As I was reading a meditation by St. Catherin of Siena in the Magnificat prayer aid for April 29th, I was struck by the fact that we “are convinced by lively faith that whatever God gives and permits us is for our good and to make us holy.” Holy cow! She goes on to write that the proof or evidence of this is that Jesus so loves us that he gave his life for us on the cross in an act of “blazing love”.
I think what St. Catherine is saying is that no matter what happens to us, whether it be wonderful or terrible, whether God directly wants it to happen or just permits it to happen, that God’s desire is that it be for our good and for us to grow in holiness. That is a hard pill for me to swallow. I can understand how wonderful events in our lives invite us to become better people, but how can terrible things invite us to become good and holy. I am reminded of the trauma of my mother’s death when I was twelve years old. No way was that good for me and my siblings, or was it? How was that supposed to help me be good and grow in holiness?
A story. Days just prior to Mom’s passing she told my Aunt Sally not to be too concerned about her, that she had seen where she was going and that there were a lot of flowers there. It remains a great mystery to me why things happen the way they do and will probably continue to be a great mystery. Yet, as a counselor, I’ve heard so many stories about people who suffered traumatic experiences only to conclude later that their lives were so much better because of it.
In my life the loss of an eye in a truck accident led to my going to college, meeting my wife, having children and grandchildren and two wonderful careers. What seemed at the time of the accident to be awful, in the end turned out not just ok, but great. I have a nephew who met his future wife while he was in the hospital, While she was nursing him to health. Another person I know said that if she had not been raped, she would not have had her son. These and so many other bad incidents lead to wonderful things happening. They shaped the life of the victims. We don’t really know why God permitted these things to happen. Couldn’t God have worked in another way?
What is obvious for us who have “lively faith” is that in some unexplainable way our lives have been made better by terrible events, our faith has been made stronger, and we are not so quick to judge or lose hope. I won’t say that we are any holier than anyone else, just that we seem to be calmer and have more assurance of the love that God has for us. Why do bad things happen? I don’t know. My faith says, “For those who love God, everything works out for the good “, even this.
“May the Lord bless and keep you. May he let his face shine upon you, be gracious to you and give you his peace.”
