Most Holy Trinity June 12, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Most Holy Trinity

June 12, 2022

Today is Trinity Sunday. St. Francis de Sales stressed that we must strive toward a loving union with one another that reflects the love of the three divine Persons.

God’s acts of goodness to the human family are actions of all three Persons. Their goodness overflows into the spiritual health of the whole human family, for we are made in the image of God. The Father provided all the means necessary for us to render glory to God’s divine goodness. The Son, who came into this world, made our nature higher than the angels. In becoming human, Our Lord took our likeness and gave us His so that we may enjoy the treasure of eternal life. The Spirit, who came to enliven the Apostles who formed the true Church, continues to give us life through divine love.

No one can possibly imagine or understand the union of the Persons of the Trinity. Thus, Jesus does not call us to the identical union of the Trinity, but we ought to be united together as purely and perfectly as possible in holy love. For through and in Christ we participate in the Trinity’s divine love that makes us children of God.

The children of the world are all separated one from the other, as their hearts are in different places. On the other hand, the children of God, having their hearts ‘where their treasure is,’ have but one treasure which is the same God. They are always joined and united together by God’s love. Our Savior has restored us all equally, and without exception made us like to Himself. Therefore, ought we not to have a warm and genuine love for this divine semblance in our neighbor? We are not called to love anything evil in our neighbor, only this image and likeness of God. Let us cherish, then, being God’s children who strive to be united in a similar way as the three Persons of the Trinity, whose overflowing divine love nurtures and transforms the whole human family.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Pentecost Sunday June 5, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Pentecost Sunday

June 5, 2022 

God’s great love and care again manifests itself on this Feast of Pentecost. The dwelling of Holy Spirit in us is central to the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales.

Love is the life of the heart. The Holy Spirit who has been given to us pours divine love into our hearts. The Spirit is like a fountain of living water that flows into every part of our hearts so as to spread its grace. Grace has the power to entice our hearts. Through the Holy Spirit, God awakens and enlivens our hearts to their own good. We often need to be stirred up and led by the hand to put our strength and skills to proper use.

If we wish to become aware of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, we must wean ourselves from our willfulness and adjust our will to that of God’s will. We must be like clay in the hands of the potter, so that God may shape us and lead us to true spiritual health. While we can not prevent God from inspiring our hearts, we do have the power to reject God’s desire to love us. Also, the Spirit has no wish to work in us without our consent. Yet, even if we give just a little of our consent to God’s inspirations, what happiness results!

The sole fruit of the Holy Spirit, divine love, gives us inward joy and consolation together with great peace of heart, which is preserved in adversity by patience. Holy love makes us kind and gracious in helping our neighbors with a heart-felt goodness toward them. Such goodness from the Holy Spirit is constant and persevering and gives us an enduring courage that renders us mild, pleasant and considerate of all others. We put up with their moods and imperfections. We live a life of simplicity that testifies to our words and actions. Divine love is the virtue of all virtues. Let us cherish and nurture the indwelling of the Spirit so that God’s love may reign in us.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal).

Seventh Sunday of Easter May 29, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 29, 2022

In today’s Gospel Jesus prays that those who believe in Him may all be one. St. Francis de Sales uses several images to express the bond of love that must bring us together as one.

It was a fervent, holy love that united the hearts and wills of the first Christians. Many grains of wheat are ground and kneaded together to make a single loaf of bread. In the loaf, the grains of wheat can no longer be separated individually. Many grapes are pressed together to make one wine. It is impossible to distinguish what wine came forth from which cluster of grapes. Similarly, the holy love of the first Christians was made from many hearts, yet their wills and hearts were all blended as one. 

Together we constitute the image of one portrait, for we bear the image of God in ourselves. Our Lord came into this world to teach us what we need to do to preserve in ourselves this divine resemblance that unites us as children of God. Out of love, He gave us the means to reach the highest degree of union that He desired for us, namely to be made one with Him, as He and His Father are one.

