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SERMON VII.

PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

"Know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded."ECCLESIASTICUs, ii: 11.

It is the creative hand of God which drew from nothing the world and all that it contains, and it is His Providence which watches over and preserves all things. If the sun faithfully runs its course in the heavens, it is God who, as it were, leads it along. If that beneficent planet sheds light and fertility on the earth, it is because God so ordains it. If the earth supplies our wants and rewards the labor of man by yielding him his daily bread, it only obeys the commands of the Lord. If the air descends into our breasts and keeps us alive, it but follows the path marked out for it by Providence. Yes, my Brethren, the eye of Providence is always upon the works of creation, and from the crawling worm to the highest star, every thing is an object of the tenderest solicitude of the Lord. Oh! "know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." Yes, we ought to have confidence in the paternal Providence of God, for He is all-powerful, He is infinitely wise, and His bounty knows no limits. You know it is of this Providence that I wish to speak to you to-day. It is a most interesting subject: listen then with attention. In vain would all the beings in heaven, on earth and in hell unite their efforts to oppose the exercise of God's power; the will of the Lord must ever be accomplished. The reward will always be given and the punishment inflicted just as it pleases God. This is a truth supported by numerous examples drawn from the Sacred Scriptures or furnished by the experience of all ages. Joseph, while yet a youth, had attained the highest degree of perfection in the practice of virtue,

and the most ardent piety adorned his beautiful soul. In the designs of God it was in consequence determined that he should be raised to honors and to wealth. Beloved by his father Jacob, he was for that very reason an object of aversion to his brothers, whose hatred increased when they learned that Joseph had resolved to reveal to their father, a heinous crime of which these wicked youths were guilty. But their hatred was changed into fury when Joseph in his simplicity, made known to them the two dreams which the Lord had sent him, and which foretold that this holy son of Jacob would be invested with great authority over his brothers. In their unnatural rage they determined to take away his life, but God willed that Ruben, the eldest of the patriarch's children, should oppose their horrid design. His Providence brought along some Egyptian merchants, and to them Joseph was sold by his brethren. After that he became a slave to Potiphar, the captain of the king's guards, who at first recognizing the profound wisdom of this holy young man, treated him well, but being deceived by calumny, had him before long cast into a prison. Here he lay for some years, until the Providence of God in a wonderful manner, made him known to Pharao, the king of Egypt. His wisdom, and the foresight which the Almighty had given to him, enabled him to render most signal services to the king and all the people of Egypt, and Pharao, in gratitude for these services, elevated him to the dignity of governor of his empire, and made him the greatest man in the kingdom next himself. Thus it was that God at length rewarded the virtues of his servant Joseph.

From this same land of Egypt, the cry of the Israelites arose to the Lord to deliver them from the cruel slavery under which they had groaned for so many years. God commands Moses and his brother Aaron to go and inform Pharao that he must permit the children of Israel to leave the land of Egypt. Pharao hardens his heart, resists the command of God, and the hand of the Lord chastises him and his people with ten frightful plagues. The cruel king is forced to acknowledge the finger of the Almighty in the wonders which were wrought before his eyes; he bows to the mandates of heaven, and allows the people of God to depart. But he soon grows sorry and changes his mind. Then, at the head of a powerful army, he follows on the tracks of the Israelites: he sees

them, hastens his march, and resolves to massacre them on the shores of the Red Sea. But what can man do in opposition to the designs of God? God commands; Moses strikes the waters, and they rise like high walls on each side to give a passage to the poor fugitives. The king of Egypt presses on their steps in this road hollowed out in the middle of the sea; once more Moses strikes the waters, the sea returns to its bed and buries in its waves the entire Egyptian army. Thus it is God punishes the wicked.

God is all-powerful; what he wills is accomplished in despite of all the evil designs and criminal projects of men. "There is one most high Creator, Almighty, and a powerful King and greatly to be feared, who sitteth upon His throne, and He is the God of dominion." Children of an all-powerful God, have confidence in your heavenly Father, and let yourselves be conducted by His holy. and adorable Providence, which rules and disposes all things according to the councils of the most profound wisdom. God knows all things, sees all things, ordains all things; nothing happens, nothing is done, but what the Lord wills or permits. "And all their works are as the sun in the sight of God; and His eyes are continually upon their ways." It is by dispensation of His will or permission of His wisdom, that good things or evil, health and sickness, success and misfortune, prosperity and misery come upon us. Every thing in the world moves along in the paths marked out by Providence; it is the Lord who directs the steps of man, whether he be a scourge of God, who lays waste the land, or an peaceful ploughman who makes it fertile by his labor. Even the most minute events are balanced in the hand of Providence, for the Lord hath said, "not a sparrow shall fall to the ground without the will of your heavenly Father. The very hairs of your head are numbered." Let your hearts, therefore, repose with the utmost confidence on the infinitely wise Providence of your God. Receive with gratitude the blessings He bestows upon you, but also accept with resignation, and bear with patience, the crosses He sends you; murmur not against God, and arraign not His Providence. Ah! my Brethren, how can we be so daring as to summon the Providence of God to the tribunal of our weak reason? Who are we

