“I understand that someone suffers or is afflicted, but why worry if God is there?” (Venerable Anne de Guigné).
These words come from the mouth of a very young saint. It was Anne de Guigné herself who said: “Nothing is difficult if you love God”. Here we find a saintly simplicity that just assimilated the teachings of the Lord and allowed them to penetrate her soul. In this way they became a natural reality for Anne.
Who could disagree with her affirmation, since it corresponds to spiritual logic? If God is there, why should we worry? Yes, why? He is there and He will use everything for the good of His own.
Our Lord must have been referring to this irresistible childlike trust and the carelessness that results from it when He said: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mk 10:14-15).
It is not merely human optimism that tends to overlook reality and, as a result, not infrequently judges situations inappropriately. An attitude like that of Anne de Guigné, on the other hand, is marked by that strong supernatural faith that our Father wants to find in all of us.
Of course, we are not all at the tender age of Anne de Guigné when she spoke these words. But their content concerns us all: “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you” (1Pt 5:7).
If we try to assimilate in our hearts the words in which our Lord invites us to be carefree and to trust in Him, and then to put them into practice in concrete situations, thus counteracting the worries and the various emotions that try to overwhelm us, we will better understand the venerable Anne: “Why worry if God is there?”