Sometimes God can seem cruel…
As one year passes into another, we are hard put to give the new year an optimistic prognosis.
Whether one thinks of the recent American elections, or the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, or the tensions in the South China Sea, or, or, or…no situation holds much promise of reconciliation or even a smattering of that peace on earth that we meditated upon during Christmas.
Of course, in parts of the world not suffering in these ways, one can carry on with life as usual, go to work, raise a family, find places where there is a modicum of calm and beauty.
In Madonna House Combermere, we have such places right beyond our doorstep. But we are all part of one world, all members of one body of humanity, and so it is impossible to really ignore these situations in which our brothers and sisters in Christ are ensnared. Part of that ensnarement may even be the result of policies formed elsewhere.
In the end, we all sink or swim together, and so the question arises: What is one to do in the face of so much chaos and pain?
Sometimes God gives us the opportunity to do something directly for those suffering in these ways. We may receive people fleeing from political and social chaos. We may be able to send financial assistance of some kind to those working on the scene itself.
But in addition to direct assistance in one way or the other, a surrender to Divine Providence in one’s own life circumstances can become a gift offered for brothers and sisters in distress.
There’s nothing worse in religious discourse than finding some kind of piety that is self-consoling and apt to lead to a kind of self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. “Thank you for your misery and suffering; it provided a great opportunity to meditate on the Cross and to come closer to Jesus and Mary.”
Of course, one would be surprised to find Jesus or his mother dwelling in such piety, as they would much more likely be suffering and succoring the suffering ones elsewhere.
Surrendering to Divine Providence has nothing of this sort in it. It is rather a giving of oneself in trust to whatever our heavenly Father asks us to bear on a given day or in a given moment. It may mean simply and peacefully going about one’s duties, whether those of a mother at home with her children, or those of someone working in an office or a classroom or a factory or a farm.
Every day has its ordinary challenges, and, over a long period of time, these are purifying in the way fire is on dried-up weeds. Everyone who has tried to be faithful to a commitment can testify to this.
But surrendering to the will of God, moment by moment, can also mean bearing with sorrows and suffering that we may not have been anticipating — sudden loss of or injury to a loved one, contracting a serious illness oneself, loss of employment, a misunderstanding by one you thought was your close friend, failures of various kinds in school, work, or relationships.
The list can be endless, as we all know, and at such times, the temptation can be to question God, to feel we’ve been abandoned by him, or have done something wrong that has somehow contributed to the situation. But if we persevere in faith, we see that God is always at work for our good, bringing blessings out of even the most miserable of situations.
Sometimes we see this, and at other times we don’t see any reason at all, or much benefit; it remains a dark mystery demanding absolute trust without much consolation. Even then, God remains faithfully at work on our behalf.
What is the goal, the outcome of such experiences? Slowly, imperceptibly at first, we become conformed to Christ in some aspect of his life, passion, death and resurrection. We begin to resemble him in some way, great or small.
It’s not a matter of a literal resemblance (such as when he was scourged at the pillar) — certain saints being the exception to this — but an interior identification with Christ himself being scourged. Perhaps this might involve, for example, carrying heavy burdens on behalf of others, or being betrayed behind one’s back, or being attacked secretly, or being lied about when unable to defend oneself.
In such instances, permitted by God’s inscrutable providence, Christ can share with us a tiny portion of his own pain of rejection and even more, his reaction to such. For Christ did not simply react but responded out of the depths of his Sonship to the Father: Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.
Here at least is part of the solution to the ills of the world today: people of faith who, through much struggle and anguish perhaps, seek the face of Christ at such moments and, catching a glimpse of their Lord, forgive their enemies and seek reconciliation where this is possible.
They make an offering of the wounds they have received, not through some superhuman strength of their own but only because they are sustained by Christ himself.
Our sufferings here are meant to be a bridge to communion in prayer with our suffering brothers and sisters elsewhere. Out of this same interior relationship with Christ in glory and Christ in our neighbor, our Father then leads us and shows us the path we are called to follow in ministering to others.
It is when we are poor in this way that we can become rich in the Spirit of Christ. We are unable to transform ourselves; God uses circumstances beyond anything we could conjure up to shape us interiorly in his work of redeeming both us and the whole world.
Sometimes God can seem cruel. We can get the impression that it is he who is the great tormentor. But if he tries us, it is because his mercy never gives up. He continues to believe all things, hope all things, and try all things to get us to let go and surrender.
“Instead of thinking that God is impossible, we ought to be thankful that he never gets discouraged. God knows us. He knows how fixed we are on ourselves and how inclined we are to make our own ego the center even in our love…
“When self-love no longer receives any nourishment, in the end, it can only starve to death. Only when self-love is dead, and the center has moved from the individual to God, can he communicate himself without any risk involved.”*
Obviously, the self-love that must die arises not from worship of the true God but of oneself. God’s providence works relentlessly to slay such selfish love and to free our true selves to adore him and to cultivate a true and enduring communion in love with our neighbor.
May he be loved and praised in every nation in this new year!
*Stinissen, Wilfrid O.C.D., Into Your Hands, Father, translated by Sr. Clare Marie, O.C.D., San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2011, p 33.
Painting “Molchanie” by ©Patrick Stewart, Madonna House
