SR
← Collationes (Conferences / Collations)/Book 3 · Collationes — Liber III
Chapter 40OdoC.3.40

Caput XXXIX

God's Universal Gaze and the Mystery of Delayed Justice

Odo addresses those who doubt divine providence because God's help seems slow, affirming from Job and Gregory the Great that God sees and governs all things—from the single soul to the whole human race—and that His apparent silence is not absence but wise delay, preserving both present mercy and final judgment.

Some people do not believe God concerns himself with human affairs, since those affairs seem to happen by chance. And they doubt that divine help is present to them, especially since their prayers go unheard. But in the book of Job it is written: He looks beyond all the heavens, and over the nations, and over all people (Job 37:3).✦1 Hence, in the twenty-fifth book of the Moralia, God looks upon all things equally, he arranges all things equally, present everywhere — not confined to any place, and not changed by the variety of what he cares for.2 So then, divine judgments are directed upon a single soul just as they are upon a single city; and just as upon a single nation, so upon the whole multitude of the human race. Thus he rules from the highest place so that he does not abandon even the lowest, nor is he absent from the whole when he arranges one thing, nor from the one when he arranges the whole.3 Therefore he does not neglect human deeds — indeed, he frequently either punishes or rewards them here. But, as has been said, he considers how he determines them, whether now or in the future. If he punished every sin at once with obvious penalty, it would seem he was saving nothing for the final judgment. On the other hand, if he punished no sin now, people would believe there is no divine providence at all. Indeed, when those who suffer cry out and are heard too slowly — when their cry seems to be ignored — hope is weakened, and heavenly help is believed to be absent, because it is obtained too slowly. Against this, it is written: For God will not hear in vain (Job 35:13).✦4

Heard According to Salvation, Not According to Desire

Odo explains that God sometimes grants what is asked and sometimes withholds it, always for our true good—illustrating with Job, the Apostle Paul, and the Psalmist—and warns that deferred hope can wound the soul.

Not in vain, he says, but for your good. Most people are heard according to their wish, but not for their salvation — as when Satan sought out blessed Job.5 On the other hand, some are heard not according to their wish, but for their salvation — as the blessed Apostle was.✦6 Hence the Psalmist: My God, I will cry out by day, and you will not hear (Ps. 21:3);✦7 and then: And at night, and not to my foolishness (Ibid.).✦8 . In the night he cries out, whose hearing is put off.9 For hope that is deferred kills the soul.✦10

God Hears Even When He Seems Silent

Odo reassures the sufferer that God is never truly unaware of our pain, urging the afflicted to recall God as merciful Creator and to follow David's example of silent trust rather than murmuring against divine providence.

And so it might be said: It is as though you abandon me when you do not hear me crying out in prayer, yet while you overlook what I foolishly demand, you hear me better, because you provide what is more fitting. Against the notion that God does not consider the things we suffer, Scripture speaks: God does not hear in vain, and the Almighty regards the causes of each one (Job 35:13).✦ For clearly he hears the prayers that he pretends not to hear, and he is not unaware of what each person suffers. But anyone who is driven by the weight of affliction either to murmur or to despair should consider God as the author of mercy and of his own nature. For King David, pressed by distress, gathered himself up to hope, saying: I was silent and did not open my mouth, because it was you who did it (Ps. 38:10).✦ 38:10). For he considered that he who kindly created him when he did not exist would surely not strike him, now that he exists, except justly. Hence Moses, when he was rebuking those who murmured, said: Perverse generation, is this how you repay the Lord?✦

The Creator Who Made You Will Not Abandon You

Drawing on Moses's rebuke of Israel and Gregory the Great's Moralia, Odo argues that the God who kindly created us when we did not exist would never torment us without cause or allow immoderate suffering to overwhelm His chosen.

adding: Surely not he himself, your Father, who created you?✦ etc. (Deut.✦ XXXII, 5, 6.)✦ And as if he were to say: He who created you with kindness does not allow you to be tormented without cause, nor does he carelessly let you perish.✦ And likewise in the voice of one who despairs in Job — yet it does not say, 'Where is he who made me?'✦ (Job XXXV, 10.)✦ For, as it is said in the third volume of the Moralia, all things that happen to people come by the hidden counsel of God, and he himself arranges the degree to which each person is attended by prosperity or adversity; nor does he allow immoderate prosperity to exalt his chosen ones, nor excessive adversity to weigh them down.