In this life we may not be able to attain this divine union, but we must do all that lies in our power to strive towards it: the more we are united with God, the more we shall be united to one another. Jesus gave us only precepts that he himself first practiced. He loved us and showed us by his example how we ought to love our neighbor so that we might not have an excuse to think that it is impossible to love one another.

Like the first Christians, we must honor God’s image in each of us and be open to one another in holy love, always strengthening this gentle bond of charity among us. Let us summon up the courage to live up to this divine semblance in us. In this way, we may experience and grow more deeply in God’s love, the life of abundance that our Lord came to bring to all, so that we may be one.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales.)

Sixth Sunday of Easter May 22, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 22, 2022 

Today’s readings remind us that to love Jesus is to keep His word. St. Francis de Sales stresses that we learn to keep His word and live Jesus through a life of prayer and virtue.

Prayer places our mind in the brilliance of God’s light and exposes our will to the warmth of God’s love. Prayer is a stream of holy water that makes the plants of our good desires grow green and flourish. Each day set aside some time to meditate. If possible, meditate early in the morning, when your mind is less distracted and fresher after a night’s rest. To live Jesus, ask God to help you to pray from your heart.

When you meditate on Jesus’ life, you will learn his ways and form your actions after the pattern of his life. Gradually accustom yourself to pass with ease and tranquility from prayer to your various duties even though your duties appear far different from the affections you received in prayer. The lawyer must be able to pass from prayer to pleading cases, the merchant to commerce, and the parent to the care of children. Out of our meditation experience must flow our daily actions, which involve a life of virtue.

Each person must practice in a special manner the virtues needed for the kind of life he or she is called to. In practicing the virtues, we should prefer the one most conformable to our duties rather than the one most agreeable to our taste.  As a rule, comets seem bigger than stars because comets are closer to us. Hence, comets seem bigger to us. Similarly, we esteem certain virtues merely because they appear greater to us. Yet, we must choose the virtues needed to counteract our habitual failings and weaknesses so as to advance in holy love. For instance, if assaulted by anger, practice gentleness, no matter how small this virtuous act may seem. True virtue has no limits. If we act out of reverence for God and in good faith, God will raise us up to heights that are truly great so that we may live Jesus.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales.)

Fifth Sunday of Easter May 15, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 15, 2022 

Today’s readings remind us that to enter the Kingdom of God we must persevere in faith in Jesus Christ. St. Francis de Sales stresses the need to persevere in God’s love.

Perseverance is the most desirable gift we can hope for in this life. All our happiness is grounded in perseverance and that is why I urge you to persevere till the end. Our entire good consists not only in accepting the truth of God’s word but also in persevering in it. The Spirit of God makes us consider beginnings so as to arrive at the end. The Spirit has us rejoice in the flowers of spring only in expectation of enjoying the fruits of summer and autumn.

The aim of the Christian life is to transform our own self-centered spirit into that of Christ. As long as we live, we will always have some self-seeking interests that we ought to relinquish. The more we let go of our selfish desires and yield to God’s desire for us, the more our human spirit will be at peace and free from interior restlessness.

True love strives to please those in whom it has found pleasure. The example of those we love has an imperceptible power over us. We cannot help conforming ourselves to those we love. By often taking delight in God, we become conformed to God, and our will is transformed into that of God‘s divine will. Conformity of our heart with that of God’s love takes place when we place all our affections in God’s hands so that God may shape and direct our spirit. In turn, we respond to God’s love through our love of others.

Faith teaches that all that is true and good in us is from God alone. You must have great courage and very firm confidence in God’s help. God, who holds you by the hand, carries you along in hardships that seem otherwise unbearable to you. If we persevere in responding to God’s love and mercy, God will complete the work of our salvation. (Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales.)

Fourth Sunday of Easter May 8, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Fourth Sunday of Easter

May 8, 2022 

In today’s Gospel we experience Jesus as the Good Shepherd who cares for His flock. St. Francis de Sales reminds us that we too must be good shepherds who tend our flock:

Some say that shepherds represent all those who wish to become holy: but if each of us is a shepherd, who are our sheep?  They are our desires, feelings and emotions. We must keep watch over this spiritual flock. Jesus teaches us how to govern and rule over our desires, feelings and emotions, our flock that we must shepherd.

