What is God Doing Now? by Randall Smith

China’s Genocide: Pope Silent, Prelates Speak, by Jules Gomes

August 12, 2020

Saint of the Day for August 12: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Jan. 28, 1572 – Dec. 13, 1641)

August 12, 2020

*Image: Christ the Geometer by an unknown artist c. 1252-70 [Cathedral Museum, Toledo, Spain]. The illustration appears in an illuminated Bible.

By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing, August 12, 2020

Randall B. Smith is a tenured Full Professor of Theology. His book Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas: A Guidebook for Beginners is available from Emmaus Press. …

Some people seem to believe they can see the “arc of history” and know where history is headed. Personally, I am no good at trying to read the “tea leaves” of history. I believe in Divine Providence, but I am not the one to figure out what God is doing or what His intentions are at any particular moment.

If a fortunate series of events occurs, I have learned to be wary of concluding, “Ah, God must be pleased and wanted me to do X,” whether X is “marry that girl,” “take that job,” or “buy that car.”

And the saints have taught me (not that I am a good student) that when bad things happen, I should not conclude (as I often do), “God clearly hates me and wants me to fail.”

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