Abandonment to Divine Providence
(Acts.1:1-11; Heb.9:24-28, 10:19-23; Lk.24:46-53)
Shortly before he died, my father asked me to read three paragraphs from Jean-Pierre de Caussade’s classic book Abandonment to Divine Providence.
De Caussade (1675-1751) was a French Jesuit priest and writer. Briefly, this is what I read: ‘If you’re looking for God, know that he’s already with you. And if you want to be a saint, then do what the saints did: surrender yourself to God. Let him inspire you.’
He continues: ‘Many people think that God is no longer active in our world, and the best you can do is remember what he said and did long ago. However, they don’t realise that God is still busy inspiring saints today. So, don’t bother copying the lives and writings of others; simply abandon yourself to God.
‘God is constantly working to sanctify and redeem our world, and we can still open ourselves up to him, just as the saints did. And just as they let God transform their hearts and lives, so we can do the same. If we give ourselves to God, he will never stop pouring his graces into us.’
De Caussade concludes: ‘This is the road our ancient fathers took, and this is the way I will go, so that I can speak as they spoke and live as they lived.’ [i]
Over the years, many good people have understood the wisdom of these words. One such person was the French Trappist monk Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard (1858–1935). In the late 1800s, he was elected abbot of the ancient Abbey of Our Lady of Seven Fountains (Sept-Fons), which was then in bad shape.
The community was spiritually weak, and the monastery itself was crumbling.
At first, Chautard tried to recruit new monks and fix the buildings, but then he realised that human effort alone wasn’t enough. He knew that before any physical work could bear fruit, the monks had to deepen their interior life with God.
Some of the monks and donors had been urging him to modernise quickly, but Chautard insisted on trusting in God’s providence. He began emphasising prayer, contemplation and keeping to the monastic rule.
And he taught his monks to regard every duty, including prayer, manual labour, and silence, as a way of surrendering to God’s will.
Spiritual depth, he knew, must come before material success.
In time, the abbey flourished. Through God’s grace, more men joined, the monastery was restored and the Cistercian tradition was revitalised.
Chautard recorded this story in his famous book, The Soul of the Apostolate.[ii]
Like de Caussade, he understood that for any ministry to flourish, it must be underpinned by a strong interior life, where we surrender ourselves to God and his providence in every present moment. This is what my father wanted me to know.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, the moment when Jesus farewells his disciples and returns to heaven because his earthly mission is over. He has taught his disciples what they need to know, and now it’s their turn to continue his work.
Jesus knows they will struggle on their own, so he promises to send his Holy Spirit to help them (Jn.14:16). That’s what happens at Pentecost, and we know the Apostles go on to do remarkable things.
Today, Jean-Pierre De Caussade reminds us that Jesus is still sending down his Holy Spirit – through the sacraments and every time we open ourselves up to God and pray.
With God, we are never alone. When we abandon ourselves to God’s divine providence, when we truly trust him, he will fill us with his graces. He will help us.
The Australian Cistercian monk, Michael Casey, says that abandonment isn’t the same as giving up. Genuine abandonment means humbly accepting that I don’t always know what’s good for me, and it means being willing to express our pain to God in prayer.
For abandonment is not stoic indifference. It’s active, not passive. It drives us to use our hardship as a springboard to leap into God’s ambit.
Casey says that we will often find that things are better between us and God if we learn to let go and to confidently place our lives in his hands. [iii]
So, if you want to be holy, become a saint or simply become more fruitful, then it’s time to develop your interior life.
Learn to trust God. He will fill you with his graces.
[i] Jean-Pierre De Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence, Cosimo Classics, New York, 2007:27-28
[ii] https://www.mountsaintbernard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Dom-Chautard-The-Soul-of-the-Apostolate.pdf
[iii] Michael Casey, Balaam’s Donkey, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN., 2018, 2-3.