On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us." And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
--Luke 6:6-11
"Sometimes it seems to us that God is not governing the world very attentively. We wonder why he does not with one nod of his head crush and grind to dust all [his enemies]... That's the way our narrow, finite minds think. But God in his eternal wisdom judges otherwise. He sees that persecutions purify souls as fire cleanses gold... Inscrutable and most wise always are the ways of God!
Nevertheless, this in no way means we are to fold our hands and allow the enemy to play around with the souls of men. Not in the least! On the other hand, we must in no way try to correct God's Infinite Wisdom, or tell the Holy Spirit what to do. Rather we must allow him to lead us.
Let us imagine therefore, that we are brushes in the hands of an infinitely perfect artist. What must the brush do to make the picture perfectly beautiful? It must allow itself to be used in a perfect way. A brush could, of course, aspire to correct an earthly, finite, erring artist, but when Eternal Wisdom, God, uses us as instruments, then our activity will be most consistently perfect when we allow ourselves to be led completely and wholly by him.
-- St. Maximillian Kolbe, 1932
"The world needs God. We need God, but what God? The definitive explanation is to be found in the one who died on the Cross: in Jesus, the Son of God incarnate ... love to the end."
"This is the God we need. We do not fail to show respect for other religions and cultures, profound respect for their faith, when we proclaim clearly and uncompromisingly the God who encounters violence with his own suffering; who in the face of the power of evil exalts his mercy, in order that evil may be limited and overcome."
-- Pope Benedict XVI, 9/10/06, Munich
