Divine Providence – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; March 1, 2026

God called Abram (whose name he later changed to Abraham) out of his own land to journey to the land he would show him. Abraham obeyed God and followed his call. Yet, when God called Abraham, he did not give him all the details, neither of his journey nor of his promise. It was enough for Abraham that it was God who had called him.

Then, Abraham needed to put his obedience to God into action by speaking to his wife, Sarah, packing up his household, setting his servants in order, and directing the caravan across the arid lands between Haran, his starting place, and the land of Canaan, to which God had directed him. No doubt there were events that transpired during the course of the journey that Abraham dealt with according to his own lights, without any special illumination from God. When he arrived in the land of Canaan, he wandered about the land at his own discretion and, when there was a famine, following his own judgment, he went down to Egypt for a time. Indeed, if we read the whole biblical account of Abraham, it is clear that he is making decisions the best he can according to his own lights, some good, some bad.

During the course of his sojourn in the land, God does not speak continually with Abraham, but he does speak from time to time, filling in more details of his promise, regarding both land and descendants. The only specific commands he gives to Abraham are the commandment of circumcision as a sign of the covenant and the command to sacrifice his son, the promised son, Isaac. He informs Abraham of the coming destruction of Sodom, to which Abraham responds by pleading to God to spare Sodom for the sake of ten just men that might be found there. Alas, the ten were not found. He also gives Abraham some instructions, as they were needed at the time, regarding his other son, Ishmael, and his mother, Hagar.

The point of all this is that if we consider, in the life of Abraham, how God’s providence actually works, we see that Abraham’s life is directed by God’s word and also by his own deliberation and choice, responding to God in faith, and that God brings his plan to fulfillment through the free actions of Abraham.

Like Abraham, we too are called from our own “land”, from our place of human origin, to journey to the eternal land that God has prepared for us, the Father’s house in heaven. We are either like Abraham on his journey to the land of Canaan, or, because we have already been given a foretaste, a downpayment as it were, of the fulfillment in the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Eph 1:13-14), we are like Abraham sojourning in Canaan, but not yet possessing the land.

We have been called because now God has made known to us his eternal plan, manifest through the appearance of our savior, Jesus Christ, who destroyed death and brought to light immortality. The pattern of Jesus’ death and resurrection reveals his plan, and his call according to that plan, for our life, for our pilgrimage to the Father’s house. That pattern was already stamped upon our souls, so to speak, when through our baptism we were joined to Christ’s death and resurrection.

He destroyed the death of sin in us through our baptism, giving us to share already in the light of immortality, through the life of grace, the life of the children of God, a true spiritual life that shares in God’s immortality and so does not die, unless by our own will we choose, through mortal sin, the way of death. Yet so long as we are in this dying life, that death of sin can be destroyed anew through a good confession, bringing to light again the immortality of grace. Then, as we walk upon the journey of faith to the Father’s house, the pattern of Christ’s death and resurrection should serve as our constant guide in all the decisions we make, turning away from sin and seeking to do good, to walk in the good works, which God has prepared beforehand. (Eph 2:10)

God does not always give us the details. Rather, he has given us a mind and heart to listen to his Son, Jesus Christ, to learn from his word and example what is the evil from which we need to turn away and the good we need to practice. Then, strengthened by a life of prayer, we need to recognize the good that lies at hand and do it. We may make mistakes, we may wander a bit from the path, but God even works through all this. We need only keep returning to him, keep returning to the path, not giving way to discouragement but learning from our mistakes, bearing our share of the hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.

God’s providence does not fail. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Rm 8:28-30)

In these few words, St. Paul has given us deep insight into the working of God’s providence. In everything that takes place in the world, in history, in current events, in our lives, whatever the intentions of men, whether they be powerful in human affairs or powerless, God is seeking to fashion those he has predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

That word “predestination” might give us a little shock. We might become anxious and wonder, “If God predestines some but does not predestine others, am I among the predestined?” We should not worry about who is and is not predestined – we do not know. Nevertheless, we should know that God does not predestinate anyone to hell, nor does he give anyone license to sin, while he gives to all sufficient grace for their salvation. (Cf. Sir 15:20) Those who are not counted among the predestined freely reject God’s grace, while those who are predestined freely accept and collaborate with his grace. The mystery of collaboration between God’s grace and our freedom is beyond our comprehension. Rather than rebel, rather than be anxious, we should put our trust in God and seek to live as though we were in fact predestined.

Those who are predestined do not presume upon God’s mercy but work out their salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in them, both to will and to work, according to his good pleasure. (Gal 2:12-13)

Fear and trembling should call to mind the Holy Spirit’s gift of holy fear, the beginning of wisdom, (Ps 111[110]:10) which frees us from all worldly fears and leads us to the peace that surpasses understanding (cf. Ph 4:7); it is the awe and amazement (and those words, which we think of in a more positive fashion, do imply a kind of fear) that arises from the awareness of the presence and action of God, who is infinitely greater than us, who for all his tender compassion is beyond our control, to whom we are answerable.

Once again, we have a choice: we can either live as friends of Christ, receiving in faith the revelation of his plan, and cooperating with that plan by an intelligent use of our freedom, or we can live as slaves, driven by sin, not sharing in the purpose of God, but fulfilling that purpose despite ourselves, as those who crucified Christ fulfilled his purpose. (Cf. Jn 15:15; Ps 2; Acts 2:22-24)

Peter, James, and John, as privileged friends of Christ, were given the inestimable gift of ascending the mountain with him, beholding his glory even in this mortal life, together with the chosen witnesses of the Old Testament, and hearing the testimony of the Father, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.

Peter, James, and John did not just behold the glory of Jesus Christ; they beheld in Christ the glory that is promised to those who believe in, obey, and follow him. So it is that St. Paul, speaking again of the pattern of death and resurrection revealed to us in Christ, wrote, You have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col 3:4) Those whom he justified he also glorified, conforming them to the image of his Son. Of that glory, St. Paul writes, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Rm 8:18)

So, in light of the glorious immortality, shining like the sun from the face of Christ, we should, like St. Paul, count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Ph 3:8)