Suffering With Joy

Insights on Divine Providence

March 5, 2010

Portrait of a Young Man at Prayer, c.1487, Hans Memling, oil on oak panel, Upton House, Banbury

This morning I was reading Father Romano Guardini’s The Art of Praying and found these passages that seem connected in a way with Archbishop Chaput’s address to the Baptist University of Houston on March 1, 2010 where he spoke on the vocation of the Christian in American public life:

…The future of Christian life depends, among other things, on whether prayer can establish an active link with life as it is and with the stream of history.  Here, again, the idea of Providence is the starting point…

The will, the Divine Providence of God is our salvation as St. Paul says (1 Thess. 4: 3), and we laity must work it out in the world, no matter how much some of us would like to flee to the cloister. The evil perpetrated by man against man and against creation cannot be lessened without each of us doing the job he has been given by God.  Yet sometimes life seems to be too much to bear and we want to give up and run away.  If we arrive at that point, it must be because we are depending too much on ourselves and not enough on God.  We are seeking our own will and not His Providential Will.  We are not praying the Our Father with an understanding of “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Perhaps the greatest lack in the world today among Christians is a failure to trust in God.  It takes little to know we are in trouble and a lot to see God’s providence in bad or evil circumstances. Guardini says:

The prayer that God’s will be done therefore does not mean that the inevitable should be fulfilled and that we are prepared to resign ourselves to it.  The will of God is not a fate which has to be endured, but a holy and meaningful act which ushers in a new creation. The demand is that the work should be fulfilled in the way which helps that creation most.

This is as true for the world as a whole as for the individual.  The course of the world would be very different if the faithful offered up events to God in the right kind of prayer — and not only with the intent that He should help in this matter or prevent that emergency — but that the great work of His will and the glory of His kingdom should come to the earthly fulfillment that is meant for it here and now.

These quotes hit home for me personally both related to coping with my own illness by developing an attitude of wellness, and in my vocation as a lay person whom God has placed in this world to advance His kingdom. After reading Guardini these past few days, I understand that each of us was born in the exact time, place, and circumstance in history to do God’s will in a way unique to us because each of us is a completely unique creation of His. If we do not do what we were gifted to do, it will not be done by anyone else. That does not mean that God can be defeated by our unwillingness, but that graces will not be granted that would have been granted if we had but done His will.  When the instant passes, it is over.  Very sobering, thus I have a lot of personal make-up work to do to account for my many past failings.

Dear God, help me always to seek Your will and never to shirk the duties You have given me nor step from the path You have asked that I follow.  Let me comprehend Your Providential will in all events of this world with the trust that in everything, even death and disaster, You are bringing about my salvation and that of others.  Let me be a pliable instrument in Your hand for the glory of Your kingdom here and in eternity.

Tags: health, wellness

1 Comment to Insights on Divine Providence

1. 

   Thy will be done. A scary prayer but I need to trust in God. I like St Therese’s prayer – she prayed that she would never do anything that is not God’s will. Great post!
Colleen on March 15th, 2010

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