Volume III, Treatise I, Chapter XVI

That Confidence in God Is Another Very Efficacious Means to Obtain Javours from Him

St. Cyprian, explaining these words of God to the children of Israel, “All places where you have set foot shall be yours” (Deuteronomy 11:24),—says, “by the foot we ought to understand hope, and the greater our hope is, the more things it will obtain. St. Bernard says the same. You will possess all things, says he, as far as you extend your hope. If you have a great hope and confidence in God, it will do much for you. But if your hope be weak, it will do but very little. We have many examples of this in the gospel. See how the prince of the synagogue who had lost his daughter, speaks to Jesus Christ: “Lord”, says he, “my daughter is just now dead, but come lay your hand upon her, and she shall live”’ (Matthew 9:18) He had, without doubt, some faith and confidence, because he believed that Jesus Christ could raise his daughter to life; however, he had not much, because he believed it necessary that our Saviour should go to the place where she was, and lay his hand upon her. And hence our Saviour, conforming himself to the faith of her father, goes to his daughter, and having found her dead, he takes her by the hand, and raises her to life. The woman in the gospel, who had been sick of a bloody flux for twelve years, and had spent in vain all she had on physicians, approached the Son of God with a little more faith, “for she said within herself, So that I can but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be healed” (Matthew 1:21) She gets through the press of the people, approaches him, touches the hem of his garment, and behold she is cured at the same instant, God acting towards her conformably to the extent of her faith and confidence. But the centurion had a great deal more; he came to find out our Saviour, and to beseech him to cure his servant who was sick, but he did not beg of him for this purpose either to go to his house, or to vouchsafe to permit his servant to touch his clothes. ‘ Lord”, says he, “Iam not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; say but the word and my servant shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8) He also merited that our Saviour should speak in admiration of his faith: “Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith in Israel”. And turning himself to the centurion, he said: ‘Go, and be it done unto thee according to thy faith”. He had a firm confidence that Jesus Christ needed only to speak, to cure his servant; and Jesus Christ, conforming himself to his faith, cured him by his bare word. This shows that God is pleased to treat and deal with us according to the confidence we have in him. “Let thy mercy, O Lord”, says David, “extend itself towards us, according to the hope that we have in thee” (Psalms 32:22) According to the depth of the vessel of our confidence, says St. Cyprian, such shall be the quantity of Heavenly waters that God shall pour into it..

When Jesus Christ commanded St. Peter to come to him upon the waves, St. Peter walked upon them as if he had land to walk upon, so far was he from being afraid; but no sooner did he begin to lose confidence, perceiving the wind to rise, but he pres sently began to sink, wherefore our Saviour reprehended him for this fear, saying: ‘‘ Man of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31); as if he would say to him that he sunk only for want of confidence. It is thus that, through our want of confidence, the waves of temptations often seem ready to swallow us up, and that we are not able to resist the storms that arise against us. For if we had firm confidence in God, he would not fail to take us out of all sorts of dangers, and to replenish us: with his graces.

The Moabites and Ammonites having joined their forces together to make war against Josaphat, king of Juda, this prince perceiving himself too weak to resist them, was seized with panic

fear; but because in this extremity he and all his people had recourse to Heaven, God said to them by the prophet, “Fear nothing; be not at all afraid of the multitude that is assembled against thee, because itis not thine but God’s war: it is not thou that shalt fight; have but a firm confidence in God, and thou shalt see the succours that God will give thee”—II. Paral., xx. 15. And in effect they soon received these succours; for without their doing anything, God destroyed their enemies, permitting that they should turn their armies one against the other, and thereby destroy themselves. Now let us consider how little God requires of us to procure his assistance, and to obtain the victory over our enemies, He only requires of us to repose confidence in him, and in the ninetieth Psalm he himself gives no other reason for the succours he promises the afflicted, than their hope in him: “Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name” (Psalms 90:14) “O wonderful liberality of God”, cries out St. Bernard upon these words, “who never fails to assist those that hope in him!” ‘Our fathers”, says the Royal Prophet, “have hoped in thee; they hoped in thee, O Lord, and thou hast delivered them. They cried out unto thee, and thou hast saved them: they hoped in thee, and were not confounded” (Psalms 21:5,6) Who has ever had recourse to God, or had an entire confidence tn him, without

“being heard and succoured? ‘Cast thy eyes upon all the nations of the Earth”, says the wise man, ‘and know that never any one hoped in God and was confounded. For who has ever invoked him and was despised?” (Ecclesiasticus 2:11,12) There is still another reason that ought particularly to engage us to put our whole confidence in God; but having spoken of it elsewhere more at large, I shall touch only slightly on it here. It is this, that when diffiding in ourselves, we put our whole confidence in God alone, we transfer all upon him, and trust him with everything, so that this engages him to take care of our interest, as of his own glory. The conversion of souls js your affair, O Lord, and not ours, for what are we able to do if you touch not their hearts? Apply yourself, then, and put your hand to it in a special manner.

The words which Josue said to God, to avert his anger from the people of Israel who had fled from the enemy, are well adapted to this subject: “‘ What will become of the glory of thy name?”~—Jos., vii, 9. Humble us, O Lord, if it be your good will and pleasure, and deliver us up to our enemies, as we have deserved! But what will they say of your name? What will the nations say when they shall behold the destruction and captivity of your people? They will say that you could not conduct them into the land that you had promised them. “Give no glory, therefore, to us, O Lord, but to thy name”——Ps., cxiii, 9. “Do justice to thyself, O Lord, but charge us with confusion” (Baruch 2:6),—as you shall think fit. In fine, let it be taken in what manner it will, it is always a very good means to obtain all sorts of favours from God, to have a great confidence in him, “for our Lord beholds with a pleasing countenance those that fear him and hope in his mercy” (Psalms 146:11)

But above all, religious have a particular reason to promise themselves God’s assistance in their ministry, because, being engaged therein by obedience, they are engaged by the order of God, who consequently will not fail to give them strength and necessary help to acquit themselves as they ought. When God commanded Moses to make for him the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the propitiatory which was to be above it, and the altar and table upon which the loaves of propitiation were placed, and, in a word, all the vessels which were for the service of the tabernacle, he did not content himself to mark down the measures and proportions of each one; but, that his orders might well be executed, “he chose Beseleel and Oliab, to whom he gave such ability and understanding as was necessary to know how to work perfectly in gold, silver, precious stones, copper, marble, and all sorts of wood” (Exodus 31:2) Now if God, having chosen workmen to make a material tabernacle, took care to inspire them with all the necessary knowledge they should stand in need of, what will he not do in regard of those workmen and ministers of the gospel whom he has chosen to make the spiritual tabernacle of souls, to raise the living temple of the Holy Ghost, and to extend his kingdom in the hearts of men? Have we not ground to hope that, inasmuch as spiritual things surpass material, even so he will proportionably give us all that is necessary to acquit ourselves well in our ministry. He has so firmly assured us of his help on these occasions, that he would not have us be in pain even about what we shall have to say. ‘“When”, says he, “ye shall appear before governors of provinces, and before kings on my account, think not what ye are to say, nor how ye ought to speak, for then God will put words into your

738 mouth. For you do not speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you” (Matthew 10:18) He promises, in fine, such victorious eloquence as nothing shall be able to resist. “I will give you”, says he, “a mouth,-and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay” (Luke 21:15) And in effect, do we not read in the Acts of the Apostles that those that disputed with St. Stephen “were not able to resist his wisdom and the spirit that spoke in him”? (Acts 6:10)

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