Hope Anchored in God's Mercy: From Despair to the Harbor of Hope

Odo counsels the despairing soul to recall God's past goodness and its own sins, so as to trust in mercy rather than accuse God, and offers the examples of St. Martin and St. Anthony who found the Lord's presence precisely in the midst of trial.

Anyone crushed by despair amid hardships gives scarcely a thought to the one by whom he was made. For, as has been said, the one who made what did not exist will never abandon the thing he made without his guidance. Hence Ambrose: If any craftsman neglects care for his own work, abandons and forsakes it, and what he himself intended to create — let him not think that what he has done is the greatest cruelty. But when this storm of despair agitates us, the shaken mind more quickly settles itself in the harbor of hope — if it calls to mind the good things of God, if it does not excuse the evils it has rendered in return for his good gifts, if it weighs what it has justly deserved from him and what it has received. If, therefore, a suffering person considers either the good things received from God or the evils committed by himself, he will not accuse the punishments he endures, nor will he grow weary of hoping for mercy — mercy that would have been his even if no good gifts had preceded. Otherwise, how will that word stand: 'The Lord is near to those who are troubled in heart' (Psalm✦ XXXIII, 19), as blessed Martin undoubtedly affirms — he who, when captured by robbers, showed no change in his expression, and when asked whether he was afraid, replied that he had never felt so secure, because he knew the mercy of the Lord is especially present in times of trial. Blessed Anthony too, when he had been so afflicted by evil spirits that neither their blows nor his own steadfastness could properly be reckoned — at last, with those phantoms fading away and heavenly light poured in, he was restored and said: 'Jesus, where have you been until now?'

Christ Was Watching: The Hidden Presence in Trial

In the chapter's closing word, Christ tells Anthony, 'I was here, but I was waiting to see your patience,' revealing that God's apparent absence in suffering is a hidden presence that honors and strengthens the one who endures.

And soon he said to him: 'Antony, I was here, but I was waiting to see your patience.'

Read the original Latin

Nonnulli res humanas Deum curare non aestimant, quoniam fortuitis casibus fieri videntur, auxilium vero divinum sibi adesse diffidunt, maxime cum preces eorum non exaudiuntur. Sed in Job dicitur: Supra omnes coelos ipse considerat, et super gentes, et super omnes homines (Job XXXVII, 3). Hinc in Moralium libro XXV, aeque Deus omnia respicit, aeque cuncta disponit, ubique praesens nec localiter tenetur, nec varia curando variatur. Sic ergo divina judicia intenduntur super unam animam, sicut super unam urbem; et sicut super unam gentem, sic super universam generis humani multitudinem, sic summa regit ut etiam extrema non deserat, nec universo deest cum disponit unum, nec uni cum disponit universum. Non ergo negligit humanos actus; quippe quos hic frequenter aut punit, aut remunerat; sed, ut dictum est, ipse considerat qualiter eos vel nunc, vel in posterum determinat. Qui si nunc omne peccatum manifesta poena plecteret, nihil ultimo judicio servare putaretur: rursus si nullum nunc peccatum puniret, nulla esse divina providentia crederetur. Afflicti vero dum clamant si tardius exaudiuntur, dum clamor eorum quasi negligitur, spes infirmatur, et supernum adjutorium deesse creditur, quoniam tardius impetratur. Quo contra scriptum est: Neque enim frustra exaudiet Deus (Job XXXV, 13).

