Faith in the

action of

Providence

to live according to the Faith

by Father Mathurin of the Mother of God At the dawn of this new year, first I would like to offer our heavenly Father all our finest wishes, that is, that in His children of the earth He may find replicas of His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased. 1 To better attain this objective, this year we are giving you as the watchword and also the wish: FAITH — to live according to Faith. This is my wish for you, my brothers, my sisters, dear friends, and it is also my wish for all of Christianity, in order to give joy to our heavenly Father. During Her Apparition, Our Lady of La Salette said to Her future apostles: “May your faith be the light that enlightens you in these days of woe.” It is no news for anyone that we are now living in those days of woe. We are living in a time of darkness. At the moment of Jesus’ coming on earth, it was also a time of darkness. The powers of hell appeared to be practically in control of the entire earth. It was a time when almost all human beings were living only for the earth. That era bears a strange resemblance to our current times, when most people are living for the earth. That is why, at His coming, Jesus was not recognized. The Gospel tells us, He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. 2 Men did not recognize Him because they were living for the earth. All their interest, the purpose of their life, their existence, was the earth and everything the earth could give them, as if it all ended there. Humanity has reached that point again. Not everyone, but a great majority of men live uniquely for the earth. To live for the earth is the opposite of faith. Faith is to serve God. The foundation of faith, the basis, the first step, is to acknowledge God as our Creator. If we acknowledge God as our Creator, we are His creatures, and as such, God has all rights over us. That is faith: to believe that God is the Creator; to believe that I am His creature; to believe that He has all rights over me. Faith is to believe that God manifested Himself first of all to our first parents, Adam and Eve. He manifested Himself to them before and immediately after their sin. At that moment, He drew out the road they were to follow. While leaving them with the hope of salvation, He announced to them a life of suffering in order to repair their sin. From then on, they were to lead a life of labor, hardship, death and all sorts of sufferings that were to be accepted in a spirit of faith. Faith is to believe that God promised our first parents a Messiah, a Redeemer. Meanwhile, they were to live according to the first directives given, accepting the penance of labor, pain and death. Faith is to believe that God manifested Himself to the patriarchs: to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. He manifested Himself to all the prophets. Faith is to believe that through these patriarchs and prophets, He dictated to us and already showed us the road to follow, the way of salvation. Faith is also — and above all — to believe that God manifested Himself through the Incarnation. God so loved the world that He gave His only- begotten Son, that those who believe in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 3 God not only spoke to the patriarchs and the prophets, but He sent His Son, who became incarnate and came to live among us on earth. By faith, we must believe that Jesus, the Son of God and God Himself, came to give us the example, to teach us and redeem us. He came to show us the way of salvation Himself. He came personally to embrace the way drawn out for our first parents, the patriarchs and the prophets. He showed it to us with a generosity of detail, a generosity of gifts, to the point of working out our salvation Himself. By redeeming us, He showed us the way of our own salvation. Faith is to believe that. Faith is to believe all the teachings of Jesus, all His examples; it is to believe in Him and believe what the Church has been teaching us for two thousand years. It is also to believe in the example of the legions of Saints who walked in the footsteps of Jesus. Since the coming of Jesus, the Church teaches us as He did. Faith is to believe all of that. You can understand that faith encompasses everything, it commits us enormously; it obliges us to an adherence, a transformation of life. All the teaching that Jesus gave us by becoming incarnate obliges us to get involved, obliges us to a rule of conduct. Faith is not nebulous: “Yes, I believe that God exists in some form, like in a little cloud,” as some people like to say. “Yes, I believe in God,” and it ends there. Faith must mobilize us. The teaching of Jesus calls to us, His examples commit us. We must follow them. He says to us: I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. 4 He who follows Me does not walk in the darkness. 5 We must believe all the teachings of the Gospel and assume them. When Jesus says I am the Way, we must follow Him. He also says to us: No one comes to the Father but through Me. 6 All things that I have heard from My Father, I have made known to you. 7 Jesus is God, sent by His Father to show us the way. Faith is to believe completely in the Gospel, without removing anything. Certain people are inclined to say: “Oh, Jesus is a great prophet. But from that to saying He is God and He obliges us to follow His teachings...” No, Jesus is not merely a prophet, He is God Himself, the Word made flesh, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He has proved Himself. First, by all the miracles He performed during His earthly life, even resurrecting the dead by His own power. The Saints resurrected the dead, but they did so in the Name of Jesus. He, Jesus, works under His own power. He healed a multitude of the sick, but the greatest proof He gave us of His divinity is His resurrection. One day the Pharisees asked Him: “Give us a proof that you are truly God, if we must believe in You. Give us a sign.” He gave them as a sign: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. 8 They understood very well what He meant. On another occasion, Jesus said to them: You ask for a sign? I will give you the sign of the prophet Jonas. He was three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, in the depths of the sea. So will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 9 And then He will rise again. And it happened. The Pharisees believed in this prediction, since they themselves had soldiers posted in front of the sepulcher where the body of Jesus was... and they said they did not believe in Him. The guards at the sepulcher were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus; they reported it, but they were bribed. You know the story. With His resurrection, Jesus proved that He was God. So we are committed. He is our God. This little Jesus, this little Infant we see in the Manger in the arms of Mary, is God who will live for thirty-three years on this earth, He is our Creator, the Creator of all men. We are His creatures, so He has every right; He can ask, demand, command. The only answer we can give Him is Yes.