Like a shepherd who cares for his flock, our Good Shepherd gathers us all around Himself in order to makes us His own. He wants us to manage our lives in light of the Will of God, rather than our own willful desires. In Jesus, we learn how to govern our flock and direct our desires, feelings and emotions in a way that leads to spiritual health.

What can be more pleasing to Our Divine Shepherd than to bring to Him the lamb of our love?  Love is the first desire of the human spirit. True love is accomplished when we live according to the inspirations and promptings that God places in us.

Our God is the God of the human heart. Our hearts thirst for God. We have a natural inclination to know and love God. No other love can satisfy us as the infinite goodness of God, from whom we gain infinite nourishment.

St. Augustine said: “Love God, then do what you will.” When all of our loves flow out of God’s love, then we can say that we truly love God. How happy we will be if we remain in the presence of Our Good Shepherd and faithfully imitate Him by following His example! We will then serve God as God wills and be a good shepherd to ourselves as well as others.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Third Sunday of Easter May 1, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Third Sunday of Easter

May 1, 2022

Today’s Gospel tells the story of how Peter, in affirming his commitment of love to Jesus, is called to nurture Jesus’ flock. St. Francis de Sales urges us to be disciples like the apostles and bring God's Word to others:

Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. Peter’s heart was completely filled with love for His Master. Peter was lifted up again by God’s providence. Love is the universal means of our salvation. God’s love must always hold first place in our hearts. Let us waste no time and place ourselves entirely in the arms of Divine Providence. So loving is God’s hand as it handles our hearts!

What does God expect from you if not what was asked of the Apostles. It was nothing else than what Our Lord himself came to do in this world: to give life to all so that they may live a more abundant life. He did it by giving them His grace. Grace has the power, not to overpower, but to entice our hearts to consent to the movements of God’s love in us.

As much as possible, we must touch the hearts of others like the angels do, delicately and without coercion. While we ought to help and express our love to all equally, we must do it more so to those who have a greater need of us. Lead them to a more perfect life. They will find fullness of life by believing in Jesus’ word that you will explain to them. They will live a more abundant life through the example you are.                                         

Go confidently and courageously, doing what you are entrusted to do. Do not say: “I am not up to the task.” Go ahead without worrying and turning back, for God will give you what you have to say and to do at the proper time. Have only one concern: to grow in your love and fidelity to God’s divine goodness and everything will turn out well for you.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Second Sunday of Easter April 24, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Second Sunday of Easter

April 24, 2022 

In today’s Gospel we see the steadfast love of God active in the risen Jesus as He appears to His disciples. St. Francis de Sales notes that the purpose of this appearance is to affirm their faith in the God of Jesus Christ:

When the disciples were assembled in the cenacle with the doors closed, our Savior stood in their midst and greeted them: Peace be with you. He showed them his hands and his side. Why does He do this? To bolster their faith that was shaken by the crucifixion of Jesus, to whom they were attached. Without the presence of Our Savior, they felt timid and lacked strength. Such is the case when one is without God. They were afraid. Like a ship tossed in a storm without a pilot, such was this poor boat. Our Lord appeared to his disciples to bring relief to their fear. His power gently gives us power.

 In Jesus, death was swallowed up in victory. He takes our miseries and ennobles them. Do you have need of strength? Here are my hands. Do you have need of a heart? Here is mine. He shows us his wounds through love. Jesus came into this world to teach us what we need to do to preserve in ourselves the beauty and the divine resemblance that He has so completely repaired and embellished in us. When we recognize the likeness of the Creator in us, then we are able to see the image of God in others. Let us walk as Jesus who chose to give his life for those who would take it from Him.

What a joy it is to reflect on how the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts the first rays and perceptions of divine light and warmth. O good Jesus, may we be open to the peace that you offer us. May we be rooted in faith, joyful in hope and fervent in holy love, as we await your future coming!

(Adapted from Saint Francis de Sales, Oeuvres).

