Sep 23 2008
Tuesdays with St. Thomas: Divine Providence
From his Catechetical Instruction on the Apostles’ Creed, St. Thomas Aquinas writes:
We must, therefore, firmly believe that God governs and regulates not only all nature, but also the actions of men. “And they said: The Lord shall not see; neither shall the God of Jacob understand. Understand, ye senseless among the people, and, you fools, be wise at last. He that planted the ear, shall He not hear, He that formed the eye, doth He not consider? . . . The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men” (Psalm 93.7-11). God sees all things, both our thoughts and the hidden desires of our will. Thus, the necessity of doing good is especially imposed on man since all his thoughts, words and actions are known in the sight of God: “All things are naked and open to His eyes” (Heb 4.13).
This is the final paragraph in which St. Thomas treats the relationship between human freedom and divine providence. You can read the previous two posts here and here. He sums up his thought nicely in the first sentence: “We must, therefore, firmly believe that God governs and regulates not only all nature, but also the actions of men.”
Since we’re at the end of this long and challenging discussion, I’ll leave you to go back and reread earlier posts and encourage you to reflect on what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about divine providence in nos. 302-314.
That God ‘governs and regulates’ our actions is not completely clear to me in regards to free will. I understand that God will never impose upon our free will. Is this to mean he suggests a particular direction of action, whether we are committing good or evil, or maneuvers events in our lives whereby we choose one action over another?
Hi Laura,
Thanks for the comment. I admit that all of this isn’t entirely clear to me, either. The relationship between divine providence and human freedom is, in my opinion, the greatest mystery of our faith.
I think this post answers your question: http://catholic-teaching.org/2008/09/tuesdays-with-st-thomas-divine-providence-and-human-freedom/.
However, I want to add that God never suggests an action or maneuvers events in our lives so that we will choose evil. God “governs and regulates” our lives for the sake of our salvation, never for our damnation.
Please, please, please let me know if you have any other questions.
God bless.
Thanks so much, Jeff.
I apologize for being unclear in my question regarding God’s intervention in our lives–I’m certain he’d never intervene in order for us to choose wrong action (He can’t because He’s Goodness!). I’m just not sure how He “governs and regulates.”
I’ll read the link you suggested (thanks again) and will, no doubt, have more questions.
In Christ
“…For God in His just and wise Providence knows what is good and necessary for men; and hence He afflicts some who are good and allows certain wicked men to prosper…”
I’m understanding this passage to mean that God works through us, as opposed to imposing upon any of us, then.
But my question now is how we can know whether we’re working with God or free-lancing, so to speak. How do we know, if we can know, that we’re acting and living according to God’s Will? Of course, when men choose wrong action over good work, we know in that case that we’re certainly not carrying out his will, but how can we know in our everyday lives whether we’re working with Him or not?
Hi Laura,
That’s an excellent question!
You have correctly identified that there are two basic levels of God’s will. On the one level, God wills that we seek the good and avoid evil. Thus, we know categorically that God wants us to follow the commandments. We know categorically that God wants us to strive to live according to the Sermon on the Mount. In short, as Catholics, we believe that God wants us to follow the spiritual and moral precepts of the Church — namely, a spiritual life rooted in the sacraments, daily prayer, and ordering our lives according to the Church’s moral teaching.
So far, so good.
You’ve also correctly identified the harder part of knowing God’s will — namely, what is God asking of me? This question can be answered in part by both our state of life as well as the duties we have. For example, I’m a husband, an at-home dad, a homeschooler, and a catechist. God desires that I not only order my life according to these four basic roles, but also that I seek to fulfill each role, with the help of his grace, to the best of my ability. My wife is a wife, a mother, and an employee. God wants her to seek to fulfill her roles, with the help of his grace, to the best of her ability. This means working hard, putting in the necessary hours, not taking short cuts with projects, not wasting time while at the office, etc. In other words, if you want to know what God wills for you, look at your life, identify your roles, and seek to glorify God through those roles by fulfilling them to the best of your ability.
