IC 2-10, 6th Sunday, B,
Comprehending the ways of God
is a difficult and, at times impossible task for us. We know by faith that all
of God’s works–all of them–are just. This means that He does everything
just right. So often we do not see the broad, wide-ranging view of the Almighty
that–seeing things near-at-hand–we make rash judgments for not enjoying the
comprehensive view. It is entirely understandable why people blame God for
their mishaps, or lose hope when evils weigh heavy
upon them, or when it seems to them that the good suffer and the wicked
prosper. It is ‘understandable’, I said, but that does not make it right that
one should preempt God’s judgments and pronounce against His goodness or His Providence.
Our tendency to complain
about what appears to be God’s unfairness is almost always one-sided. Do we
ever complain to God because He has not punished us as our sins have deserved?
Do we ever beg Him to stop being so good to us? Do we ever argue that being
rewarded by an eternity of bliss is too much compensation for mere temporal
good deeds? Holy Job once put it rhetorically: we accept good things from God,
and should we not accept evil? The point is that the infinite wisdom of God who
does all things absolutely right is not fully evident here and now. We can only
have an idea of it through looking at the totality of good that there is. But
when it comes to individual cases and circumstances, we suffer the disadvantage
of not having all the facts. And it is that which has led many to sin against
faith or against hope.
Today’s holy Gospel is a case
in point. Why did this man have the disease of leprosy in the first place; and,
in the second, why was he fortunate to have been cured: others apparently not
so blest? The fact that we don’t know the answers to these and similar
questions does not mean that there are no answers to them (for God surely knows
them) and it does not mean that we will never know the answers to them,
for at the final judgment, the justice of God will be clearly manifest. God
wants us to trust Him completely and to surrender ourselves, including our
minds to Him.
This manner of giving way to
God is one aspect of the virtue of humility. When we have it we come to
understand–with the Imitation–that “not all
that is high is holy; nor all that is pleasant, good; nor every desire pure;
nor all that is dear to us pleasing to God.” ‘Acceptance’ is the name for this
frame of mind, acceptance of God’s will and not mere resignation, which
is a only surrender without internal agreement.
In this connection, I want to
quote to you a story–not from the Imitation–but from Saint Alphonsus
Ligouri. It’s a favorite of mine and I think it tells in a way better than I
could do it what our posture should be before God.
One day a priest went to the
church door where he found a beggar, barefoot, and in rags for his clothing.
The priest greeted the poor man, saying: “Good day, my friend.” “Thank you,
father, for your kindness, but I do not ever recall having had a bad day.”
‘You speak as if you’ve had a very happy life.’ “That’s very true. I have never
been unhappy. And in saying this I am not making any rash statement either. And
this is the reason: When I have nothing to eat, I give thanks to God; when it rains
or snows, I bless God’s providence; when someone insults me, or drives me away,
or otherwise mistreats me, I give glory to God. I said I’ve never had an
unhappy day, and it’s the truth, because I am accustomed to willing, without
reservation, whatever God wills. Whatever happens to me, sweet or bitter, I
gladly receive from his hands as what is best for me. Hence
my unvarying happiness.” (Uniformity, pg. 13)
The humility of the man in
this story was the secret of his happiness. It’s pride
that often makes us think that we are not getting the good we deserve. Truth
that recognizes that all good comes from God and that much evil comes from
‘me.’ The Imitation says that the Saints “ascribe all goodness to God;
they seek no glory from one another, but the glory which comes from God alone.
They desire that God be praised in themselves and in all His Saints.”
His final advice, given in
this same chapter is this:
Be
thankful for the smallest blessings, and you will deserve to receive greater.
Value the least gifts no less than the greatest, and
simple graces as special favors. If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no
gift will seem small, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the Most
High God. Even if He award punishment and pain, accept them gladly, for
whatever He allows to befall us is always for our salvation.