Tag: <span>Providence</span>

October 18, 2020September 25, 2020

Chess Master

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

In today’s second reading from the book of Thessalonians, Paul speaks of “endurance in hope.”

Perhaps we don’t always hope as we should.

The world, shattered as it is by the original rebellion of man against God, and the ongoing chaos cause by the sins of pride and sensuality, appears to be spiraling downards.

There is something that should give us, we may say, an extra dose of hope, of which we perhaps do not often think. On the one hand, for the core of our hope, it is well to remember that this life with all its chaos is passing, we are pilgrims, and that we will find true joy in our eternal home in Heaven. But there is another beautiful reality that should also support our hope.

That reality is that God is the Lord of history, and even though humanity is sometimes ruled by evil people, God Himself is arranging all circumstances, evil ones caused by those who are evil and good ones cause by Himself and those who are good, into precisely the right order to favor the salvation of as many persons as possible. And, in precisely the best order for our lives, in which we are called to imitate His Son Jesus Christ, to love in joy and sacrifice.

Cyrus, the leader of the Persians mentioned in the first reading, was a pagan. Although he did not know God, God called upon him to free the Israelites at the time when, in His wisdom, He wanted to bring their punishment of exile in Babylon to an end.

Cyrus did not know God. But still, he formed a key part of God’s plan, and God led him.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus teaches that we must obey civil authorities, even when they are godless, as long as they do not lead us into sin–paying taxes, for example. And indeed, the Lord of history ordained the rule of Caesar in Jerusalem at the time when the brutal Romans were a needed factor for the violent sacrifice of His Son.

Think also of Constantine, the Cyrus, if you will, of the Christian era. In the early fourth century, God intervened directly with him, a pagan emperor, when He ordained that the years of Christian martyrdom and persecution in the Roman Empire were to come to an end.

Jesus Christ is Universal King, King of the Universe, King of all that happens in time. He does give full and ample space to human freedom, and allows the terrible consequences of our free choice of sin. In the end, though, it is He–the omnipotent Chess Master, we may say–who arranges history for the eternal benefit of the Church and His faithful ones.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Think of the political realities and world events that most concern you. Consider where Christians are suffering, and where evil persons or principles rule. Ask Jesus if He has these circumstances well in hand. Ask Him why He allows evil in the world, from the perspective of eternal salvation. And ask Him, the Lord of history, for mercy upon our fallen world, to guide events to a happy outcome and above all, to the eternal salvation of as many as possible.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams

October 16, 2020September 24, 2020

Every Sparrow

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

“Blessed are the People the Lord has chosen to be His own.” The psalm neatly sums up the readings from today.

In the first reading, St. Paul tells us that we were chosen, destined to exist for the praise of God’s glory.

Jesus warns us in the gospel not to fear those who can kill the body, but rather Him who, after killing, has the power to cast into Gehenna.

We should possess a respectful fear of God as the great Master of the Plan, he who foresaw the eternal destiny of each choice of free will and enforces the consequences of those choices.

But then, in accord with St. Paul’s message, Jesus reassures us that God has counted every hair on our heads, that he knows what happens to every sparrow, and we are worth more than many sparrows.

If we are leaning on God, and humbly seeking His will, He will act in His Providence. We have nothing to fear, zero. He will so craft the realities of our life in support of our choice for Him that we not only do not lose Him, but that every circumstance that befalls us–easy or difficult, intelligible or mysterious–reinforces our destiny to exist for the praise of His glory.

Blessed be God, who gives us not only all we need, but curates our lives with overflowing generosity, from this world into eternity!

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to take over your life and guide it, curate it, with the overwhelming hand of His Providence and benevolence. Ask Him to help you to trust in Him unconditionally, and to detach you from everything aside from His will, everything, the loss of which could cause you bitterness. Lean on Him with all your weight.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams

October 3, 2020September 14, 2020

Clay in the Hands of the Potter

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

We tend to divide our fellow humans into binary categories: Rich/poor, intelligent/less intelligent, successful/unsuccessful, etc.

From the perspective of eternal values, one useful (albeit simplistic) division is: Those who trust in God’s Providence and abandon their lives into God’s hands, and those who don’t–those who try to achieve success and happiness all on their own. Of course, like anything else, there is a limitless spectrum of degrees in between. Many of us trust God, but find ourselves wrenching the steering wheel out of His hands again and again and trying to take control of our lives, severely hampering the fruits of our trust.

When telling us to love our enemies in Mt. 5, Jesus points out how God takes care of everyone, good and bad: “He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” (Mt. 5:45)

This may lead us to believe that God curates each life in an equally proactive manner. Then we may ask ourselves why some lead the most tragic and unhappy lives, why some people’s lives seem to be one random tragedy after another.

