The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk 
24th June 2018

Our Trials and God's Wisdom
by Dom Vital Lehodey O.C.S.O.

Disappointments will not be wanting to us. God Himself, although possessing the key to all hearts, will nevertheless not enter by force, but stands at the door and knocks. Here we encounter the mystery of Divine Grace and human cooperation. One hastens to welcome the Visitor, another refuses to open, many pay no attention at all; so that often enough He has to remain outside. Our sweet Saviour, our Benefactor and Friend above all friends, came into His own domain and His own chosen people, and His own would not receive Him. The malicious sought to catch Him in His words, the multitude abandoned Him, Judas betrayed Him, the other Apostles fled from Him; and when He fell at last beneath the blows of His enemies, His Church was but a delicate plant buffeted by the tempest. The disciple is not above his Master. Hence, despite the prodigies they wrought, the Apostles finished their careers by Martyrdom, leaving behind them a defenceless flock in the midst of ravening wolves. If some of the Saints had astonishing success in their labours for souls, others, and these not the least in sanctity, laboured without apparent result even to the end of their lives. To mention only the case of St. Alphonsus. His first disciples forsook him, and, in consequence, how many others either left him of their own accord or had to be dismissed! Two of them went so far as to ruin his credit with the Sovereign Pontiff and cause his expulsion from his Congregation. All these failures were necessary to perfect the founder in holiness and to establish his Institute firmly on the unshakable rock of Calvary. Still, as the designs of Heaven are only revealed to us gradually, it is no small trial for a zealous Priest to see souls in danger, or for a zealous Superior to be obliged to leave in mediocrity those whom he had hoped to lead to sanctity.

Howsoever bitter may be our lack of success, we must recognise in it the permission of God, accept it with peaceful abandonment, and turn it to account for our own spiritual progress. It is one of the very best occasions for entrenching ourselves more securely in humility, detaching ourselves from vainglory and human consolations, purifying our intentions, and resolving for the future to seek God alone in our spiritual ministrations. With the Royal Prophet, we should bless Providence in the humiliation we have received. Only too often, success blinds, inflates, and intoxicates us. It makes us forget that conversions come from God, and that they are due perhaps, not to our efforts, but to the secret prayers and sacrifices of some unsuspected soul. Failure opens our eyes to the reality of things. It reminds us that we are only poor instruments at best. It invites us to turn our gaze back upon ourselves, and, if there is need, to correct our shortcomings, to rectify our methods, to reanimate our zeal, and to pray more. If our negligence and sins have contributed to our want of success, we must not only rid ourselves of these failings, but we are also bound to repair the consequences of them so far as possible, by redoubling our zeal, our prayers, and our sacrifices.