Non frustra, inquit, sed utiliter. Plerique exaudiuntur ad votum, sed non ad salutem, ut Satanas quando beatum Job expetiit. Ad haec alii non ad votum, sed ad salutem, ut beatus Apostolus. Hinc Psalmista: Deus meus, clamabo per diem, et non exaudies (Psal. XXI, 3); et deinde: Et nocte, et non ad insipientiam mihi (Ibid.) . In nocte clamat, cujus exauditio protelatur. Spes enim, quae differtur, occidit animam.

Ac si ergo diceretur: Quasi deseris me dum clamantem ad votum non exaudis, sed dum hoc quod insipienter postulo dissimulas, melius me exaudis, quoniam opportuniora procuras. Contra hoc autem quod ea quae patimur Deus non considerare putatur, cum Scriptura diceret: Neque enim frustra audit Deus, subjungitur, et Omnipotens singulorum causas intuetur (Job XXXV, 13). Quia videlicet preces audit, quas audire dissimulat, et quod quisque patitur non ignorat. Qui vero pondere percussionis vel murmurare vel desperare cogitur, auctorem misericordiae et naturae suae Deum consideret. Hinc enim rex David angustiis pressus ad spem sese recolligebat, dicens: Obmutui, et non aperui os meum; quoniam tu fecisti (Psal. XXXVIII, 10). Consideravit enim, quod qui benigne eum, qui non erat, condidit, hunc profecto conditum non nisi juste percussit. Hinc Moyses, cum murmurantes reprimeret, dixit: Generatio prava, haeccine reddis Domino?

subjungens: Nunquid non ipse et pater tuus, qui creavit te? etc. (Deut. XXXII, 5, 6.) Ac si diceret: Qui vos benigne condidit, nec sine causa cruciari nec perire neglecte permittit. Et item voce desperantis in Job, et non dixit: Ubi est qui fecit me? (Job XXXV, 10.) Nam, ut in tertio Moralium volumine dicitur, cuncta quae hominibus fiunt, occulto Dei consilio veniunt, et ipse disponit quantum unumquemque aut prosperitas aut adversitas sequatur; nec electos aut immoderata prosperitas elevet, aut nimia adversitas gravet.

Quisquis inter pressuras desperatione frangitur, eum, a quo factus est, minime contemplatur. Nam, ut dictum est, qui quod non erat fecit, factum sine gubernatione nullatenus deserit. Hinc Ambrosius: Si quis operator negligat operis sui curam, et deserat ac destituat, et quod ipse condendum putavit, non putet quod fecerit, summa inclementia est. Sed cum ista nos desperationis procella conturbat, concussa mens citius in portum spei se collocat, si bona Dei ad memoriam revocat, si mala quae bonis ejus reddidit non excuset, si perpendit quid ab eo juste meruit quod accepit. Si igitur vel accepta a Deo bona, vel mala a se gesta afflictus consideret, nec poenas quas patitur accusabit, nec a speranda misericordia lassescet, quae etiam fuerat si nulla beneficia praecessissent. Alioquin quomodo stabit illud: Juxta est Dominus his qui tribulato sunt corde (Psal. XXXIII, 19), ut beatus Martinus indubitanter affirmat, qui captus a latronibus cum nil facie mutaretur, et requisitus an timeret, respondit nunquam se tam securum fuisse, quia sciret misericordiam Domini maxime in tentationibus adesse. Beatus quoque Antonius cum a malignis spiritibus ita affectus esset, ut nec vel illorum plagae, vel illius constantia digne considerari posset, tandem portentis illis evanescentibus infusa coelitus luce recreatus dixit: Jesu, ubi eras hucusque?

