Salesian Sunday Reflection
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 26, 2022
In today’s Gospel we experience Jesus rebuking his disciples who want to imitate the violent zeal that Elijah used to combat evil. St. Francis de Sales notes:
Some people think that in order to have great zeal or fervor you need to have great anger. Our Lord’s zeal appeared principally in his death on the cross to destroy death and the sins of the whole human family. He made John and James understand that his spirit and his zeal are gentle, mild, and gracious. He made use of indignation or wrath very rarely when he had no further hope of being able to help in any other way. Yet, it is not in every man’s power to know how to be angry when he ought and, as he ought. The following story from a 6th Century monk illustrates this point.
Once a pagan influenced a Christian to return to idolatry. Carpus, a holy man angered by this turn of events, prayed that the two men be destroyed. Our Savior appeared to Carpus. Our Lord then showed Carpus the kingdom of heaven and the earth below, where the two evil men were trembling and fainting with fear of falling off the edge of a precipice. Carpus took pleasure in seeing them destroy themselves. Our Lord, to the contrary, stretched out his hand to help them, and lovingly said to Carpus, “I am ready to suffer once more in order to save humanity.”
Zeal to eradicate evil justly aroused Carpus’ anger. But once aroused, his anger left reason and zeal behind. Anger transgressed all limits of holy love, and consequently of zeal. His anger turned hatred of sin into hatred of the sinner, and gentlest charity into raging cruelty. Holy zeal is especially a quality of divine love that makes so many of God’s servants watch, labor, and die amid those flames of zeal. Whereas false zeal is troubled, choleric, arrogant and unstable, true zeal is ardor or fervor without hatred, and is mild, gracious, diligent, and untiring. Happy are those who know how to control their zeal with the love of Jesus Christ, who urges us to love others as He does.
(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)