Easter Sunday April 17, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Easter Sunday

April 17, 2022 

Happy Easter! Today we celebrate the most unique moment in the history of humankind: The Resurrection of Jesus who triumphs over death. We welcome our newly baptized whose new life in Christ prepares them for eternal glory. St. Francis de Sales speaks of our need to renew each year our desire to serve God in order to live Jesus.

Jesus, surviving death, lives on in His works. A day will come when we shall rise from the dead. Our mortal bodies, now subject to corruption, will be immortal. Jesus took on our likeness and gave us His so that we might have a new life in abundance. Our God has so lovingly inspired and urged you to conversion. In baptism you became a child of God, forming yourself according to the Law of the Gospel. Letting go of your old self, you rose anew in Christ.

Yet, as long as we live we shall need to renew ourselves and begin over. Like some clocks that need to be cleaned and repaired, so it is with our heart. We must straighten out bent parts and repair those parts worn out. Each year such an exercise will warm up your heart, bring new life to your good resolutions to serve God and make you flourish with fresh vigor.

In winter the earth relaxes, rests and does not produce. When spring comes it renews itself with flowers that bring us joy.  Because our nature grows cold easily, we need to renew our promise to love God above all, and love all other things because they are agreeable to God, profitable to God’s honor, and destined for God’s glory. Before we enter eternal glory, the Gardener wishes to plant in our garden many flowers. Let us serve God as God wishes and we will see that one day God will do all we wish, and more than we know how to wish. When we are raised to a life of divine love, we live for our Savior who has risen. It is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice. Alleluia!

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Palm/Passion Sunday April 10, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Palm/Passion Sunday

April 10, 2022 

In today’s Gospel, we experience Jesus as the ‘suffering servant’. His suffering unto death brings eternal life to the human family. St. Francis de Sales reflects on this event: “The most powerful reason for Jesus’ death is to fill the human spirit with God’s love. Out of death has come life, the wondrous paradox, which the world does not understand. He not only died a cruel death to bring God’s love to us, but he also suffered fear, terror, abandonment, and inner depression such as never had and never shall have an equal. He did this so that we too may persevere in pursuing divine love.”

Jesus’ human feelings left his entire heart exposed to sorrow and anguish. For this reason, he cries out: “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Mount Calvary is the mount of lovers. On Calvary death, life and love intermingle. Out of love Jesus chose death on a cross so that we might live as a child of God and possess eternal love.  Christian wisdom consists in choosing rightly. Let us choose to empty ourselves of our selfish desires and loves, so that we may be filled with God’s love, which gives rise to new life in us.

We ought to consecrate every moment of our lives to the divine love of Our Savior’s death. If injured by others, look often on Christ Jesus, crucified, forsaken and overwhelmed, by every kind of anguish. Then think of the many people who are incomparably more afflicted than you are and say: Are not my hardships roses in comparison with those, who without help, assistance, or relief live a continual death, burdened by afflictions infinitely greater than mine? When all things fail us, when our distress is at its height, say the final words of Jesus on the cross: “Into Your hands I commend my spirit.”  How happy we will be when we entrust ourselves totally into God’s hands! In doing all things for the glory of God, we will do all things well.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Fifth Sunday of Lent April 3, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 3, 2022 

Today’s readings promise us a life that never dies if we live and believe in the Spirit of Jesus Christ who dwells in us. St. Francis de Sales reflects on these promises: “When the falconer removes the hood from his bird, the bird sights its prey and spreads its wings, ready to fly and capture its prey. Held back by the falconer, the bird struggles to free itself from him. So too when faith removes the veil of ignorance from us, we see that our supreme good is in God. We then desire to fly to God but the conditions of this mortal life hold us back. Our ardor may subsequently turn to sadness.

However, we must not lose courage and reduce ourselves to despair. Through a thousand promises made in Scripture and the holy inspirations placed in our hearts, God strongly assures us that we can attain a life of infinite goodness. Yet, we must be willing to use the means God offers us. If you live under the Crucified Lord, progressively your desire for God’s goodness turns into hope animated by God’s love. Our Savior will never let you go if you choose Him. When you are completely restored to health by divine love that the Spirit of Jesus pours into your heart, you can go forward and stand by yourself in virtue of your new health and holy love.