et mox ad eum: Antoni, hic eram, sed exspectabam videre patientiam tuam.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Job.37.3 — Under the whole sky he sends it down, and his light reaches to the edges of the earth.
  2. ↩Job.35.13 — Surely God does not hear what is vain, and the Almighty does not regard it.
  3. ↩2Cor.12.7-2Cor.12.9 — And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, so that I would not be exalted beyond measure, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, so that I would not be exalted beyond measure. 2Cor.12.8 — Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it would depart from me. 2Cor.12.9 — And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So most gladly I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
  4. ↩Ps.21.3 — You have given him the desire of his heart, and the request of his lips you have not withheld. Selah.
  5. ↩Ps.21.3 — You have given him the desire of his heart, and the request of his lips you have not withheld. Selah.
  6. ↩Prov.13.12 — Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
  7. ↩Job.35.13 — Surely God does not hear what is vain, and the Almighty does not regard it.
  8. ↩Ps.39.9;Ps.39.10 — From all my transgressions deliver me; do not make me the scorn of the fool. Ps.39.10 — I am silent; I will not open my mouth, for you have done this.
  9. ↩Deut.32.5 — They have dealt corruptly toward him; they are not his children—their blemish is theirs—a crooked and twisted generation.
  10. ↩Deut.32.5-Deut.32.6 — They have dealt corruptly toward him; they are not his children—their blemish is theirs—a crooked and twisted generation. Deut.32.6 — Is this the way you repay the LORD—O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father who created you, who made you and established you?
  11. ↩Deut.32.5-Deut.32.6 — They have dealt corruptly toward him; they are not his children—their blemish is theirs—a crooked and twisted generation. Deut.32.6 — Is this the way you repay the LORD—O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father who created you, who made you and established you?
  12. ↩Deut.32.5-Deut.32.6 — They have dealt corruptly toward him; they are not his children—their blemish is theirs—a crooked and twisted generation. Deut.32.6 — Is this the way you repay the LORD—O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father who created you, who made you and established you?
  13. ↩Deut.32.5-Deut.32.6 — They have dealt corruptly toward him; they are not his children—their blemish is theirs—a crooked and twisted generation. Deut.32.6 — Is this the way you repay the LORD—O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father who created you, who made you and established you?
  14. ↩Job.35.10 — And no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,'
  15. ↩Job.35.10 — And no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,'
  16. ↩Ps.33.19 — to deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Scriptural citation from Job 37:3 (Vulgate numbering); final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  2. 2 ↩Gregory the Great's Moralia in Job, book 25, is the source of this theological claim about divine immutability and omnipresence.
  3. 3 ↩summa rendered as 'the highest place' — could also mean 'from the highest position' or 'from the summit of power.' The sense is God's sovereign governance from above.
  4. 4 ↩Scriptural citation from Job 35:13 (Vulgate numbering); final resolution deferred to Moses stage.
  5. 5 ↩ad votum / ad salutem: the distinction is between getting what you ask for and receiving what is truly good for you.
  6. 6 ↩beatus Apostolus likely refers to Paul (cf. 2 Cor 12:7–9, the thorn in the flesh), though the specific referent is not explicit in the Latin.
  7. 7 ↩Psalm citation incomplete in source; Vulgate Psalm 21:3 (Hebrew 22:2). Final numbering to be resolved in tx-08.
  8. 8 ↩Continuation of Psalm 21:3 (Vulgate). The phrase non ad insipientiam mihi is rendered to preserve the Psalmist's plea that God's silence is not a concession to the speaker's folly.
  9. 9 ↩exauditio protelatur: the noun exauditio (the act of being heard / the answer to prayer) is passive — the hearing of his cry is postponed, not denied.
  10. 10 ↩Spes enim, quae differtur, occidit animam — a proverbial-sounding saying. Not directly traceable to a single canonical verse; possibly echoing Prov 13:12 (Hope deferred makes the heart sick). Status: candidate allusion, unresolved.

Collationes (Conferences / Collations) companion

Day 11 and onward, delivered every morning

All 140 conferences — and the rest of the Sub Rosa library — in daily portions in the free Chosen Portion iOS app

Odo urged a daily return to sacred reading as the cure for the soul's slow decline; Chosen Portion makes that daily return a scheduled habit on your phone.

  • Continue through all three books of the Conferences at 5 minutes a day
  • Daily examination-style readings drawn from 78+ historic works
  • One morning notification to keep the practice going past day 10
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →