Thought for the Day – 20 August – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Confidence in the Providence of God
“Sometimes we grow discouraged and lose confidence in God.
This may be the result of sickness, or of misfortune, or of misundstanding on the part of others.
At any rate, on such occasions, we may feel as if we have been forgotten by God.
Jesus Christ willed to endure a trial of this nature when He was hanging upon the Cross, derided and jeered at by those whom He had come to redeem.
“My God. my God,” He cried, “why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46).
In the Garden of Gethsemane, however, He had already seen, in a terrifying vision, the sins and acts of ingratitude of the human race.
He had begged His Father, to take away from Him, the chalice of suffering which had ben offered to Him but, He had added immediately: “Yet not my will but thine be done” (Lk 22:62).
We must behave in the same manner.
Whether it is a physical or moral anguish which torments us, we must gaze upon the Crucifix and remember that Jesus suffered much more in obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father.
We must never lack confidence in Divine Providence and resignation to the will of God.
In the mysterious designs of God for us, this evil which we experience, is intended for our own good.
It may have been sent to ennoble us or to purify us or to give us an opportunity of making reparation for our sins.
God has endowed suffering with a very purposeful mission n the world.
It should have the effect of making us detached from earthly things and more preoccupied with spiritual matters.
Let us trust in God, then and remember the words of the Holy Spirit: “Has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed?” (Ecclus 2:10).
Antonio Cardinal Bacci
AnaStpaul 
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