The first theological virtue

You see, my brothers and sisters, faith is the foundation of the entire edifice. Here we often speak of humility and love. It is very right, very appropriate for us to speak of these virtues. We do it a lot at Christmas time, and we must do it; we ask for humility, the source and root of all the virtues. But without faith, what is the sense of humility? Why should I put myself at your feet? Why should you obey the Church, the authorities, this little Child? Why, if He is not God? Why should you be humble? Out of faith, you can do it. You even aspire to do it. Faith makes us contemplate Jesus, who lived two thousand years ago. We contemplate Him, we listen to His teaching, we see Him born in humility. We see that the greatest examples He gave are examples of humility. It is out of faith that we see Him, that we believe Him. Faith commits us to follow His example. If we do not have faith, humility has no foundation. Humility is preached to you, and it is true that it is important. But without faith, there is no foundation. That is why we must begin with faith. Nothing will change on this earth without faith. A faith that is humble, obviously. It all holds together. Love… how can we love God if we do not have faith? How can we love our neighbor if we do not have faith? When we do not have faith, it is the law of the jungle: might makes right. Those who succeed in acquiring power dominate others, control them. We call that democracy, or any other system of government. Why should I love my neighbor, love him as myself, love him more than myself? It is out of faith, because this little Infant Jesus taught me to do it. If not, it is a sort of philanthropy or diplomacy. I won’t do my neighbor too much harm, for fear that he will harm me in his turn. It is a little as in the jungle, with a bit more intelligence, sometimes hardly more at all. In the jungle, the animals respect the ones that are stronger than they are; they do not do them too much harm because they are afraid of reprisals. That is the jungle. A weaker, smaller animal does not go after a bigger, stronger one! He watches what he does, he is afraid, he wants to stay alive. That is the law of survival, it is not love! Where does love come from? From faith. I believe that my neighbor is a child of God as I am. I believe that Jesus gave His life for him. I believe that he is a creature of God, His child. I believe that God is asking me to love him, truly love him. I believe it, and that is why I apply myself to it. It is out of faith. Go through all the virtues like this… We cannot love either God or our neighbor without faith, the first of the theological virtues. Faith is the light that enlightens our whole life. Among people who do not have faith, what sorrow, what darkness! That is why humanity is full of sadness. People want to distract themselves. Why are they so distracted? Because they do not have faith, and they do not know where true consolation is to be found. Those who have faith do not seek to distract themselves. Faith guides them, it is a sure light. They know that God is there, that He is watching over them and wants to lead them to their goal: an eternity of happiness. Faith makes us discover God. Look and see, among humans, we know each other, we encounter each other, we live among brothers and sisters; others get married. Before meeting and knowing people, we do not love them. First we must meet them, talk with them, get to know them, and we come to love them. So it is with God. Out of faith, we frequent God. But do you see God? With your physical, human eyes, do you see Him? Out of faith, yes. Out of faith, you believe that He came two thousand years ago. You believe that He speaks to you in the Gospel. Those who make the act of faith, their entire life lights up. Faith makes you frequent Jesus, study Him, contemplate Him. In return, God, with the assistance of His grace, speaks to you through His Gospel, His Holy Eucharist, His Church. Through His grace, He speaks to the heart. Everything is in the realm of faith. It gives you a strength, an energy, an ardor. That is the story of the Saints. What is it that made the Saints, the martyrs? Faith! We are in a time of darkness. When Jesus came, the world was also living in darkness. The Apostles went out and spread faith in Jesus. They lived that faith and they communicated it. As the pagans embraced that faith, the darkness was dispelled. Even humanly speaking, the world became a better place. Society became far more pleasant to live in, and that was because men entered into God’s design out of faith. Now people have forsaken faith, and the darkness has returned. What is needed to bring back the light, to overcome the darkness, to enlighten the world? Souls of faith, guided by faith and living by faith. To live by faith is to believe. I repeat: To live by faith is to believe in Jesus, in His teaching, and it is to live it. To believe and not do — that is not faith. To tell someone, “I love you,” and make fun of him at the same time — that doesn’t work. To make declarations of love to someone and scorn that person at the same time, would that be love? You tell someone, “I love you,” and he replies, “I’m glad, I love you too. I would like you to do a certain thing for me.” And if instead of doing it, you scorn him and laugh at his request, is that love? Faith makes us believe in the Gospel and makes us embrace it. Out of faith, I imbue myself completely with the Gospel, I want to live it. I pray to God that it may become true.

Faith generates

prayer and

obedience

It is also faith that makes me pray. I turn to God: “My God, I believe in Your Gospel. I believe that it is You Yourself, the Eternal Word of God, who came to bring us Your teaching through all Your words and examples. I read them and make them mine. Faith makes me pray, because I want to fulfill Your request, Your expectation. I want it, Lord. I believe that You can do it in a weakling like me. I truly believe that You are expecting it of me, and I believe that You can produce it in me.” It is faith, an active faith that makes us pray and act. The more we do that, the more our faith grows, the more our love increases. When you pray this way and truly contemplate Jesus, your faith and your love increase, and your activity also. When I say “activity,” my brothers and sisters, understand that I am not talking about going and performing works; I am talking about the activity God awaits, that is, to accomplish His Gospel. Whoever does not renounce everything cannot be My disciple. 10 If anyone will be My disciple, let him take up his cross each day. 11 Faith makes me believe in the word of Jesus asking me to embrace the cross. I say to myself: “My God, I, such a poor little coward, I am so afraid of suffering. How can I embrace Your cross? How can I take it up each day? Come to my assistance!” I make the act of faith, I begin to pray, and God listens to my prayer and gives me a grace. I believe it, for He said: Whatever you ask My Father in My Name, He will give it to you. 12 Ask, and you shall receive. 13 He said it, but we must ask with faith. As a matter of fact, God does listen to our prayer and the soul goes from virtue to virtue, by grace, by the attention of faith, by the light of faith. Faith is a continual attention. It is not just an occasional thought. We are attentive, we come back to it. Such faith manifests itself in our actions. All that Jesus tells us, such as to take up our cross and follow Him, these are acts. But I would say to you: apply yourselves above all to the intention, to combining the two: action and intention. That is when our faith is truly active beneath the eye of God. You can understand that faith is to live beneath the eye of God. You are religious, you have left your parents, your family, and many of you have left your country and perhaps a career. You have left your independence, your freedom. The religious have done that. If you are in the state of marriage, and out of faith you want to live according to God and raise your children according to this holy faith, you also must deny yourselves many things and make many sacrifices. We can do everything with God’s grace. I can do all things in Him who strengthens me, 14 said Saint Paul. There are other religions in which something a little similar is done, I mean with regard to detachments. There are Buddhist monks who leave human advantages and practice austerities. They impose all sorts of very austere, arduous things on themselves that are difficult for nature. Why do they do this? I don’t know, but it is not out of faith, it is not for God; the notion of a creator god is absent from most forms of Buddhism. It is rather a combination of philosophy, religion, psychology and mental training, for the purpose of self- fulfillment. It is to be “zen,” to arrive at a thought different from that of others, to be more calm, more in control of oneself. These are human reasons. It is not to that end, my brothers and sisters, that we practice the Christian virtues, that we accept to deny ourselves. It is not in order to be “zen.” The reason you come to prayer every morning is not to get into the habit of self-mastery. There is nothing wrong with self-mastery, but that is not your motivation. You do it for God. That is the intention. That is where faith comes into play: to do your actions for God. This year, my brothers and sisters, I invite you especially to do all your actions for God, with the attention of mind and heart: “It is for You, my God, that I do this, because I believe it is Your will, because I love You and want to please You.”

Faith in Divine Providence

Faith is also to believe in Providence. We can define Providence as the action by which God, our Creator, preserves and governs all that He has created. He preserves and governs and leads all the beings He has created to their proper end. That is what Providence is: a sustained action of God in the management of creation. The great goal of creation is truly to lead souls to God. Sometimes people say: man is the center of creation. And it is true. God has placed human beings in the center of creation, for His glory. God governs all things to lead man to his end. It is mainly therein that the action of Providence exerts itself. To reach this goal, He can make the world roll along in perfect harmony. And He can also destabilize the world in order to lead man to his destiny. What is that destiny? To know, to love and to serve God on earth, and to be happy with Him for all eternity. That is our eternal destiny: to be with God for all eternity. We must believe it. And we must truly believe in Divine Providence. God directs, organizes and permits all things in order to lead man to his happy eternal destiny. My brothers and sisters, when you will discover this action of Providence which guides and leads all things, when in prayer you pause over it and concentrate the attention of your heart upon it, your life becomes a praise of thanksgiving to God. Even the most inopportune, difficult events are permitted by God. The loss of dear ones, unfortunate accidents, contradictions little and great, the world is not turning right, humans become increasingly contrary to God, scorning His laws — it is not His design but He permits it, He lets things happen in order to sanctify His servants. For those who love God, all things work together unto good. 15 Eventually, even the people most hostile to God are slowly drawn to Him, by the example of His servants. My brothers and sisters, that is why this year We ask you, We wish for you faith in this action of Providence which leads all things to its end, no matter what happens. No matter what! When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was not far away from there, in Jerusalem, a king by the name of Herod. When he learned that the Magi were going to see the Child, he became jealous, wicked, to the point of giving an order to kill all the male newborn children: they are now called the Holy Innocents. What an abominable crime of wickedness, inspired by jealousy! How many dozens and hundreds of children must he have killed out of wickedness? These little children are the crown, the first-fruits of the sanctity which this Child is going to produce. It can happen — and you may expect it — that the wickedness of many men will go on the rise. It is possible. It is even probable in the current situation. My brothers and sisters, I beg of you, see the action of God in this. Do not see evil human beings; see God who wants to lead you, my brother, my sister, to your end, to your blessed eternity. He wants to lead you to serve Him. All, all things are willed or permitted by God. When He permits something, it becomes His will for His elect. Jesus climbed Calvary. A whole troop of scoundrels was around Him to torture Him, to make Him suffer in every way. He let them do it. The Redemption, that great design of God, was being fulfilled. That is Providence. God directs everything. The end of Jesus was to die on a cross. All sorts of events took place, dreadful, terrible events, so that this great design of God might be fulfilled. My brothers and sisters, God has designs upon us. Let Providence do its work. Among us, my brothers, do not complain, please! I beg of you, in all the unfortunate things that happen, see the hand of God who wants to lead you to your end. He wants to make you His servant, His handmaid. He wants to make you His saint. More than that, He wants — through you, my brothers and sisters — to work out the salvation of humanity, even of those evil men who might cause you all sorts of sufferings. He wants their salvation, too. It depends on the faith with which we will receive these events. Faith is not a vain word, it is something that is lived. Thus do we live our Faith. It is to this that We invite you this year. When events carry us along, when circumstances are favorable, when earthly human joys come our way, it is easy to praise and bless the Lord. That is not wrong, we must do it. But between us, it is not in this that God draws His greatest glory and sees our degree of love for Him. Even so, we must give thanks to God. Most people do not, even when things go their way. It is terrible! They do not thank God even for the joys He gives them. When we give thanks to God for the joys He gives us, it touches Him, glorifies Him. Oh, how rare are the humans who think to give thanks to Him! But there is a glory that is far greater for God, a proof of love far more precious when His child praises Him, blesses Him in adversity, tribulation, trials, suffering, bitterness, solitude. I will say it again, we must bless and thank God for the benefits that give us joy and enthusiasm. But, my brothers and sisters, we must also do it in desolation. There will be sufferings and trials. God awaits your faith. He will expect you to praise Him and bless Him. His Will, His action is aimed precisely to lead you — you, my brother; and you, my sister; and you, my friend — to your end, which is Himself. He wants to lead you to Himself. Please discover this. That is my prayer for you, my brothers and sisters, that is my wish for this year. Discover His divine and loving hand behind everything that happens to you, not a hand that is trying to hurt you. For us human beings, to love means to give immediate joy. Even so, good parents understand it a little better than that. A little child wants to have sweets and goodies. Its parents say, “No, a little bit, but not too much.” The little child doesn’t want to go to school? “My little child, you will go to school, you have to study. You have to learn a trade, you have to learn how to work if you want to make something good out of your life.” Good parents impose little sufferings on their children because they love them and want their good for later on. Now it would be to give candy, but you don’t get very far with just candy. Parents understand this. God knows our needs; He knows exactly what is best for us. My brothers and sisters, I beg of you, honor Him with this faith, this confidence in His action, no matter if it hurts you, no matter if it humiliates you, no matter to what point it might crucify you. Do not make any projects. Abandon yourselves in His hands, abandon yourselves to His direction, His Providence. He will make you His servant, His saint. I tell you again: He will work out the salvation of the world. He will do it! The time is at hand, time is short!

“Do not despise prophecies”

I also want to say a word to you concerning faith in the prophecies, 16 in the predictions that God has made. We must not reject them, we must not scorn them, we must believe them. I am speaking here about the prophecies, the predictions recognized by the Church, and not prophecies made by each and every little individual who improvises himself as a prophet and soothsayer. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about prophecies and predictions recognized by the Church. Among others, there is La Salette; there is Fatima; there is Garabandal. This little Work here, the Work in which we participate all together, which God is asking us to accomplish, was predicted, prophesied. My brothers and sisters, I invite you to increase your faith in these prophecies which God has made. May trials and tribulations not take away your faith. On the contrary! May your faith always increase in Providence, through which God leads all things to His end, most often through tribulation. See His Son!... May tribulations and adversities not destroy your faith; may they increase it. I will give you an example. To convince you all the better, I will take it not from a prophet but from the Gospel. At the Visitation, 17 you see the Virgin Mary already carrying the Infant who is God; She comes to encounter Elizabeth, and She greets her. Elizabeth returns Her greeting. And the Gospel says, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out… It was no longer Elizabeth who was speaking. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice, saying: Blessed are You among women... Blessed are You who have believed, because all that the Lord has said shall be accomplished. Moved and prompted by the action of the Holy Spirit who speaks through her mouth, Elizabeth says to the Virgin Mary: Blessed are You. She already beatifies Her. Blessed are You who have believed. No more no less, because you have believed, Elizabeth says to Her, all that the Lord has said shall be accomplished. This was in reference to the Annunciation when the Angel came to Mary, and to the moment Mary believed in the word of the Angel, the messenger of God. She became the Mother of God because She believed. If the Virgin Mary had not believed, if She had not made the act of faith in the words of God’s messenger, She would not have miraculously become the Mother of God. She made the act of faith first. That is what Saint Elizabeth praises at the moment of their encounter: Blessed are You who have believed, for all that the Lord has said shall be accomplished. By faith, Mary became the Mother of God, She became the Mother of Salvation. Through Her, salvation came on earth. My brothers and sisters, I think that you have grasped it, that you follow me: God wants the salvation of the world, He wants to save the world anew, He wants to operate a redemption. He awaits your faith. Make the act of faith. “My God, we believe.” Blessed are You who have believed, for all that the Lord has said shall be accomplished. My brothers and sisters, believe that all that the Lord has spoken through our Father John Gregory, through very credible prophets, will be fulfilled. If you believe it, this little Work will be accomplished. If you do not believe it, certainly these things will not take place. If the Blessed Virgin had not believed, the redemption would not have been accomplished. If you believe it, it will be accomplished, no matter what happens. At the moment of the Annunciation, Mary believed in the Angel’s word, and all Her life She believed in the action of Providence. The Angel had scarcely told Her, Your cousin Elizabeth has conceived, and she is in her sixth month, and the Virgin Mary understood that this was an invitation of Providence, that She was