very short work composed of excerpts from the writings of two 17th century Jesuits, Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint Jure and St. Claude de La Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. This little gem has become a regular companion for morning prayer. I finish it; and I begin again. And every reading is fresh and new. Maybe that just testifies to my aging brain, but, whatever the reason, I love these two great men and glorify God for their tremendous wisdom.
On this feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, I offer this meditation from Fr. Saint Jure:
Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must be taken absolutely of everything with the exception of sin. "Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives" is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, "and God intervenes everywhere."....
Perhaps you will say that while this is true of certain necessary effects, like sickness, death,cold and heat, and other accidents due to natural causes which have no liberty of action, the same cannot be said in the case of things that result from the free will of man. For if, you will object, someone slanders me, robs me, strikes me, persecutes me, how can I attribute his conduct to the will of God who, far from wishing me to be treated in such a manner, expressly forbids it? So the blame, you will conclude, can only be laid on the will of man, on his ignorance or malice. This is the defense behind which we try to shelter from God and excuse our lack of courage and submission.
It is quite useless for us to try and take advantage of this way of reasoning as an excuse for not surrendering to Providence. God Himself has refuted it and we must believe on His word that in events of this kind as in all others, nothing occurs except by His order and permission....
God makes use of men as the doctor does of leeches. Neither should we then stop to consider the evilness of those to whom God gives power to act on us or be grieved at their wicked intentins, and we chouols keep ourselves from feelings of aversion towards them. Whatever their particular views may be, in regard to us they are only intruments of well-being guided by the hand of an all-good, all-wise, all-powerful God who will allow them to act on us only insofar as is of use to us. It is in our interest to welcome instead of trying to repel their assaults, as in very truth they come from God. And it is the same with all creatures of whatever kind. Not one of them could act upon us unless the power were given it from above.
I find this incredibly consoling. Not only are all our sufferings from the hand of God to be used for our benefit, but all our own sins and mistakes are used by God for our good and the good of others. The reading goes on to discuss Joseph and his brothers. What looked like a calamity, being betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery, became a source of salvation. The same is true of so many of the stories and historical events in the bible.
So today I am looking at my joys and sorrows in a new way recognizing that not a single thing that happens is outside God's will, but all is for my instruction and sanctification if I have the sense to use it well. I'm asking the Blessed Mother to help me say nothing but, "Thy will be done."
A big thank you to St. Ignatius for giving us so many saints and martyrs among his Jesuit sons and brothers. May he intercede to bring today's Jesuits back into the spirit of their founder.
St. Ignatius, pray for us.
I think it was Tolkien that likened this concept/principle to an orchestra and/or a choir, composed of harmonic notes. Taken individually, not all notes are pleasant to listen to. But a harmonious whole depends on every nite, precisely as the composer intended and write it all down.
ReplyDeleteOr you could see it as a recipe that has ingredients that individually might well be repulsive … fish sauce for instance. Take that unique and seemingly disharmonious ingredient away, the outcome is average at best.
The Author sees all, outside of time and place, far beyond our own limited set of personal circumstances. He sees everyone, everywhere, individually, collectively, in time, in eternity - all at once. That is what guides the “Divine Composer”.
We see our little slice, and fail to understand.
Those who live by faith play their part as assigned to them with a will and leave it to Divine Providence to produce a masterpiece.
Lovely post Mary Ann. I too love this little gem. A companion book, Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo is also a great book to read and reread often.
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