But part of this deeper question — What does God want of me? — requires a steady prayer life. Through daily prayer, we begin to see with supernatural eyes. We will begin understand what Our Lord wants of us, even in the smallest areas of our lives. We can only know this through developing a Rule of Life and sticking to it.
By way of summary, we can know if we’re working with God by living the best life we can live and through daily prayer.
I know that’s not much of an answer, so let me recommend a few books to be read in the following order:
1. This Tremendous Lover by Fr. Eugene Boylan. This book is the best book I know about the spiritual life, and one chapter deals with doing the will of God.
2. Ordinary Work and Extraordinary Grace by Scott Hahn. A great introduction to Opus Dei spirituality — a spirituality that is geared toward helping the layperson life a solid, Christian life.
3. In Conversation with God by Fr. Francis Fernandez. This is actually a 7-book set, but don’t go off and buy all seven. Just buy the one that corresponds to the part of the liturgical year we’re currently in. There’s a daily meditation that follows the Mass readings, and the meditations are filled with incredible insights on what it means to live as a Catholic layperson.
I hope this helps.
God bless.
In other words, our present situation is God’s Will and how we conduct ourselves while in the situation determines whether we’re doing our part in following His Will?
I often wonder at times if where I am now is exactly where God wants for me to be, or if I should be in another industry, living elsewhere, etc. Perhaps I question God’s Will because I’m not thrilled with what he’s asking of me–a little lack of faith and prayer on my part, perhaps.
Thank you for clarifying these issues for me. Off to order the first book on the list…
Hi Laura,
In other words, our present situation is God’s Will and how we conduct ourselves while in the situation determines whether we’re doing our part in following His Will?
Yes. So long as we are not living in habitual sin, we can and should say that our present situation is God’s will for us. As they saying goes, we must abandon ourselves to God’s will. We do this by living the best kind of life we can live. Scott Hahn really helped me understand this. In the OT, the priests had to offer the best animals for sacrifice — not the second best. So if we are to offer our lives to God, we must give him our best effort in all things. One of the beautiful practices of Opus Dei (which I’m not a part of, by the way, though I’m highly attracted to The Work) is setting aside one hour a day to focus on some task God has given you that is germane to your state of life.
Only through prayer can we discern what God wants of us. But from experience, I can say that discontentment and frustration are ways that God uses to get us to turn to him and seek his will.
That might mean that He wants you to change industries, move, etc. Or it might mean that he’s asking you to resign yourself to the place he’s given you. But the key is to pray.
For anyone who is interested in seeking God’s will, I highly recommend praying the Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola daily. This practice was recommended to me, and it changed my life.
Here’s the version of the prayer that I pray:
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”
Jeff,I’ve begun reading This Tremendous Lover, and the book is truly wonderful, and very helpful. My understanding, thus far, is that, essentially, we are absolutely helpless without God–so much so that we cannot even love Him without His assistance. I am beginning to understand this slowly, but irrevocably. Yet, I can’t help wondering (and this may possibly come from a still weak and incomplete understanding) whether I actually chose to know Him or if He chose me. I would like to think that I chose Him–not from the perspective that I want to run the show, as it were, but from the perspective that I freely made the conscious decision to turn to Him rather than in any other direction. Is this choice purely our own?Possibly my question is premature and will be answered in an upcoming chapter, but the question arose and I wanted to ask before I forgot, actually.
Hi Laura,
First, I don’t know why your comments keep getting put into my spam folder. But I’m aware of it — so I’ll be checking it at least once a day so your messages don’t get lost. I really, really appreciate them.
Second, I’m pleased to hear that you like This Tremendous Lover. It’s a great book. Keep me updates.
Third, your question: Is this choice purely our own?
The answer: No, it’s not. As the Catechism points out in paragraph 2001, “The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace.” In other words, we are able to respond to God — to choose God, so to speak — only because he has given us the grace to do so.
Yet, our choice is truly OUR choice. That is to say — though God gives us the grace to choose him, we must freely make that choice using the power of our own will.
The key — always remember that whatever good we do, whether it’s choosing God, praying, serving the poor, etc., we do in cooperation with God’s grace. He moves us to act, but we must freely choose to act.
Make sense?
God bless.