Psalms 104:28

"When thou openest Thy hand, they shall all be filled with good." What is it, O Lord, that Thou openest Thy hand? Christ is Thy hand. "To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" To whom it is revealed, unto him it is opened: for revelation is opening. "When Thou openest Thy hand, they shall all be filled with good." When Thou revealest Thy Christ, "they shall all be filled with good." But they have not good from themselves; this is oftentimes proved unto them. "When Thou hidest Thy face, they are troubled." Many filled with good have attributed to themselves what they had, and have wished to boast as in their own righteousnesses, and have said to themselves, I am righteous; I am great: and have become self-complacent. Unto these the Apostle speaketh: "What hast thou, that thou didst not receive?" But God, wishing to prove unto man that whatever he hath he hath from Him, so that with good he may gain humility also, sometimes troubleth him; He turneth away His face from him, and he falleth into temptation; and He showeth him that his righteousness, and his walking aright, was only under His government. ...

Do we not see this daily in human affairs as a kind of harsh and inexorable mercy? How many contrary things do the sick request from doctors, and how much mercy do doctors exhibit by refusing! They refuse, and they spare; they are cruel if they grant. The doctor knows this; and God does not know? He knows how to deal with you, who was created with you; and does He not know how to deal with you both, who created both of you? Indeed, dearest, in all tribulations, in all fears, in all joys, ask God that He may grant what He Himself knows is expedient in temporal matters. As for eternal things, such as "hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and other such things, ask confidently, they cannot harm. Choose, love, gather; for He opens His hand and fills every soul with blessing. And when you have given, He says, they will gather. No one should doubt the supreme goods: and if they are delayed, they will be given; the reward is not denied, but desire is exercised. Let us desire long: because it is great what we are going to receive. Let us thirst long: because we will drink from the fountain of life. Still, dearest, what we ask for without impudence, because the Apostle taught, let us ask, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life, with all piety and charity.

One who has sought God and has found him exists among those good things. For where a person's heart is, there also is his treasure;43 the Lord is not accustomed to deny his good gift to those who pray. And so, because the Lord is good and especially good to those who await him, let us cling to him and be with him with our whole soul, our whole heart and our whole strength that we may be in his light and see his glory and enjoy the gift of heavenly joy. Accordingly, let us lift up our spirits to that good and be in it and live in it; let us cling to it, for it is above every thought and every reflection and enjoys an everlasting peace and tranquility, and that peace, moreover, is beyond every thought and every understanding. This is the good that enters into all things; in it we all live and on it we all depend;46 moreover, it possesses nothing beyond itself but is of God, for "no one is good but only God." Therefore, what is good is of God, and what is of God is good. And for that reason it is said, "When you open your hand, all things shall be filled with goodness." For, through God's goodness, all good things are deservedly granted to us, and in them there is no admixture of evil. Scripture promised these good things to the faithful when it said, "You shall eat the good things of the land." That we may obtain the good things, let us be like that good, the good that is without iniquity and without deceit and without severity but is with grace and holiness and purity and benevolence and love and justice. Thus goodness, like a prolific mother, embraces all the virtues.