“Divine Providence rules all things, and what we consider evil is a remedy” (St. Jerome).
These words are spiritually challenging and should instill in us a deeper faith. For understandable reasons, we all resist the evils that may befall us, and rightly so, for evil cannot simply be tolerated. However, since our heavenly Father integrates even evil into His plan of salvation, He will use it for the good of His own. Here we must make a distinction that is as subtle as it is essential: God can never actively will evil, but He can allow it to happen and thus turn it into a medicine that heals and strengthens us.
Think, for example, of the devil’s annoying attacks on those who are serious about following Jesus. Certainly, such attacks are not to be desired, but to be resisted. However, God uses them to strengthen our ability to resist. In a way, through them, our Father enables us to better recognise our weaknesses and to work with greater determination to overcome them. We are forced, so to speak, to better protect our inner fortress and to wake up from all sleepiness and false security: “Be sober, be watchful” (1 Pt 5:8).
This applies to many areas. It is only through faith that we can fully understand this teaching of St Jerome, which is a great act of trust in the omnipotence and love of God. It is He who holds everything in His hands, even if we often do not immediately understand it.
Let us think of our beloved Lord in Gethsemane. Faced with the terrible sufferings that overwhelmed Him and those that still awaited Him, He asked the Father that, if possible, the cup might pass without His having to drink it, but He immediately submitted to His will and went His way to the end. What a medicine Christ’s Passion and Death have become for all peoples! It heals their deepest wounds and, if they accept this remedy, it leads them from the distance of the Father to His nearness.