Page 3 - Michael 2024 January

Letter from the Editor

God remains the master of history

One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith— apostolic exhortation that begins with these words: “It
and a great consolation for all of us—is that despite all is confidence and nothing but confidence that must
the human errors and bad decisions (wars, injustices, lead us to Love.” (See page 27.)
crimes, etc.), God remains master of human history, At a time when the media are filling us with worry-
and accomplishes his plan of love, while respect- ing news (wars, digital money replacing paper money,
ing human freedom. In other words, God’s love and artificial intelligence that could be used to control
power are so great that He can turn what was intrinsic- people), we can logically fear the future, and even be
ally evil into good. paralysed by fear. With this in mind, it’s worth re-read-
Let’s take the example, in the Bible, of Joseph sold ing what the Pope wrote in his Exhortation:
by his brothers (Genesis 37). He was certainly sold out “The complete confidence that becomes an aban-
of hatred and jealousy, which is obviously wrong, but donment in Love sets us free from obsessive calcu-
God saw to it that this action later turned out for the lations, constant worry about the future and fears
best, since it was Joseph, who later became the most that take away our peace. In her final days, Therese
powerful man in Egypt, working alongside Pharaoh, insisted on this: ‘We who run in the way of love
who was able to save his brothers and the whole tribe shouldn’t be thinking of suffering that can take place
of Jacob from famine. in the future; it’s a lack of confidence.’ If we are in the
Of course, this is beyond our understanding, but hands of a Father who loves us without limits, this will
what is impossible for man is possible for God. All we be the case come what may; we will be able to move
have to do is trust God in all circumstances because, beyond whatever may happen to us and, in one way
as Saint Paul says, “All things work together for good or another, His plan of love and fullness will come to
to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). fulfilment in our lives.”
Similar examples can even be drawn from the life Do we have enough faith, do we trust God enough,
of Louis Even, the founder of MICHAEL, whose fifti- to think and act in this way in our lives? Another ex-
eth anniversary of death we celebrate in 2024. (See ample of total trust in God and His Divine Providence
page 4.) Firstly, in his youth, when he was a Brother is that of a Canadian nun, Saint Marguerite d’Youville.
of Christian Instruction in France, an anti-clerical law (See page 20.)
passed by the French government in 1903 expelled all You will notice that this issue talks a lot about the
religious from France; Louis Even was therefore sent economy and monetary reform, with the aim of put-
by his superiors to Canada. ting an end to the scandal of poverty and ensuring
Secondly, Louis Even had to leave teaching in that everyone has at least what they need. This does
the Montreal area because he had become deaf, and not mean that the MICHAEL magazine has become
hearing aids at the time were not what they are today. materialistic—the salvation of souls remains the main
Mr. Even was therefore reassigned by his superiors objective—but quite simply that while a sufficiency of
to the community printing works in Laprairie. In 1920, material goods does not necessarily make a man virtu-
Mr. Even was released from his vows and joined the ous, the absence of material goods makes the practice
Garden City Press in Ste-Anne de Bellevue, west of of any virtue impossible. Indeed, in the Book of Prov-
Montreal. erbs (30:8-9), we read: “Lord, give me neither poverty
He and his boss, J.J. Harpell, had a great concern nor riches, but give me the bread I need, lest I be full
for social justice, and it was there in 1934 that Louis and deny You and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ And lest I
Even discovered the luminous solution of Economic become poor and steal, and offend the name of my
Democracy (or Social Credit), which was to change the God.”
course of his life. (See page 5.) Mr Even exclaimed: Pope Paul VI wrote in his encyclical Populorum
“This is a light on my path, I must make it known to Progressio (paragraph 75): “It is the person who is mo-
everyone.” If Louis Even had not been sent to Canada, tivated by genuine love, more than anyone else, who
and had not entered the employment of the Garden pits his intelligence against the problems of poverty,
City Press, he would never have known about Social trying to uncover the causes and looking for effective
Credit, and would never have founded the MICHAEL ways of combatting and overcoming them.” This de-
movement. scribes Louis Even’s work very well; he really did seek
In his Providence, God sometimes acts in mysteri- to educate people about the causes of poverty—the
ous ways, but we must know how to abandon our- current money-debt system—and the means of com-
selves to Him and put our trust in Him. A remarkable bating it—the financial proposals of Social Credit, or
example of this trust in God is that of Saint Thérèse of Economic Democracy. Enjoy your reading!
Lisieux, to whom Pope Francis recently dedicated an Alain Pilote, Editor

www.michaeljournal.org MICHAEL January/February 2024 3