Garrigou-Lagrange may be the greatest Thomist of the 20th
Century. His book, Providence
The book is a meditation on God, Who He Is. The author’s
starting point in the long discussion on providence is the understanding, as
far as we can now, of the Nature of God and the nature of human beings.
I have taken so many notes on this book, I really do not
know where to begin.
Let me concentrate on one idea today. Garrigou-Lagrange
writes that holiness is the life of grace in its perfection.
As I have written many posts on grace, one can follow the
tags on those sections. The Dominican notes that sanctifying grace is the
participation in the Divine Nature. Knowing this, how can anything turn against
grace, freely?
Garrigou-Lagrange makes it clear that it is completely
rational to trust in God and to follow Him. So why is it that more people do
not follow God, if we are all rational human beings? How is it that humans more
and more turn against natural law and their own human consciences?
The fulfillment of our desire is only God. Love is the
answer to all we really need.
Garrigou-Lagrange reminds us that God has a right to be
loved by us.
We seek the real good, we desire more than we can see and
find on this earth. The entire argument for God involves not only His
Attributes, but an understanding of our won nature as human.
As I wrote last year on another blog, the new evangelization
must start with the basic questions-who is man, who is woman, where are we
going, what is the end of life, why do we exist and so on.
But, in order to evangelize at this level, one must have
some knowledge of self and Who God Is.
Herein lies the problem….
