The mere mention of the query that heads this article disturbs us. It is unsettling because of our uncertainty regarding the answer; it makes us doubt the plans we have made for the future; it brings down the most powerful fortresses that have been built up on dreams and founded on illusions… No man, no matter how powerful or rich he may be, is capable of knowing exactly what will happen tomorrow.
Let us analyse, for example, the situation of one of our readers. We can say – with little chance of error – that if he is reading these lines right now, it is because he is in a safe context. Sitting on a sofa, on a park bench, on the metro or perhaps waiting in a queue that is not moving along as fast as he would like, he calmly flips through the pages of the magazine.
A well-balanced person, while reading, will not be at the same time foreseeing the imminent possibility of dying in a terrorist attack or nuclear explosion. However, a war could break out today, and tomorrow we could be the target of an attack: our lives would end in a fraction of a second, as did those of so many inhabitants of Hiroshima, literally vaporized into shadows in the course of a “simple” nuclear fission…
Is it unreasonable to consider such a hypothesis? Do the days in which we live not lend a certain plausibility to a scenario like this? Though once again uncertain, we all come to the same conclusion: the answer could be yes…
A concern of every era
Uncertainty about tomorrow is a cause of unease in everyone, at every age and in every era. Professionals think about the challenges they will face the next day at work in order to support their families, young people worry about the exams they will write, and even a young child dreams of getting those treats that they cannot enjoy today.
And this is not just a problem of troubled contemporary man. If we look at the past, we will see that the same apprehension has accompanied humanity since its dawn. In fact, when Adam was expelled from Paradise to a land cursed by his sin, he must have suffered each day with the anguish of eking out a living from it by the sweat of his brow, hoping in the mercy of the Lord who thus gave him the means to atone for his fault. Genesis, although brief, states very clearly that our first father’s punishment – and in it that of the human race – would last “all the days of your life” (3:17).
This opened up a twofold path for human beings: either despair at the uncertain prospect of tomorrow, or, in that same uncertainty, the path of trust in God.
Should we think about tomorrow or not?
Let us look around us for a moment. Have you noticed that our century has been robbed of the sense of loving dependence that once connected us to the Creator?
People today do not know what it means to trust in Providence, nor how to accept with resignation the goods and evils that come their way, because the world has deceitfully managed to fill the place that rightfully belongs to God. We have lost our serenity in the dizzying speed of modern communications and transport; we have forgotten the habit of patience and, above all, of mortification, sunk into the comforts that have invaded daily life. We have even suppressed hope in heavenly help because of the facilities that the global market offers us… So why does tomorrow still frighten us? Because our will is not in accordance with God’s will, and our security is in material goods.
Holy Scripture tells us that the righteous Job lost his children, his property, his flocks, his health and his comfort in an instant. And his response to so many misfortunes has indelibly marked history by the docility he showed: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Would anyone in today’s society be able to respond like that to the slightest trial?
The righteous Job, ‘Heures d’Henri II’ – National Library of France, Paris
But if we look at all the things that happen to us in a supernatural way, we will come to the conclusion – which, alas, the world will never agree with – that ills are often not ills, and goods are not goods; there are misfortunes that are blows of mercy and successes that are true punishments.
According to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, this is the key to not falling apart when life brings us uncertainties, setbacks and unforeseen events: “The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things, prosperous or adverse. […] We must not, therefore, consider the afflictions that come upon us as happening by chance or solely from the malice of men; we should be convinced that what happens, happens by the will of God.”1
Therefore, conformity with God’s will is the best prism from which to, view the future.
The surrender of “today”
On the other hand, in the agonizing task of predicting tomorrow, contemporary man ends up forgetting that he lives in today… which he must analyse in the light of eternity. “Chance is but a meaningless word,”2 recalls Dom Vital Lehodey, because it is Divine Providence that directs the great events of the world and the small incidents of our lives. We are blank sheets of paper on which God writes His designs day by day; what seems confusing, absurd and sometimes even contradictory to us has all the reasons, weights and measures in Him, and demands from us a filial conformity, as well as an unconditional willingness to fulfil His will.
