19th Week OT (M)
Deus providebit! God will provide. That God will provide is as sure as the sun rising and setting. As sure as 2 + 2 always equaling 4. There can be no doubt. Why? Because it is the nature of God to order all created things toward their created end. That is, God created All and gave every created thing – in its creation – a final end, a telos. To create a thing and deny it an end is sadistic. Worse still is to create a thing, give it an end, and then deny it the means of achieving that end. Imagine God creating a human person, giving that person the telos of achieving perfection only by following the divine law, and then refusing to provide access to that law! He would be intentionally creating a rational animal who's unable to satisfy his/her deepest desire. Now imagine millions, billions of these permanently hopeless persons living together for 70+ years each over hundreds of generations. You'd have a planet populated by nothing but psychotics and sociopaths. But what would happen if all these persons were provided with the means to achieve their created ends and these means were imposed on them rather than merely offered? IOW, they had no choice in accepting and using the means provided. The result? They would be nothing more than animals. Squirrels, elephants, and cats have no choice in the fulfillment of their purpose. They are perfect as they are. No reason, no moral faculties. No moral faculties, no chance of refusing to pursue their purpose. No freedom to refuse their purpose, no chance of them failing to be perfect. Since we are created in the imago Dei – divine love – and re-created in the imago Christi, we are free. Free to pursue our telos and use the means God has provided. But we must do freed-part. Jesus could've simply produced that coin and handed it to Simon Peter. Instead, he sends Simon Peter fishing. Simon Peter could've balked and taken a nap. Or pitched a hysterical fit at having to work for the coin. Or laughed and called Jesus crazy. If he had done any of these things, he would not have the coin. Jesus provides the coin. But Simon Peter has to freely choose to go get the coin. So, Deus providebit. God will provide. He provides the end. The means to achieve that end. The freedom to accept and use the provided means. But He will not compel us to cooperate. Why? Because He loves us. And because He loves us, we are free.
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