Father Nicolas Schwizer
How do we understand this? We believe that God the Father has made a life plan for each one of his children. Through that providential plan, He wants to lead us to his Kingdom, educate us as his children, and make us perfect according to the image of Jesus Christ.
And because “God is love,” this plan can only be a plan of love. God wants us to be happy for all eternity. Therefore, God only wants what is good for us.
God, consistent with his plan, is concerned for each human being because He is Father. He is concerned about everything, including what is most insignificant in my life. Thus the word of the Lord: “Are two birds not sold for two coins? Nevertheless, not one of them falls to the earth without the consent of the Father who is in Heaven…”
God wants us to know, wants us to discover – little by little – his plan of love. He wants us to know what his desire is for us. For that reason, He speaks to us permanently.
There are three books which contain his word.
1. First is the BIBLE.
2. Second is the book of his CREATION: There He speaks to us, for example, through the flowers, the sky, the sun, etc. Each one of his creatures is the incarnation of one of his thoughts or desires.
3. But over all, God speaks to us through the book of life, that is, the happenings of each day. Everything that happens – for example – that problem which arose at work or at home; that joy which my spouse gave me; that advice which I received from a friend… all of that is a voice, a calling from God.
God is truly present in my life and it is there where I have to encounter Him and dialog with Him. But for that, I need to know how to see with faith what happens to me and give myself time to decipher the messages which God sends me.
What is hardest to accept in our life are the painful events, crosses and sufferings which God sends or which He permits. God’s hands are always kind, but they are sometimes disguised with iron gloves. And those iron gloves are harmful.
What should we do then? We should make the iron gloves transparent and see behind them – in the light of faith – the kind hands of the Father. He always does everything for love, also when it has to do with injustices, calamities, humiliations, or other crosses which He permits in our lives. Thus, each day of our life, each happening is like a love letter which God writes to us.
To encounter the God of life, we should first seek Him in our past. We should see his hand in those happenings which have marked us the most, both in the sad and the joyful events. None of that has happened by chance. God writes with me an original love story, unprecedented, different from all others. And I must accept it just as He has wished.
But I especially have to read the messages which God sends me at the present in my life. I can no longer change the past and I have to accept it just as it has been. The future is still open. And through the things which are happening to me today, God is proposing to me plans which I have to fulfill tomorrow: He is inviting me to act, He is giving me warnings, He is asking me for more love. For example, my child’s illness, the difficult situation at work, the poor grade I made at school, etc., these are voices, calls from God. Also, the social, political, and religious situation in my country forms part of my personal dialog with God. In everything, I try to listen to his voice in order for me to respond to what He asks of me.
That has been the permanent attitude of the Blessed Virgin. She gathered and meditated on all which happened around her to thus discover the plan of God with Her.
We also must imitate the example of Mary. We too must become accustomed to reflect on what God says to us or asks of us through the different things which happen to us. We will then go securely through life.
Questions for reflection
1. Do I see God in the crosses of my life?
2. Do I reflect on God’s plan in my life?
3. “Do I read the book of my life?”