Of course, it must be said up front that those who place their lives in God’s hands don’t necessarily find themselves with more prosperity, ease, and predictability in this life.

But at the same time, when we consciously and consistently place our trust in God, it gives Him permission to curate our lives at a deeper level than He otherwise might, weaving all the events in our lives into a coherent love story at which we will marvel when we reach eternity. Like a potter, He shapes everything in our lives with the greatest personal care. He simply does not have that “freedom” in the lives of those who insist on control, because He checks His own action in our lives to some extent at the door of our freedom–freedom to trust and cede control, freedom to push Him out and retain control.

When we place our lives fully in His hands, He orders everything in them to our eternal welfare and to our happiness, even those things that appear tragic or random. Truly holy souls find His fingerprints all over the circumstances that befall them in life. It’s not just that they are more perceptive, although that certainly is a factor. It is because God in fact has taken the reins that these souls have handed over to Him, and He is working marvels for them and in them. As St. Paul tells us, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” (Rom. 8:28)

So it is for Job in today’s first reading. Because Job trusted, God was able to make of his life in the long term far happier than it would have been without that trust.

And in today’s Gospel passage, we see the seventy-two disciples returning in high spirits because they sensed God’s power working through them. At this Jesus cautioned them: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” As much as we rejoice with gratitude when we perceive the effects of God’s loving Providence in this life, we must remember that this Providence is ordering everything to our eternal destiny–so there are some things that He does in our lives whose benefit for us may remain hidden until eternity. Our simple task: To trust; with today’s psalm, full of trust, to say, “Lord, let your face shine upon me.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider the events in your life that strike you as most mysterious, perhaps most painful and discouraging. Tell Jesus that, like Job in his deepest affliction, you place all your trust in His love and that you will not doubt it, even though you have trouble perceiving how the circumstances that befall you reflect His love.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams

September 23, 2020September 7, 2020

Stress and Love

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

I have lost my job. My girlfriend just broke up with me. I have finals this week. I have a killer deadline at work. My romantic life is going well but is highly perplexing. This year I actually lost money, paying out more to provide for my family than the money I earned. My teenage children are running with the wrong crowd. I have an exciting new business opportunity. I’m really worried that my presentation at work won’t be up to snuff with the executives. I can’t keep all my family’s schedules straight. I am late, late, LATE!

Realities like these make up the stuff of our lives. Sometimes the words of the first reading sound really enticing, on every level: “Give me neither poverty nor riches;
provide me only with the food I need.” Perhaps we would like to have just enough, but not too much, guaranteed for life, so that we wouldn’t have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off. Maybe then we would have time for God. Maybe then there would be room in our hearts for Him.

The words in today’s Gospel passage probably resonate less with us: “Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.” Whatever our vocation, it involves taking care in some way, directly or indirectly, of others, which by definition means being prepared and provisioned. This is the very definition of responsibility.

And certainly, there is nothing wrong with having a job and earning money, with doing the things we need to do to manage the realities of our lives, as part of our vocation.

Perhaps the error does not lie in the sort of things we do. Perhaps the error does not lie in how much we have or do not have. Perhaps, for many of us, the error does not lie in attachment to riches and luxuries.

Perhaps what keeps us from living Gospel detachment from earthly realities, rather, is our attachment to fear. Fear is the unfortunate fruit of Adam and Eve’s desire to be “like gods.” And in our lives, it points directly to the sin of pride. Unfortunately, when we adopt the role of God in our lives, with that comes God’s responsibility: That is, the final, buck-stops-here responsibility to provide for ourselves and those we love.

If our attitude is more like that of the new Eve, the Blessed Virgin Mary, we recognize in a real, practical, palpable way that we live entirely dependent on God’s role as Lord and Provider. We may still do the same sorts of things in our lives, but we relax. Even though I could lose my job if this presentation comes out badly, even though I may missing something crucial on my family’s schedule, even though I feel unable to make my relations with my spouse go smoothly, even though the eternal salvation of my children is not guaranteed (!), It’s all good. It’s all OK. The buck simply doesn’t stop with me.

We perceive the terrible effect of our human race’s definitive “no” to God with original sin, in the immense difficulty we find in letting go of our absolute sense of responsibility. Ironically, though, letting go of this is critical to carry out, even imperfectly, our true responsibility: The responsibility to love God above all things, and our neighbor as ourselves. Fear chokes our ability to love.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Examine your life with Jesus. Try to put your finger on the areas where you act as if the buck stopped with you, and where the fear you so carefully strive to conceal is controlling you. Talk to Him about what guarantees He will give to you if you place those really risky areas in your life in His hands and stop worrying about them. If you do this, will you let Him down? Or will He, rather, take care of you?

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams