TWENTY-THIRD SERMON.
ON PRESUMPTUOUSLY SCRUTINIZING THE DIVINE DECREES.
Subject.
It is folly and presumption to examine and pronounce upon the decrees and arrangements of Divine Providence, much worse still is it to criticise or find fault with them; therefore we should humbly reverence them.—Preached on the ninth Sunday after Pentecost.
Text.
Nunc autem abscondita sunt ad oculis tuis.—Luke xix. 42.
“But now they are hidden from thy eyes.”
Introduction.
Glorious temple of Solomon! Magnificent palaces and edifices! Towers and walls of the city of Jerusalem! is it over your impending destruction that Jesus weeps? No, indeed! These things are far too vile to force a tear from the eyes of the Son of God, who as absolute Lord and Master has all the kingdoms of earth in His hands. It was the precious souls of the inhabitants that forced Him to weep; for He foresaw that in spite of the frequent lights granted them, and the many mercies they had experienced., they would remain obdurate in their wickedness and be lost forever. But why so? Could not the Almighty Son of God, who is so desirous of our salvation, give to those people more powerful graces, which, as He could foresee, would enable them to repent and be saved? No doubt He could have done so, for He has infinite treasures of grace at His disposal, by which He might draw even the hardest hearts to Himself. Why then did He not give those graces? But still! why do I, a poor mortal, dare to examine the hidden decrees of the Almighty God, since He wishes to conceal them from the eyes of men? My dear brethren, on the last occasion I explained to you the first reason of the necessity of the general judgment, namely, that God may publicly in the sight of all men justify the incomprehensible decrees and dispensations of His providence in the government of the world. The conclusion that follows therefrom I have given in a few words; that, namely, we must not be too curious in examining those decrees, much less should we complain of or find fault with them, but rather humbly submit to and adore them. Still there are many Christians who cannot reserve their curiosity and judgment on them till the last day; now already they begin to criticise them in thought, and to ask why does God do this or that in such a manner, and not otherwise. Nay, they even find fault with Him, and say that He acts unjustly. This is evident from their frequent complaints. What have I done to God that He should punish me thus? Is it right that I should have so much to suffer? that God should permit things to take such a course? etc. Ah, let me beg of you to refrain from such thoughts! Be not scandalized at the most holy works of God! Who art thou, poor mortal, that thou shouldst dare to criticise and condemn God and His inscrutable decrees, the knowledge and understanding of which He has chosen to keep from thee till the last day? This question, my dear brethren, I shall now consider more in detail, and I say:
Plan of Discourse.
It is folly and presumption to examine and pronounce upon the decrees and arrangements of Divine Providence; much worse still is it to criticise or find fault with them; therefore let us hum- bly revere them. Such is the whole subject. The object of this sermon is to inspire us with complete resignation to all the decrees of the Almighty.
Grant us that, O God of infinite justice, wisdom, and goodness, through the intercession of Mary and of our holy guardian angels.
To condemn what one cannot and should not understand is folly and presumption. Shown by a simile. What a man cannot and should not understand lie should let alone; and it would be folly for him to try to indulge a useless curiosity regarding such a matter, and still worse for him to presume to condemn it. What would you think, asks St. Augustine, of a man born deaf, who sees a man speaking and moving his lips, or a choir of musicians of whom one is playing the organ with his fingers, another is blowing a horn, a third opening his mouth and singing, a fourth playing the fiddle, a fifth moving his arms and beating time; what would you think if the deaf man were to condemn those different movements and gestures of the musicians as a useless and foolish piece of nonsense, for he knows not what music is? What would you say of a blind man, who, hearing of the beauty of a certain palace, examines it with his hands, and finding open places for the windows while groping around, criticises and condemns them as blemishes, as if the walls should be everywhere the same, and present no opening whatever? Would not both these men be looked on as not merely ignorant, but also presumptuous? Truly, and with justice. For what can a blind man know of color, or a deaf one of sound? They have both reason to wonder; the deaf man at seeing the musicians, the blind man at feeling the different openings in the palace walls; but if they had common sense, they would refrain from all criticism, for they do not understand the matter, and on account of the deficiency in their senses are unable to comprehend it in spite of any explanations that may be given them. And would it not be an intolerable thing for an uneducated peasant to dispute long about the course of the stars, or for a student to discuss the best system of tillage?
Confirmed by examples. Alexander the Great, as Pliny writes, used often to visit the celebrated painter Apelles; on one occasion, as he was discussing the subject of painting with more earnestness than usual, Apelles took him aside and whispered to him to drop the matter, lest the boys who were mixing the colors should laugh at him. His meaning was that Alexander, no matter how well he might understand the art of war, knew nothing about painting, and therefore could not talk sensibly about it. It is recorded of Father Adam Tanner, a celebrated theologian of our Society, that he was once seized by a grievous illness while on a journey, and took refuge in a peasant’s hut. His illness grew worse, and the people of the place, seeing that he was about to die, began to examine his effects, and amongst other mathematical instruments they found a glass containing a fearful and terrible monster, completely equipped with horns, wings, darts, and spear, and resembling a dragon in its appearance. The simple people at once called out with one voice: “That is the devil in the glass! the man is surely a wizard!” And together with their pastor, whom they called in to advise them, they resolved that after the man’s death they would not bury him in consecrated ground; and they would most certainly have carried out that determination had not one come up who understood the matter better, and explained to them that the dragon they took for the devil was nothing more than a beetle enlarged by a microscope, a kind of glass that makes small things look large, and thus apparently increased in size the beetle that seemed so terrible in their eyes. It is impossible for a man to pronounce a sensible opinion on a thing that he does not understand, and if he goes so far as to blame and find fault with it, he is guilty of rashness and presumption.
They who scrutinize and blame the works of God, are foolish and presumptuous. There, my dear brethren, you have an example of the foolish presumption of those men who curiously scrutinize the wonderful Works of God’s Providence in this life, and try to find out why things are arranged in this or that manner, forming rash judgments about them, and finding fault with them, as if God could or should have managed better. Why is this man born amongst Turks, and that other amongst Christians? Why was the true faith introduced so late into some countries, many souls meanwhile being eternally lost, while other lands received the light much sooner? Why is a country so largely Infected with heresy, and another altogether free from it? Why are so many innocent peoples harried by war, while others live in peace? Why must the descendants bear the punishment of the sins of their ancestors, although the latter got off scot free? Why is this man rich, that one poor, etc.? These curious questions and many similar ones often trouble our minds. Why has God made such arrangements? Are they quite right and just?
For they do not understand them. O poor, blind, deaf, and ignorant mortal! Why do you trouble yourself about things you cannot and should not understand as yet? God has indeed sometimes revealed things to His special friends; thus He promised Moses to accompany him everywhere: “He hath made His way known to Moses.”[1] He told Abraham of His firm determination to destroy the city of Sodom, and to make him the father of a numerous progeny: “Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”[2] He made known to Noe His intention of punishing the world by a deluge: “He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is to come before Me; the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.”[3] In the same manner God made known many things to other prophets and saints. But according to the general Providence by which the world is ruled, the divine decrees remain hidden and concealed from men. “His ways, who shall understand,” says the wise Ecclesiasticus; “many of His works are hidden.”[4] And Eliu was quite right when he said to Job: “Who can search out His ways? Remember that thou knowest not His work. Behold! God is great exceeding our knowledge.”[5] St. Augustine commenting on the words of St. Paul, “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?”[6] who are you that you should dare to question your God, and expect Him to give you an explanation of His decrees?—St. Augustine says: With reason has the Apostle begun with the words, O man, for thus he reminds mortals of their ignorance and incapacity, and says to them, as Apelles did to the cobbler who criticised his picture of Helen: “Let the cobbler stick to his last.”[7] O man, exclaims the Apostle, exalt not your understanding above your condition! What do you know about the decrees and dispensations of God’s providence? You either understand them, or you do not. If you understand them, you must acknowledge that they are wise and just; but if they are beyond your intellect, as you must confess, why do you examine, condemn, and criticise them? If I speak Latin to you, and you have not studied that language, you know not and cannot guess what I wish to say to you; much less should you venture to find fault with my manner of speaking; how then can you pretend to criticise the language of Divine Providence, which is much above your comprehension? How can you think or dare to ask whether all that God has done is done well and wisely? With reason therefore does the Apostle reprove you: “O man, who art thou that repliest against God,” or darest to examine His hidden decrees? “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus?”[8]
Nor should they understand them. Did God perhaps consult you when He instituted His all-wise arrangements about yourself and all His creatures? It would be gross insolence and presumption for a subject to presume to investigate or to understand the reason of all the commands, prohibitions, and actions of his prince or king. You do not even tell your neighbor or fellow-citizen, your own equal, your private designs, or why you have made this or that arrangement in your household; and if he were to ask you about those things you would at once tell him to mind his own business, and remind him that you are master in your own house and can do therein what you please. Yet you are presumptuous enough to investigate the reasons which the great common Father of all has in dealing with His vast household, the world! And you expect Him to disclose all His secrets to you, and to explain why He has done so and not otherwise! Remember what you are; forget not that you are a mere mortal, and acknowledge humbly that the wisdom displayed by God in His works is altogether too high for you to understand it.
We cannot understand many natural things, much less the hidden decrees of God. Such was the reproof given by the angel to Esdras, who was trying in thought to investigate the hidden decrees of the Almighty: “Dost thou think to understand the way of the Most High?” said the angel. Poor mortal that thou art! “go and weigh for me the weight of fire, or measure for me the breath of the wind. If I were to ask thee how many dwellings there are in the depths of the sea, or how many veins there are over the firmament,”[9] wouldst thou answer me? Thou wouldst reply to me perhaps: I have never descended into the abyss, nor mounted up to the heights of heaven. Now I have only asked thee about the fire and wind, things of which thou hast daily experience. If thou canst not understand what thou seest and hearest so often, how canst thou dare to examine and scrutinize the ways of the Almighty God who so far surpasses thy intellect? So far the angel to Esdras. Whereby he wishes to warn all men and to say to them: if we try in vain to comprehend natural things, and if he acts foolishly and presumptuously who ventures to find fault with the fire and the wind as if they were not properly made, because he cannot find out their weight and measure, then much more vain, curious, foolish, and presumptuous is the man who criticises the hidden decrees of God’s Providence, and blames them because in many instances they do not fall in with his views.
And He does not wish us to inquire curiously into them. No, O mortal! you cannot understand sich things, and therefore you should humbly adore what is above your comprehension. “Seek not the things that are too high for thee,” says the wise Ecclesiasticus, “and search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of His works be not curious. For many things are shown to thee above the understanding of men. And the suspicion of them hath deceived many.”[10] A certain young man at Cordova was carrying a basket of fruit covered with a cloth; a friend met him and asked him what he had in the basket: “I should not have covered it,” answered the young man, “if I had wished people to know what it was.”[11] The same answer was once given to that great friend of God, St. Anthony. He was wondering at the strange dispensations of Divine Providence, and in his simplicity, and with his usual confidence in treating with God, he commenced to complain; “my good God,” he said, “why dost Thou permit sinners to live so long, while Thou takest so soon out of the world good men, whose lives might be useful? These good people in whom there is not the least harm are often severely punished by Thee for small faults they commit now and then; while others whose lives are scandalous are free from chastisement, and since they can do as they please, they are encouraged thereby to sin all the more, etc. How is that?” And he heard the following answer: “Anthony, what is it to thee? Look to thyself. These are decrees which God wishes to keep from the eyes of men, and it is not for thee to find fault with them. God would not have concealed them from thee if He had wished thee to know them.”
Hence it is great presumption to pry into them. In royal courts what is debated on in privy council is kept secret most religiously, and no one is allowed to hear a syllable of it; it is in fact considered treasonable to try to find out any of those secrets. Majolinus writes of a merchant who on one occasion gave vent to his curiosity merely by saying: oh, how I should like to see the council chamber of the Turkish sovereign. These few words, being carried to the authorities, cost the unfortunate merchant his life. And what would be done to a stable-boy who should dare to enter the bed-chamber of his king, or even to tamper with his seneschal in order to find out state secrets? He would be sentenced to death as a traitor of the worst kind, and would be quartered alive. Now if it is such a crime in the eyes of men to meddle with the secrets of earthly potentates, which after all cannot always be kept so private that they are not somehow or other brought to light, how deserving of punishment must not that curiosity be which inspires a poor, miserable mortal with the audacity to enter with his fault-finding and murmuring into the council-chamber of the great Monarch of heaven, there to pry into hidden decrees of Providence that God does not wish any man to know?
We must humbly acknowledge our ignorance in this respect. Therefore we must in this respect humbly acknowledge with Salvianus: “I can always and with reason say that I know not the secret, and the divine decrees are hidden from me.”[12] Hence if any dispensation of Providence seems strange to me, and I begin to doubt of its justice, I cannot think anything more reason able than: I know not the secret; I do not understand the divine decrees. And if any one asks me why God has ordained or permitted this or that; why the wicked man is rich, the good man poor and despised; why the poor laborer has many children, the mighty prince none; I can give no better answer than to say: I know not; the decrees of God are beyond my understanding; nor do I now wish to know them, since God is not pleased that I should do so. Nor is this ignorance unbecoming even to the most learned and the wisest of men; for it is necessary to know what we can and ought to know, but it is presumption and folly to seek to find out what is beyond our ken. Livia, the wife of Octavianus Augustus, being asked how she gained the favor of the emperor to such a degree that she seemed to command him, answered: “By being modest and faithful, and not trying to pry into his secrets.”[13] By the same means men can gain the favor and grace of the supreme Emperor of heaven, and keep it constantly, namely, by being faithful to Him in all things, by obeying all His commands, and submitting to the hidden decrees of His Providence without murmuring against or prying into them curiously.
And not judge of the divine decrees until their justice shall be shown to us on the last day. The time shall come when we shall know all about them, namely, on the last day, at the end of the world, as we have seen already, when the Almighty shall publicly, in the sight of all men, angels, and demons, justify the dispensations of His Providence. Now He acts like a painter or tapestry hanger; while these artists are actually engaged in their work, and the painting or tapestry is yet unfinished, they do not wish any one to see it; therefore they close their workshops, or else hang a screen before the work, that no one may look at it. If a person were to steal into the workshop he would see all distorted figures, here half a man’s face, there the head of a horse, on one side the horns of an ox, on another the trunk of a tree, the paws of a lion, etc. An ignorant man looking at those unfinished figures would be inclined to find fault with the artist, and to turn his work into ridicule: Oh, he would say, what laughable figures! what distorted pictures! Why is that body without a head? what is that foot doing there? where are the nose and ears of that face? who ever saw a man’s head without a body? and so on. What would the artist answer to such a critic? Full of just indignation he would show him the door and say: fools and children should never be allowed to see unfinished paintings; wait till my work is completed and exposed in public, then come back and see how those distorted figures will turn out, and you shall have reason to praise what you now find fault with. See, exclaims St. Augustine, speaking against those over-curious individuals who dare to measure with their weak understandings the works of Divine Providence, and think that this or that is not ordained rightly or justly—see how presumptuous the human mind can be! Poor mortal! who has made you so insolent? “No one would dare to blame the work in the artist’s workshop; but you do not hesitate to blame the Almighty in what He does in the world!”[14] Hear the warning that St. Paul gives: “Judge not before the time, until the Lord come,”[15] wait till the work of God is completed. If many things now seem inconsistent and incomprehensible to you, remember that the work of this world is not by any means finished; there is still much to be done on it, as if it were a piece of tapestry or a painting. Since you cannot and should not now understand the design of the Almighty Artist, wait till the last day of the world, on which God will show in public in the valley of Josaphat the whole work of His Providence, and will allow everyone to see how admirably and wisely everything has been done; then we shall all see to our great admiration what a beautiful work it is.
Conclusion and exhortation to resign ourselves and all belonging to us to God’s Providence and to do His will in all things. Let us then, my dear brethren, ascribe everything that happens in the world, sin alone excepted, to the Providence of God, arid since we cannot understand His decrees submit humbly to them without further question or doubt, and resign ourselves and all belonging to us with contented minds to the divine will. In this respect we should imitate King David, who speaks thus to his God: “I am become as a beast before Thee. Thou hast held me by my right hand: and by Thy will Thou hast conducted me.”[16] In the same sense we should say: O Lord, I am just as a beast of burden before Thee, that allows its master to place on it what load he pleases, and then goes wherever he leads it. Our only care in this life should be to know the will of God and to fulfil it exactly in all circumstances, as Christ Our Lord has taught us by His example, for He says of Himself: “In the head of the book it is written of Me that I should do Thy will. O my God, I have desired it, and Thy law in the midst of My heart.”[17] Here we should profit by the beautiful words of St. Augustine when examining and speaking in the person of Adam of the command not to eat the forbidden fruit. He says: if the tree is good, why may I not eat of its fruit? But if it is bad, why is it in paradise? God might answer both these questions by saying: the tree is in paradise because I have chosen to place it there; but I do not wish you to eat its fruit, because I desire to have in you an obedient and not a disobedient servant. But why so? Because you are the servant and I am your Lord; this sole reason should suffice for you. It was only the hellish serpent that said cunningly and craftily: “Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?”[18] He should have said: why do you not eat of this tree? Then Eve might easily have answered him: because God has forbidden us. But the deceitful hellish foe put the question another way: “why hath God commanded you?”
Without prying into the reasons why God so ordains things. No, my dear brethren, whenever we know that God wishes us to do something, it is not for us to ask why He so wishes it. The most powerful reason for anything is that God so wills it; God has decreed it; God has ordained it; God has done it. The highest justice, as Salvianus rightly remarks, is the will and ordination of God; the highest wisdom to allow one’s self quietly and with confidence to be ruled in all things by His holy will and all-wise providence. Sometimes parents say to one of their children: go to school and study; to another: stay at home and help your father at his work; to a third: come into the garden and take a walk with me. If the children are naughty they will at once commence to murmur and say: why should I study? why must I work, while he goes to the garden? But if they are obedient, well-reared children, as all Christian children should be, they do not hesitate a moment, but at once and willingly fulfil their par ents commands. Yes, they say; I will do whatever my father or mother wishes. In the same manner should we, as obedient children of God in all circumstances, in all dispensations of Divine Providence, think and say with Christ our dear Saviour: “Yea, Father: for so hath it seemed good in Thy sight.”[19] Yes, my heavenly Father! since Thou hast so ordained it, Thy will is a sufficient reason for me to be fully satisfied with it. Yes, Father! Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Another Introduction to the same sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent.
Text.
Beatus est, qui non fuerit scandalizatus in me.—Matt. xi. 6.
“Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me.”
Introduction.
And could any one be scandalized in Jesus Christ, the most perfect Model of all holiness, whose manners, demeanor, words, and works gave not the slightest occasion or excuse for sin, a thing which unfortunately cannot be said of many men? For has not God threatened the man by whom scandal comes? But out of what work of Christ could scandal be taken? “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.”[20] Are these scandalous works? And why then does He add, “Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me”? Truly, in those days many took scandal at those works, for they put a wrong interpretation on them, ridiculed them, and even condemned Our Lord as a sorcerer on account of them. His own disciples, as He Himself foretold, were scandalized in Him on the night when He was led away a prisoner and sentenced to be crucified; for partly they were influenced by fear, and partly by the suspicion that they had been misled by Him by means of false miracles. My dear brethren, on the last occasion I explained a reason that renders it necessary to have a general judgment, etc. Continues as before.
- ↑ Notas fecit vias suas Moysi.—Ps. cii. 7.
- ↑ Num celare potero Abraham quæ gesturus sum?—Gen. xviii. 17.
- ↑ Dixit ad Noe: Finis universæ carnis venit coram me; repleta est terra iniquitate a facie eorum, et ego disperdam eos cum terra.—Ibid. vi. 13.
- ↑ Vias illius quis intelligit? Plurima illius opera sunt in absconsis.—Ecclus. xvi. 21, 22.
- ↑ Quis poterit scrutari vias ejus? Memento quod ignores opus ejus. Ecce, Deus magnus vincens scientiam nostram.—Job xxxvi. 23, 24, 26.
- ↑ O homo, tu quis es, qui respondeas Deo?—Rom. ix. 20.
- ↑ Ne sutor ultra crepidam.
- ↑ Numquid dicit figmentum ei qui se finxit: quid me fecisti sic?—Rom. ix. 20.
- ↑ Comprehendere cogitas viam Altissimi. Vade, pondera mihi ignis pondus, aut mensura mihi flatum venti. Si essem interrogans te, dicens: Quantæ habitationes sunt in corde maris, aut quantæ venæ sunt super firmamentum.—IV. Esdr. iv. 2, 5, 7.
- ↑ Altiora te ne quæsieris, et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris; sed quæ præcepit tibi Deus illa cogita semper, et in pluribus operibus ejus ne fueris curiosus. Non est enim tibi necessarium ea quæ abscondita sunt videre oculis tuis. Plurima enim super sensum hominum ostensa sunt tibi. Multos quoque supplantavit suspicio illorum.—Ecclus. iii. 23, 25, 26.
- ↑ Non velassem si sciri vellem.
- ↑ Possum constanter et rationabiliter dicere: nescio secretum, et consilium divinitatis ignoro.
- ↑ Pudicitia et obsequio, nulla ejus arcana scrutando.
- ↑ In officina non audet reprehendere fabrum; et audet reprehendere in hoc mundo Deum!—S. Aug. in Ps. cxlix.
- ↑ Nolite ante tempus judicare, quoadusque veniat Dominus.—I. Cor. iv. 5.
- ↑ Ut jumentum factus sum apud te. Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me.—Ps. lxxii. 23, 24.
- ↑ In capite libri scriptum est de me, ut facerem voluntatem tuam. Deus meus, volui, et legem tuam in medio cordis mei.—Ibid. xxxix. 8, 9.
- ↑ Cur præcepit vobis Deus ut non comederetis de omni ligno paradisi?—Gen. iii. 1.
- ↑ Ita, Pater, quouiam sic fuit placitum ante te.—Matt. xi. 26.
- ↑ Cœci vident, claudi ambulant, leprosi mundantur, surdi audiunt, mortui resurgunt, pauperes evangelizantur.