{"id":5069,"date":"2022-08-12T22:50:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T20:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5069"},"modified":"2022-08-12T22:50:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T20:50:34","slug":"providence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=5069","title":{"rendered":"Providence."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God created the world. However, the Catechism adds: “He preserves it and governs it.” Theologians say that governing and preserving the world is a continuation of creation. But even though this is a human way of speaking, God is not in time. Therefore, it is not at all conceivable that he could first create the world and then walk away and leave it to its fate. On the contrary, he is in it constantly, present by his providence. But even this must not be imagined too humanly.
Primitive man is afraid of evil gods or spirits. He tries to appease them by sacrificing or avoiding them. Science and culture usually rid people of this superstitious terror of the unknown, mysterious beings. But it does inspire fear, a new one. It shows man his helplessness before the inexorable laws of nature. This certainty that governs the world has given rise to physics, technology, to all science. We don’t have to invoke the gods of the river to keep them from destroying our bridge; we need only calculate how much water it can take. The doctor assures us that we can live in peace. These laws make us, but they will convince us that we will die at a certain age, that it is impossible nothing can be done because it is a natural inevitability.<\/h2>\n

Day by day, we are getting to know better and better the laws of nature. It is advantageous; we can avoid any necessity, as we can prevent water when we know where it flows. Daily, \u00a0we are discovering that there are more necessities than we have thought of. There are the laws of heredity, the influence of climate, diet, climate, environment, we compile statistics of mortality, development, and so on. What does an individual mean in these numbers? Where is human freedom? There seems to be no place in this world; it is too disciplined and scientifically rigorous. At the end of antiquity, when the ancients suddenly transformed Greek and Roman gods into natural forces, the world’s inevitability and lawfulness were given a unique name: fate, fatum (hence the word fatalism). It was popularly said that even the gods fought against it in vain. Fate is the law of the world, as immutable as the movement of the stars in the sky. There remains no other but to resign oneself to it (to submit to the direction of the heavenly bodies, as the astrologers thought).
The writings of the Church Fathers often treatises Against Fate (cf. St. Gregory of Nyssa) or On the Divine Providence (Theodore of Cyrus). For there are immutable laws in nature. There is no need to deny this fact. But somewhere behind them, deep in the mystery of God’s life, is the one from which they have their source and which we know to be our Father who is in heaven (Mt 6:9), who feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the field (Mt 6:26 and 30), and who has even assured us: Ask, and you shall receive! (Mt 7:7). God’s providence is a profound mystery; without revelation, it would hardly be solvable. It is, however, a positive message that transforms the evil fate, the alien and harsh law of the world, into the warm fatherly hand that guides us. Spiritual writers, however, do not engage in speculative explanations of dogma. Full of enthusiasm, they proclaim its practical implication for life: to entrust ourselves to God’s providence and to trust it fully.
Similarly, they speak of perfect “union with God’s will.” “Perfection is in this,” writes St. Vincent of Pauly, “that we unite our will with God’s will in such a way that his will and ours will are nothing but one will and unwillingness.\u00a0 St. Augustine says it is easy for a rational man: ‘No-‘ For nothing happens in the world that the Almighty does not will; either he admits it, or himself does it.” St. Cassian adds that
we cannot even pray to the Father if we do not believe that everything that meets us is for our good. Faith in Providence, however, must not lead to passivity or inactivity. On the contrary, it should be an expression of inner freedom and trust so that we may cooperate more and more effectively with the God who guides and helps us. Bossuet writes that in devotion to the will of God, two elements. One is ” Believing that God takes care of everything.” But the other says: “Therefore we must act and be vigilant not to tempt God.” Similarly, P. Surin advises, “Let us let God act when he acts! But it is not right to leave everything to God when He wants us to do something ourselves.”<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God created the world. However, the Catechism adds: “He preserves it and governs it.” Theologians say that governing and preserving the world is a continuation of creation. 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