Page 157 - Built For God Handbook (Annotated and Explained Edition) - The Christian Edition of the Tao Te Ching - The New Evangelization - Pope John Paul II

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The path to greatness rests on one having an unshakeable faith in the
providence of God, who turns everything to the good for those who love
God. That faith leads one to live out a paradox: that what seems at first
glance to be imperfect, empty, crooked, and clumsy can and will be
transformed into a perfection, fulness, and completeness that surpasses all
expectations.

The ultimate example and verification of this stance of faith is the apparent
failure of the mission of Jesus of Nazareth, crucified on a cross, which made
possible his resurrection to a new, eternal life God wants to share with all
humanity.

At times, the experience of the apparent absence of God in our lives that
Jesus underwent on the cross (“My God, why have you abandoned me?”),
is part of the paradox involved in that mystery of faith during which God may
be closest to us.

There is a hint of this paradox in the silence and stillness of nature, during
which the mysterious, hidden, and most often the invisible force of life is at
work. This is why the psalmist can confidently proclaim, “Be still and know
that I am God.”

b
a Hebrews 12:2; John 3:34; John 19:28-30; Romans 11:33; 1 Peter 1:18;
e
d
c
John 1:16; Luke 3:4-6; 1 Samuel 17:41-50; Exodus 4:10-12;
f Proverbs 29:11; Psalm 37:7-9 Matthew 27:12-14.