In the parable of the wise virgins (cf. Mt 25:1-13) we see how decisive this factor can be for perseverance. Ten maidens were awaiting the bridegroom. None of them imagined that he would arrive at dawn, and they all ended up falling asleep. Their lamps were burning at that moment, and those who were wise had taken some flasks of oil with them to refill them later. They were ready to receive the bridegroom, but not worried about tomorrow, or even what might happen after hours of waiting. If they had been, they would have carried veritable barrels of oil with them!
The prudent virgins thought about now: “If he arrives now, I am ready, I have oil to spare and I will be able to follow him wherever he goes!” The foolish, on the other hand, thought neither about now nor tomorrow… They slept while the last flickers of their lamps faded, showing that they were never really prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival.
In those prudent young women, we have a simple example and a sure rule for life: today, “do what God wants us to do, and […] do it the way He wants us to do it,”3 trusting that the Lord will complete what we may lack for tomorrow due to weakness.
That is what it means to be ready for today. How long will the difficulties last? Will we be faithful? Will we withstand the trials to come? We do not know, but whatever He wants from us today we must be ready to give Him.
The secret of the Faithful Virgin
This was the life of Mary Most Holy. Could anyone have had more reason than her to worry about tomorrow, after receiving the news that She would be the Mother of the Messiah? How many uncertainties, how many perplexities, how many contradictions She saw looming in the future, while St. Gabriel was announcing to her the greatest event in history… However, no restlessness dominated her spirit “full of grace”, and the answer that flowed from her lips is a song of conformity: “let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
She wanted God’s will to be done in her, just as it is done in Heaven, and in return God did her will here on earth… With how much abandon we see the Child Jesus letting Himself be carried in the arms of this good Mother! He does not bother to know where He is going, why He is going, whether He goes quickly or slowly… it is enough for Him to be in Mary’s arms to be sure of following the path of Providence.
Our Lady of Divine Providence – Private collection
Holy abandonment was the secret of both Mother and Son: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. […] Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day” (Mt 6:31-32, 34).
Holy abandonment to Providence
Holy abandonment, in the words of Dom Lehodey, is “a total union, a kind of uniformity of our will with God’s, so that we are ready in advance for whatever God may want and receive with love whatever He does. Before the event, it is a peaceful and trusting expectation; afterwards, a loving and filial submission.”4 However, such abandonment has certain prerequisites: detachment from all creatures, a living faith and absolute confidence in Providence.5
On the other hand, it should be emphasized that the same God who encourages us to place all our trust in Him, “does not allow anyone to be careless or lazy.”6 The soul should foresee what is within its reach and laboriously do what depends on its own effort, reserving for the Lord the success or refusal of its requests, accepting with love whatever He decides, while maintaining serenity before and after events. In this way, “abandonment does not dispense with prudence, but banishes agitation.”7
This is the key to obtaining peace of soul, balance of spirit, joy of heart: conformity to God’s will taken to the sublime summit of abandonment into His hands.
The answer for tomorrow
Finally, we must add a word from Dr. Plinio, addressed to his young followers. Deeply aware of the shortcomings of today’s generation, he taught them a secret that answers and complements our question today. Let us engrave this advice deeply in our souls, let us face today differently and, as for tomorrow, let us live in the hope of achieving that happy indifference with which the saints regard the future:
“There are certain situations in which it is a prevarication to think about tomorrow. Let us think about eternity!
As for tomorrow, let us ask Our Lady to think about it for us. If the Blessed Virgin wants there to be a tomorrow, let us ask her to be good enough to prepare us for it in accordance with her glory and the benefit of our soul. As for the rest, let us not think about it! For us, tomorrow is the battle, but there is no use in thinking even about that. Let us live each minute, each moment, and Our Lady will sustain us at every instant. Then we will emerge victorious.”8 ◊
Notes
1 ST. ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI. Uniformity With God’s Will. Rockford: TAN, 1977. p.8; 9.
2 LEHODEY, OCSO, Vital. Le saint abandon. 7.ed. Paris: Gabalda, 1935, p.520
3 RODRIGUEZ, SJ, Alphonsus. Exercícios de perfeição e virtudes cristãs. 3.ed. Lisboa: União, 1927, t.I, p.147.
4 LEHODEY, op. cit., p.82
5 Cf. Idem, p.519-520.
6 Idem, p.42.
7 Idem, 44.
8 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conversation. São Paulo, 27/6/1988.
