omnipotence is such that He carries out His glorious plan not in spite of the evil hearts of His enemies but through them, incorporating their plots impossibly but truly as a fruitful ingredient into the gift He plans for His people.

And so, the prophecy of the first reading comes to pass through Jesus life, death, and Resurrection:

I will make them one nation upon the land,
   in the mountains of Israel,
   and there shall be one prince for them all.
Never again shall they be two nations,
   and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.

Today, we see great divisions in our own society. Like the Pharisees, there are many who wish to expel God from their midst in order to attain or retain worldly power, at the cost of others. It is hard for us to see this prophecy coming true in our midst, because the chaff is growing right alongside the wheat (cf. Mt. 13:24-30). But we may trust confidently that God’s plan is unfolding with an eye to eternity; it is in Heaven where we will see the fullness of His plan come gloriously to bear. Even here, amid holy souls, we can see its first blossoms.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Talk to Jesus about His coming to gather the dispersed children of God. Beg of Him to grant unity to the Christian Church by the great power of His saving act, unity that will be a sign to all nations that points to eternal destiny. Praise Him for using even the evil hearts of His enemies for salvation; ask this all-powerful savior to use your life for the salvation of others as well.

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March 26, 2021March 8, 2021

Stoned?

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Close as we are to Holy Week, today’s readings are a clear foreshadowing of those days.

The first reading speaks of those once favorable to the prophet, who now seek to trap him from every side.

The passage in the first reading prefigures the events of today’s gospel, wherein the Pharisees are ready to kill Jesus, to stone Him. If the gospel had gone differently, there would have been no Calvary, no crucifixion, and Jesus would have died here.

But it was not to be. Scriptures had foretold the manner of Jesus’ death; the events in the desert had foreshadowed it, where the seraph serpent was lifted up for the curing of the Israelites.

The Son of Man had to be lifted up, lifted up on the Cross. This was not the Pharisees’ show. The Passion was to be a very specific hour foreordained by Divine Providence. It is God’s world; His enemies are just living in it. Living in it, and against their own desires, fulfilling God’s will by perpetrating an event that is destined to spread merciful grace across the entire world.

Jesus was marching firmly toward His hour, acutely aware that His Father was completely in charge.

Do we do the same with our life’s crosses? Or do we lose hope and trust when they come? Or are we certain, as Jesus was, that they fall within the ambit of Divine Providence, and that He will never take us where He cannot protect us in His grace?

Lack of trust is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as is trust in God. When we do not trust, we truncate God’s ability to care for us, for He plays by His own rules in respecting our free choice to distance ourselves from Him with doubt; but when we do trust, we open the doors wide for Him to enter into our hearts with the gift of His salvation and sanctification.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you sufficient faith in His Divine love and Providence, to recognize His invitation to be purified and to help Him save through the crosses He allows into your life. Ask Him, not to reduce your suffering, but to grant you the same firm resolve of faithfulness to Him that He gave to Jesus.

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