Focolare Movement

Pasquale Foresi: Providence exists

Nov 11, 2017

A concern that so often afflicts the human heart is that there is never enough money. We can be reassured by the words of Pasquale Foresi (1929-2015) who was a co-founder of the Focolare Movement and a theologian. He reminds us of the Father’s promise to intervene and help those who are able to look to Heaven.

 Providence-a“The mystery of Providence that arrives in concrete terms in Christian life has always been unfathomable, because it has to do with the way God makes himself known to us that was revealed by Jesus: God’s Fatherhood. All of us have worries about material goods: fathers and mothers need to stretch their budget until the end of the month; directors of civil or religious organisations struggle to keep expenses within budget. Every day, turmoil and change occurs among peoples and nations seeking to find new economic alignments. Generally speaking, in terms of economics, the tough laws of competition are uppermost in people’s minds. We often hear that economics is like physics or mathematics. It runs in cycles and foreseeable processes that are necessary and determined. Some things can be forecast and there are inevitable disruptions and crises. Little can be changed, so the textbooks say. However, in one book we can instead find the true law governing economic life on earth, the law that Jesus proclaimed: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mt 6:33) “There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age” (Mk 10:29-30) In this law, we discover the mystery that occurs when the divine and human are joined. Economic laws certainly have value, but if we do not take into account the fact that Divine Providence exists, which also regulates economic factors, we will never understand why some great things happen. Heaven exists, as well as earth and Heaven has promised to intervene and help the little people on earth, if they look to Heaven. This is not a fairy-tale: it is the daily experience had by many Christian parents; it is the experience had by the Church and by the founders of Religious Orders and many apostles of practical charity. God intervenes in human affairs every time human beings want God to intervene, by adapting their lives to God’s life. All Christians can have this experience.”   Pasquale Foresi – Parole di Vita [Words of Life] – Città Nuova, Roma, 1963 – pp.91-92  

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