Humanity is called to rely entirely on Divine Providence

Of course, you have heard that God sustains and guides all creation, accomplishing His will through Divine Providence. Thus, to live a life of holiness, it is necessary to rely entirely on it. But many still have doubts about what it is and how to live by it.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines Divine Providence as the dispositions by which God leads His creation in order to that perfection: “God guards and governs, by His providence, all that He created, striking with strength, from one end to the other. and everything else “(Wis. 8: 1), because” everything is naked and clear in their eyes “(Heb 4:13), even what” depends on the future free action of creatures “(CCC 302).

In this way, the Lord created man for holiness and, therefore, He never forsakes him; so it leads him, at every instant, to a final perfection still to be reached by the paths which only he knows.

On the other hand, even leading everything, He never removes the freedom of man, since he is not a puppet. “In God we live, move and exist” (Acts 17:28). He is present in all situations, even in painful occurrences and seemingly senseless events. He also writes right through the crooked lines of our life;what takes us and what gives us, all constitute occasions and signs of His will, affirms the Youcat (49).

To recognize, to trust in this total dependence on the Lord is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and trust (Wis. 11: 24-26). Jesus Himself recommended total abandonment to the heavenly providence, and He Himself witnesses with His life that the Lord cares for all things: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ ‘What shall we drink?’ […] Well know your heavenly Father that you need all this. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the more shall be added unto you “(Mt 6, 31-33).

Why does not God avoid evil?

If God leads all things, then the question arises: Why does He not avoid evil?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “To this question, as pressing as it is inevitable, as painful as it is mysterious, it is not possible to give a quick and satisfactory answer. It is the Christian faith as a whole which is the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin, the patient love of God, who comes to mankind through his covenants, through the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, through the gift of the Spirit , by the union with the Church, by the force of the sacraments, by the call to the blessed life, to which the free creatures are invited beforehand, but which they can also deny by a terrible mystery. There is no detail of the Christian message which is not partly a response to the problem of evil “(CCC 309).

St. Thomas Aquinas affirmed, “God only allows evil to bring forth something better from him.” Now evil in the world is a dark and painful mystery, so incomprehensible; but we are sure that the Lord is one hundred percent good, He is never the author of something bad. He created the good world, though not yet perfected.

Read more: 

Looking at history, it is possible to discover that the Lord in his providence took a good from the consequences of an evil (even moral) caused by creatures: “No, it was not you,” says Joseph to his brethren, “that you have made me come on here. It was God. […] Thou hast preached against me evil: God’s purpose hath profited him for good … and a great nation was saved “(Gen 45,8; 50,20).

“From the greatest moral evil ever committed, as was the repudiation and death of the Son of God, caused by the sins of all men, God, by the superabundance of his grace, took away the greatest of possessions: the glorification of Christ and our redemption . But even so, evil does not turn into good. “(CIC 314).

Relying fully on Divine Providence

What is certain is that “everything works for the good of those who love God” (Rom 8:28). The testimony of the saints does not cease to confirm this truth: Saint Catherine of Siena said: “Everything proceeds from love, everything is ordered for the salvation of man and not for any other purpose.” St. Thomas Morus, shortly before his martyrdom, said these words: “Nothing can happen to me that God does not want. And whatever He wants, however bad it may seem to us, is indeed very good “(CCC 315).

Therefore, man is called to rely entirely on Divine Providence, for this is the means by which He leads, with wisdom and love, all creatures to their ultimate end, which is holiness, even though they know that paths of his providence are unknown. The answer to one who wishes to live a life in the will of the Lord is abandonment, for this is the command of God: “Cast all your troubles on the Lord, because He watches over you” (1 Pet.

Ricardo Gaiotti 
Lawyer, Ecclesiastical Judge and Master in Canon Law by the University of Salamanca (Spain) and Master in Civil Law by PUC-SP