199. Fourth Monday of Ordinary Time

Meditations no. 78 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Confidence in divine Providence.

The story in today’s Gospel, which tells of the possessed man from the country of the Gerasenes, shows God’s absolute dominion over all creatures, whether irrational, human, or angelic. Nothing happens in the world, not even the things that seem most inexplicable, without being wanted or allowed by God.

By faith we realize that God’s will extends to every circumstance of our life. Where many people see nothing but coincidence or chance, or even wonder whether they are at the mercy of blind fate, we Christians know that God’s fatherly care, his most lovable will, his Providence, is directing everything that happens to us. History is not the result of blind forces or chance; it is the manifestation of our Father God’s mercy. God’s thoughts are above our thoughts, as Scripture says.

Providence is the name we give to the care God shows in watching over his own. St John Damascene asserts that Providence is also God’s will in giving to each thing the direction it should take. Since divine Providence is God’s will, everything that happens providentially has to be most excellent and worthy of God, and must happen in the best possible way. Hence, our Father says, trust in God means having faith, no matter what happens, going beyond appearances. The charity of God - whose love for us is eternal - lies behind every event, though at times in a manner that is hidden to us.

Our firm belief that God is caring for us all leads us to be patient. Things are never as we want them to be, but as God’s providence allows: we have to accept them gladly, no matter how they appear. If we see God behind everything we will always be happy and peaceful and never get upset. That’s how we show that our life is contemplative.

We are right to trust completely in our Father God. We may not always understand why certain things happen; we may not grasp why they should be so, especially when they don’t fit in with our way of thinking; but it is then that we need to offer filial surrender, abandoning ourselves into God’s hands like a child who knows that his father always gives him what is best. Sometimes a child is attracted by things that could do him harm; and his father, even though he knows the child is going to be disappointed, has to say no. The child may not understand, but it is for his own good. Everything that happens to us is good and right for us: for those who love God all things work together for the good.

Our vocation to the Work strengthens our confidence.

If God’s Providence encompasses all creatures, even the birds of the air, how much more watchful will he be over us, who have been chosen from all eternity. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Our calling, our vocation to the Work, is God’s doing. He arranged everything suaviter et fortiter, with gentleness and strength. So gentle was he that he scarcely allowed himself to be glimpsed in the apparently fortuitous chain of events that led up to it. Nevertheless, he came into our lives in a definitive way, overcoming all resistance, and changing the plans we might have made for our future. Consequently, your vocation, the certainty that you are called by God, will always be the best shield against any temptation. It is the surest and strongest guarantee that, if you wish, God will make you faithful, ever victorious, witnesses of Jesus Christ throughout the world, and abundantly fruitful in serving souls.

It matters little whether our Lord called us in this particular way or that. The decisive fact is that he has called us. Our vocation is an extraordinary proof of the action of God’s Providence in the life of each one of us. This fills us with security and confidence, as we come to realize that our weaknesses do not prevent us from dedicating ourselves, since God usually seeks out deficient instruments so that the work can more clearly be seen to be his.

Those who trust in the Lord, sings one of the Psalms, are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides for ever. When we answered our calling, we made a deep act of faith in God. He in turn promised us his fatherly care. Speaking on God’s behalf, Isaiah says: Can a mother forget her child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

Turn your eyes to this God of ours, this wonderful Father, who is with us at every step of the way, my daughters and sons. Turn your eyes to this God whom we love as his children, and say to him with me, gratias tibi Deus, gratias tibi (thank you, God, thank you). For he leads us by the hand and makes the Work quasi fluvium pacis, like a river of peace for the world.

Trusting in God brings peace and joy.

In the face of the unexpected and unforeseen, we may initially be disconcerted. However, we should quickly try to recognize our Lord, who once again tells us: Take heart, it is I; have no fear. Peace and calm should be constant features of our lives. Have no anxiety about anything, St Paul says. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Trusting in Providence brings cheerfulness as well as peace. As the Catechism of the Work expresses it: The source of the optimism and cheerfulness found in the Centres and in the life of all the faithful of Opus Dei is awareness of divine filiation. Our awareness that we are children of God strengthens our readiness to try our best to do God’s will in all things, and also reinforces the conviction that, as St Paul says, “in everything God works for good with those who love him.” Our joy springs from our divine filiation, which gives us the deep conviction that everything is good, even obstacles and apparent failures. We will be called victorious, our Founder assures us: victorious, because the hand of our Father God guides us in everything.

Our Father encourages us: In your life of constant service, you will never lack God’s grace, since he is the one who called you. You can also count on the intercession of the holy Archangels and Apostles whom we invoke as Patrons, as well as the constant help of the Guardian Angels.

Yours will be a self-sacrificing and humble service expressed in deeds: a generous, sustained fiat, in union with the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Jesus Christ and our Mother, who accompanies us by her example from the Annunciation until Calvary.

And if in this battle for God you find that you are weak, infirmus dicat: quia fortis ego sum (let the weak say, “I am a warrior”); in the midst of your feebleness say: “With my Lord’s grace, I am strong.” And with St Paul, I will add: gratia vobis et pax. Grace and peace be with you!