* Ecclesiasticus, i: 8. † Ecclesiasticus, xvii: 16. St. Matthew, x: 29, 30.

that we would enter into dispute with the Lord? And nevertheless we have the audacity to do so, when we criticise the conduct of God; as for example, in the distribution of worldly goods. Why, we ask, are there some rich, and some poor? Tell me, my Brethren, if all were rich, who would be willing to labor? Who would wish to be laborer, mechanic, or servant? If all were masters, who would obey? Who would prevent crime and resist injustice? If all were poor, who would assist the unfortunate! The world would be like a vast hospital overcrowded with suffering beings without aid and without resources. Take the world then as it is, and acknowledge and adore the supreme wisdom of your Creator, for it is ever accompanied by His infinite bounty. This pious, upright man, prospers in his enterprises, lives to a good old age, and enjoys happiness; why? because he is worthy of this happiness. His virtues deserved it, and he knows how to make a holy use of the goods which God gives him. On the other hand, I see another righteous Christian who is poor, unfortunate, pressed down with disease and with sorrows; why? O because God desires that the heart of this Christian should not be attached to this world, but that he should aspire to the possession of celestial and eternal goods. Like the poor man Lazarus, he is in suffering, but if like Lazarus, he walks along the road of sorrows, like him also will he arrive at the heaven of joy. Death comes and takes away that fervent young Christian, as it took away in the flower of their youth Abel and Aloysius of Gonzaga; why? because God hastens to call him to heaven, there to reward his holy life; or perhaps God, who loves him, took him from this world, foreseeing that a longer life would have caused his ruin and perdition.

God strikes the impious and wicked with death in the midst of their career: why? because they are unworthy of life, and He is unwilling that their bad example should be any longer a temptation to the just. But other wicked men live a long time on earth: there is no one, no matter how depraved he may be, who has not sometimes performed some good deeds. God grants him a long life, thus to reward on earth the few good works he may have performed, and also to give him time to be converted and to be saved. It often happens, that the Lord strikes a terrible blow, prostrates the wicked, and plunges him into misery, sickness and misfortune;

thus to compel him to open his eyes to the true light, to acknowledge his crimes, to be converted, and to save his soul.

Yes, my Brethren, the wisdom of God is displayed in all He does, ordains or permits. Therefore, it does not belong to our weak reason to penetrate the inscrutable designs of the Lord our God. Let us often say with the Apostle: "Oh! how incomprehensible are the judgments of God! how unsearchable are His ways!" How good God is, and how He loves to take care of us, who are the work of His hands!

God is good; He compares himself to a most tender father, saying: "As the father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear Him."* God is good, loving us with more than a mother's love and tenderness, for he says to us: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee in my hands."t You see then that the Lord watches over you with more care, loves you with more affection, than the most tender mother loves her beloved child. Have confidence then in the Providence of God. How the millions of poor, who like the birds of the air sow not neither do they reap, and yet find their daily bread, proclaim the watchfulness of God's bounty, and the maternal solicitude of His divine Providence. How the poor little orphans, who deprived of father and mother, yet find at the hands of God, nourishment and raiment, exalt His divine goodness. God has seen their tears, He has heard their sighs. Surely He who hears so plainly and answers so benignantly the plaintive cry of the little famishing bird, cannot be deaf to the voice, or heedless of the misery of the creatures whom He has stamped with His own image and likeness? After the example of all the true servants of God, let us, my Brethren, repose with confidence on the Providence of God. He is infinitely powerful, infinitely wise and good, and His care will never abandon us. But let us also endeavor to fulfill well His precepts and commandments; let us discharge with diligence and cheerfulness the duties of the state of life in which the hand of God has placed us; let us abound in good works, and thereby contribute to the glory of God; this is

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