to go and see Elizabeth. She did not have a superior at that moment. She consulted with Saint Joseph and he agreed, and She went to spend three months in Elizabeth’s service. When Caesar commanded the census of the nations, Mary believed that it was God who was speaking. The Virgin Mary is intelligent! You all realize that Caesar’s edict was given out of vanity, out of pride. You understand that. Do you think the Blessed Virgin did not realize it? That edict was made out of the vanity and pride of a potentate living in Rome, on the other side of the world. That is not what Mary considered, that is not what She looked at and analyzed. She saw the action of Providence. She saw that it was God who was commanding through the established authority, no matter what his intentions were. She set out in a very precarious condition, at the point of bearing a child. So She left for Bethlehem with Joseph. In this event She recognized the action of Providence. She lived that way all Her life. She followed Jesus all the way to Calvary. She lived with Him during His hidden life for thirty years; and when Jesus began His public life, She followed Him. During His earthly life, when Jesus healed the sick, almost every time He would ask, “Do you believe I can do this? Do you believe?” And He would work the miracle. He waited for the act of faith: Lord, I do believe, but increase my faith! 18 He increased their faith, although the cripple or sick person had already manifested it by a prayer of faith, of confidence. God wants to perform for humanity the greatest miracle that has ever been seen. Those who will be alive will witness it. There is an immense miracle that God wants to perform for humanity. Do you believe it? Answer in your hearts. Do you believe it? Jesus said in the Gospel, Do you believe I can do it? He could heal a body; He is also capable of healing this sick world. Jesus is not limited, He is God, He can heal bodies, He can heal souls when the soul wants it, if the person believes. We must believe for ourselves, we must believe for our brothers of the earth. Do we believe that God can change all things, that even with the worst depravities we may have, God can draw the greatest good out of them and heal this sick world? You must have faith, my brothers and sisters. You are going to need this faith. Believe that God will draw a greater good out of everything that is happening. If you truly believe it, you will see. First we must make the act of faith; then we will see, we will understand, everything will become clear. It is not the reverse. It is not that everything is clear first, that we understand in order to believe. No, no. We make the act of faith and everything becomes clear. As Saint Augustine said, “I believe in order to understand.” If you believe it, God will heal this sick world. And I repeat to you what Elizabeth said under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit. I say to you yourselves, my brothers and sisters, if you have this faith, all that the Lord has said shall be accomplished. That is the grace I wish for you for this year. It is this faith, so that what the Lord has said will be fulfilled. The design of God will be fulfilled, but it depends upon you, upon us. Let us pray for one another; let us pray for all our missions; let us pray for all men of good will, that they may enter upon this road. The first Christians communicated their faith with their words or with their conduct to the souls of good will who drew near to them. The world was transformed. They were real. They really had faith, and that faith was transmitted, it was “contagious” for others. Believe in the word of the Lord, and everything will be fulfilled. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of the Mother of God. Amen.