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Week 2 | Trust in God's Providence
A reflection from Fr. Sean Grismer

Beloved, in this Advent season, I want to take a moment to reflect upon the confidence that we can have in God’s providence. People will say, “Oh, that was a coincidence,” but as Catholics, as Christians, we don’t actually believe in coincidences — because that would mean God has no hand in his creation. Yet he has intimately united himself to his creation, not as some esoteric, ethereal ideology, but literally, because he became flesh.

And as he became flesh, he united himself to our humanity and therefore to all of his creation. So — confidence in his providence. When we look at this, what’s the nugget of it? The nugget is that I don’t have to be worried about the things to come.

But the people of Israel were living in darkness because they had been captive by Rome at that time. Prior to that, it was Babylon. Prior to that, others. It was constant captivity. But there were moments when God would release them from earthly captivity. And when Jesus comes, he makes it known that he didn’t come to release us from earthly captivity, but to release us from spiritual captivity — the captivity of the soul, the captivity of the heart, the captivity of the mind.

And so the impulse we have is to put on the mind of Christ — that he has come to set us free. By his death on the cross, he has come to set us free.

Now, what’s powerful about this is that in Israel, it was a time when they felt like God wasn’t listening to them. They hadn’t had any prophets for 400 years, and they felt abandoned. But it was all in his divine providence. In fact, when Saint Paul says, “At the appointed time God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to save those under the law,” that’s you and me.

Jesus came at the appointed time — in the providence of the Father — so that when he extends his arms on the cross, he extends them between the past and the future.

And so, beloved, you and I are in this season right now, as we listen to this, in 2025 — the year of our Lord. And what does that mean? That his providence, his sacrificial love, and his salvation come to us even in the smallest of moments.

Even as I’m preparing for the Christmas season, I can look for his providence. It might be something small — like needing to get a gift for a friend. I know what I want to buy, I go to the store, and suddenly I find it, and it’s the last one. And I say, “Whoa — what good luck!” No, beloved. That is not luck. That is the providence of God.

On the flip side: I go to the store and they don’t have the thing I need. I try multiple stores, nothing. And I start to lose myself — rather than saying, “God, where is your providence in this? Where is your salvific act?”

Then one of two things may happen. One: the Lord says, “Look for something else,” and I look for something else and realize, “That’s actually a better idea than what I came up with.” Or two: I go to another store, and there I find the thing I was looking for — but it wasn’t really about the thing. It was about the person behind the counter. And as I’m checking out, I say, “Have a Merry Christmas. Have a blessed day.” And they respond, “Wow, thank you. I needed to hear that.” Or I simply ask, “How are you?”

We look at the providence of God not with human perspective, but with heavenly perspective. When something doesn’t go my way — or when something does go my way — praise the Lord. It was your providence, God. Because you allowed something greater to come about.

If we look at Jesus’s life and say, “I wish he would have come earlier. I wish he would have come later. Why doesn’t he come now, in 2025?” — I don’t know. But I do know that in the providence of God, he does all things according to his goodness, his love, his righteousness.

And if I rest myself upon that — if I allow myself to rest upon that — whoa. What happens? I become confident. I become utterly confident that God will always provide for me in all of my need.

So, beloved, may the peace of Christ rest in your heart, and may you rest with confidence in the providence of our loving Father. May Almighty God bless you — the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

God bless you.

What is this Virtual Pilgrimage?

Heart to Heart's latest video and audio series for Advent & Christmas is presented as a Virtual Pilgrimage of faith to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus.

Each day, beginning the first Sunday of Advent (November 30th) through Epiphany Sunday (January 4th), we will release a new video or audio reflection on the Incarnation.
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Sundays feature a video from Fr. Michael telling one of his own personal stories experiencing God made flesh, followed by an introduction of the two other speakers for that week.

Monday through Wednesday the first speaker will have a story each day on how the Incarnation has touched their lives, followed by the second weekly speaker Thursday through Saturday.

Deeply Personal Stories of Jesus

These are stories of prayer, hope, joy, sorrow and loss. Jesus finds us in all aspects of life, from Fr. Michael reflecting on the loss of his mom to Fr. Romke at an orphanage in Russia to Lauren Hackman-Brooks on a retreat in Chicago while everyone around her was celebrating for St. Patrick's Day. These are just three brief examples of the stories told during this daily virtual pilgrimage for Advent & Christmas.

Who are the pilgrimage speakers?

Videos each Sunday from Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ. Fr. Michael's Saturday homilies will resume in January.

Audio reflections Monday through Saturday from:

Fr Michael Rossmann, SJ | Dec 1-3
Ms. Lauren Hackman-Brooks | Dec 4-6
Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson | Dec 8-10
Fr. Sean Grismer | Dec 11-13
Fr James Kubicki, SJ | Dec 15-17
Ms. Paula Kowalkowski | Dec 18-20
Ms. Erin Maiorca | Dec 22-24
Ms. ValLimar Jansen | Dec 25-27
Ms. Rachel Forton | Dec 29-31
Fr Keith Romke | Jan 1-3

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