Thank God Ahead of Time | Thanking God in Advance
ONE
Blessed Solanus Casey is someone I want you to get to know and become friends with. He grew up in Wisconsin in the late 1800s and joined the Franciscans’ in 1894 but their seminary was taught in Latin and German; two languages Casey could not grasp. Because of his difficulty with new languages, they concluded he was not intelligent enough to give homilies or hear confessions so once they ordained him, he was only allowed to pray Mass privately and do the duties of the other Franciscan brothers. Even more humiliating, they made him the door man at the monastery in downtown Detroit. Casey was misunderstood and treated unjustly. Faced with something he could not change he had two options; quit and leave; or wait and trust. He chose to stay, and he thanked God ahead of time with the absolute confidence God would work it in his favor. And this became his Motto – “Thank God ahead of time!”
God did work this situation for the good of Casey and for 10’s of 1000’s of others. During the Great Depression, when people faced every type of suffering, loss or difficulty, they would come to the Franciscan Monastery in downtown Detroit, knock on the door looking for someone to talk with and help them. And who answered the door but Casey. He would listen to their story and help them materially, if he could. Often it was not a material problem, such as cases of terminal cancer, addictions, broken marriages, ect. So Fr. Solanus would write down their problem in his journal and promise to pray for them and encourage the person with the problem to thank God ahead of time, for whatever God would do. Then the miracles began to occur. People came back to the Monastery with tales of miraculous cures, reconciled marriages, addictions overcome, and so on. When Fr. Solanus died in 1957 more than 10,000 people came to his wake and funeral, almost all with some story of a miracle attributed to Casey and his motto to Thank God ahead of time.
TWO
During the Great Depression, the monastery where he lived, St. Bonaventure’s in Detroit, ran a soup kitchen. Hundreds of families lined up each day.
One day the food ran out with many families still waiting in line. Fr. Solanus Came outside, gathered the people, saying; “In this moment that looks very uncertain, we will thank God ahead of time for taking care of us.” Then he began to lead them all praying the Our Father. At the very moment when he got to the words “Give us this day our daily bread,” a bakery truck arrived and all the families were fed.
The God who created and sustains the universe is our Father. If we do our best to do our part, He will provide for all our needs. We too can thank God ahead of time.
THREE
We can always thank God ahead of time because God turns all things to good for those who love Him. Now, we may have to wait and hope patiently until we see just how God worked it for our best, and we may not get to see it until we are in Heaven, but the fact remains - God works all things for good for those who love Him. This is why Casey could write; “Shake off the excessive worry - and instead exercise a little confidence in God’s merciful providence - by first promising some little sacrifice in thanksgiving if things go favorably. Then to show your confidence in His goodness, start thanking Him now for what He may see best to do.”
FOUR
Not all evil and suffering were miraculously changed by the prayer of Fr. Solanus Casey.
For some their situations were changed, for others they were not. A friend came to visit him with a child who was suffering from what appeared to be a cold. Fr. Solanus looked at the child and told the father, “Go to the chapel and tell God He can have her.” The child died of undetected pleurisy a few days later. It is a mystery why God heals some and not others. But we can know with certainty that no matter what happens, the only way God can allow evil, suffering, and loss is if He is going to bring about an even greater good though the thing is bad, even very bad.
But how can we thank God for the evil that happens to us? We don’t have to thank Him for the evil that has happened and we certainly don’t have to like or be happy with the evil. That would be ridiculous. But we can thank God ahead of time that He will turn even the greatest evil to be the greatest benefit in our life.
CCC 312 From the greatest moral evil ever committed - the rejection and murder of God's only Son, caused by the sins of all men - God, by his grace that "abounded all the more", brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes good.
Jesus knew God the Father would allow his suffering and death. He knew it at the Last Supper when he took bread and wine and gave thanks, eucharist, ahead of time. Thanking God His Father ahead of time that God would turn what the evil that was about to happen to the greatest good for Jesus and the whole world.
That is why we can thank him ahead of time no matter what! That is what hope is. Hope is the absolute confidence, the certainty that God works all things for good, and I mean ALL things, for those who love Him.
FIVE
The first step Solanus took with each person was to listen, care and pray. That is where the miracles began.
That is where we should begin.
Many times, when we are talking with people they share some concern they face, either personally or with someone they love. It might be an illness, or an addiction or the seeking of a new career path or difficult decisions to make – it's endless.
Be like Casey. Listen, and then tell them you will pray for them. But don’t make it idle words.
In fact – get your phone out right then and pull up your Rosary Podcast for today and hit the link for “Prayer Intentions” and write and type their intention in. Then show them they now have more than 23,000 people praying for them in the Rosary. Then ask them if you can share the Rosary with them.
Fr. Solanus Casey made himself available to people and then directed them to put their trust in God through prayer and miracles took place.
We can do the same and we should all begin by Thanking God ahead of time.