By Marc Massery
Turn to any page of the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and you find spiritual gems. Like this one:
[Archbishop Jalbrzykowski of Vilnius] showed himself very favorably disposed to this cause of mercy: 'Sister, be completely at peace; if this is within the plans of divine Providence, it will come about ... The Lord Jesus will arrange the circumstances in such a way that everything will turn out all right' (693).
The word "Providence" comes from a Latin word meaning to "look ahead" or "act with foresight" (EtymOnline.com). When we live under the cover of God's Providence, we do not have to worry about anything. Indeed, even if the circumstances around us look terrible, we can trust that God's plans are good.
Ancient Wisdom
An ancient Chinese parable illustrates this point well:
Once, a farmer had a horse that ran away. His neighbor said, "Bad news!" The farmer replied, "Good news, bad news, who knows?"
Later, the horse came back to the farm accompanied by many wild horses. "Good news!" the neighbor said. The farmer again replied, "Good news, bad news, who knows?"
Soon thereafter, the farmer's son fell off one of the wild horses and broke his leg. "Bad news!" the neighbor said. The farmer replied once more, "Good news, bad news, who knows?"
Then the army announced they were drafting all able-bodied young men to enter combat. The farmer's son was passed over on account of his broken leg. "Good news!" the neighbor said.
Under God's Providence, we can confidently call anything that happens to us "good news." Though we may struggle to believe this in the moment, and though trusting in God's Providence doesn't take away the pain of loss, we can bet that for those who love God and strive to do His will, goodness always prevails. In other words, as long as we are trying our best to cooperate with divine grace, God can use the bad things that happen to us for our own good.
St. Faustina's Trials turned to Blessings
During her life, St. Faustina wondered how the message of Divine Mercy would reach the world. Set back after set back seemed to hinder her efforts. Yet, as we know, she didn't give up in the face of her trials. Instead, she kept trying her best to cooperate with God's grace. In the end, her immense suffering led to one of the most inspiring spiritual texts of the 20th century, her Diary. On top of that, by the grace of God, everything that seemed to hinder the promulgation of the Divine Mercy message ended up having the opposite effect. Today, Divine Mercy has become one of the most beloved devotions across the Roman Catholic Church.
God knows what He's doing. He doesn't need us to understand why bad things happen. He just asks us to trust that everything is a part of His providential plan, which He's slowly yet continually revealing to us.
The Holy Spirit says to us: Worry is useless. Only I can see the future, and I am directing all things for your good. So despite how things might look, trust, as you observe My mercy continually pouring out upon you.
My prayer: Jesus, it's so easy for me to forget that You have everything under control. I get scared when things don't go the way I expect them to. In those moments, help me to trust that Your plans are always better than mine and that all I have to do is trust.
View the next Discovering the Diary.
