Author Topic: Trusting in Providence (Read 3696 times)

shin · « **Reply #10 on:** July 13, 2013, 01:18:30 PM »

I wouldn't used the term 'luck' myself.

shin · « **Reply #11 on:** July 14, 2013, 01:32:57 AM »

Dear Father in Jesus Christ

May the peace of Jesus be with you! I have written to the Brother of the "quest" to remember me to the nuns of St. Catherine and to tell them I shall pray a lot for Sister Dominic, who has done so much for us. If you happen to see the Rev. Fr. Assistant again, give him my kindest regards, and thank him for all the interest he has taken in me. Do your best to sanctify the nuns of Fara, and ask them to pray for me, as I pray for them.

As for the Lent you are proposing to preach at Varallo, for the present I should say, leave it. Try rather to master your sermons and instructions, and you will do twice as much good afterwards. The wars are another reason for my saying no. My dear Father, don't go till all these troubles are over.

I really forget what our spiritual conference was about when we were last together. From what you say I think it must have been on the means I have tried to adopt of keeping myself in that peace of heart without which we are of no use to ourselves nor to anyone else. They are four.

The first is to be dead to the world, to creatures, to oneself, to all that is not God. We must keep our hearts so distangled from earthly things as to make no more account of what is not God or does not relate to Him than we would a grain of sand.

The second is to live in a state of absolute self-surrender in the hands of Divine Providence. We must look upon the events of each day, great or small, pleasant or disagreeable, as so many dispositions of this fatherly Providence, ordaining or allowing things to be as they are, being quite certain that all is for the best, and making for the glory of God and our own salvation.

The third is to love suffering, whether interior or exterior, to welcome abjection and scorn and the being cold-shouldered by men. Happiness in Heaven lies in joy; on earth, in suffering. When we find ourselves getting disgusted with sickness, with being thought little of, with trials, let us turn to Jesus immediately; His constant companions were contempt, sorrow, and the deepest poverty.

The fourth is not to undertake too much at a time, however good it may all be, but only what our ministry demands, and obedience. Above all never act in a hurry, impetuously, but calmly and quietly; a self-restraint ought to characterize our words and actions and our whole bearing.

I send you these rules as I wrote them out for myself in my Resolutions. I examine myself on them every day, and find that I've always failed in something. I hope you will profit by them better than I do. Pray for me.

Affectionately yours,

Fr. Leonard

[Sestri, A.D. 1745]

[Fr. Leonard is St. Leonard of Port Maurice, he is writing to Fr. John-Baptiste of Varallo, Vicar of the Convent of St. Bonaventure at Rome, and a Lector of Theology there.]

ggreg · « **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2013, 05:30:45 AM »

Quote from: shin

Yes, you have to consider everything and weigh all factors not just what could be simple normal occurrences of runs of tough times, or some spiritual warfare.

More (and higher quality) prayer before anything that tends to go badly for you unusually is helpful.

Probabilistically virtually nothing falls outside normal occurrences. An eclipse of the Sun appears on a given point on the earth about once in every 400 years, meaning in a human lifetime it is not normal but across millennia perfectly normal. Comets have hit Jupiter in the past also but have not been observed doing so, hence scientists get excited and religious cults see some meaning or warning in it.

Most humans don't understand probability theory or chance, lacking the education or the data to be able to measure what falls outside normal, how much and why.

This is why buying lottery tickets is popular. If I want to lose a few dollars I will just give it to a homeless person and save myself the bother of queuing.

shin · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2013, 12:45:07 PM »

Ah, but giving money to homeless folks for the love of God is not a loss as it's multiplied to treasure in Heaven. :)

Jonah · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2013, 03:48:33 PM »

Quote from: ggreg

How does one distinguish between providence and bad luck?

Since God preserves and governs all things, there is no such thing as bad luck.

Quote from: ggreg

If the fingers on your mouse hand get shattered broken in a freak vending machine accident is that God telling you to stay off the internet or just a weird accident?

It's not just a weird accident because it was willed or allowed by God, as was its material result. But is God telling you to stay off the internet by willing/allowing it to happen? I don't know. Is it always possible, or even profitable to know why? Or should we just resign and give no other thought about it, resigning to what Providence will bring as a consequence? I have all these questions myself and would appreciate thoughts about these things.

Quote from: ggreg

It is not always obvious when one should trust and do nothing to correct their difficult circuмstances and when one should fight to repair the damage or replace the loss.

If you cannot get a job or hold down a job, is that Providence telling you that God does not want you working at all, or working in the field you were in, or God, life, reality, suggesting that you need to learn to hold down a job and perhaps change your attitudes or ways of dealing with people around you?

I have these questions myself.