While our human nature will always produce self-centered desires and thoughts, they need not delay us on our journey toward loving God’s goodness and doing God’s work. Happy are they whose self-giving love is in the service of God. God will never let them remain barren and unfruitful! Even though they give up only a little for God, God will shower abundant blessings on them in this life and in the next. God’s assurance through many promises of paradise infinitely strengthens our desire to pursue the enjoyment of God’s goodness in Jesus Christ whose Spirit dwells in us.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales).

Fourth Sunday of Lent March 27, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 27, 2022

Today’s readings urge us to live as children of light. It is the God of Jesus Christ who leads us out of blindness into the light of God’s love. St. Francis de Sales notes similarly: “When we experience the rays of the noonday sun, we scarcely see its light before we quickly feel its heat. So, it is with the light of faith. It no sooner casts its light on us, and we feel the warmth of God’s love that gives us hope in God’s goodness. When we are extremely careful to do all that we can to open ourselves to divine love, then our faith comes alive and strengthens our hope. Faith brings us to love the beauty of the truths of the mystery of God revealed in Jesus Christ.”

As we accept in faith the teachings of Jesus, our hearts are invigorated with holy love. In Christ, God brings us into the light of faith. When God gives us faith, God enters into our soul and speaks to us by way of inspiration. Only God can enlighten and open our blind eyes. It is a sign of interior conversion when God gives us light to see the source of our blindness. We free ourselves from our selfish desires and come to truly know and accept ourselves as children of the Light. While we naturally experience a deep desire within us for happiness, faith reveals to us the infinite marvels of eternal happiness.

Faith is the best friend of our spirit. It is the foundation of our hope and love. It gives us the certitude of God’s continual offer of grace to us. So let us not be afraid of Our Savior who treats us as a good father and mother treat their child. As long as the child walks on soft grass, the child is allowed to walk alone for that would not do much harm. However, on dangerous paths they carry the child tenderly in their arms. Let us offer ourselves to God, walking the way of love for one another as very dear children of God. It is then that we will live as children of light.

(Adapted from the writings of Saint Francis de Sales)

Third Sunday of Lent (Cycle A) March 20, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflection

Third Sunday of Lent (Cycle A)

March 20, 2022

Today’s readings speak to the catechumens who are preparing for baptism. The Scriptures reveal how God cares for those who, like Moses and the Samaritan women, have faith and hope in the Word of God and live it. St. Francis de Sales notes: “Moses’ faith in God’s Word allowed him to use his rod to make water flow from the rock. Attentiveness to God’s Word is necessary to sustain us in our responsibilities in this world. Our entire good lies in accepting the truth of God’s Word and persevering in it. In the Eucharist we are nourished by the Divine Word made flesh.”

We need to grow in God’s Word. Even outside of your prayer, keep yourself as if you were in prayer. Renew yourself throughout the day with thoughts of God’s infinite goodness. Good reading, too, helps the heart come alive and gain new strength and vigor.

Yet, we also ought to nourish and strengthen the divine word by opening our hearts. We must remain attentive and reflect on what God has to say to us in the depths of our hearts. We must digest the divine word so that it becomes a part of us in such a way that we are nourished and strengthened by it. Then, like Jesus, we will put our words into action. We will carry out what we are taught, discerning carefully the needs at hand.

Our Savior desires that we have great confidence in Divine Providence. All who trust in God always reap the fruits of this confidence. Our Savior takes tender care of those who have a great willingness to abandon to Him their weariness and anxious care of advancing in holiness.

We may question whether we will always have the will to please God during our entire life.  Alas! There is nothing so weak and changeable as we are. So let us frequently place our good intention before the Lord, who will strengthen our willingness as often as is necessary, so that we have sufficient determination to live God’s Word in this life.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

Second Sunday of Lent March 13, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflections

Second Sunday of Lent

March 13, 2022

In today’s readings, the Covenant of Abraham and the Transfiguration reveal to us how much God desires our love, so as to give us eternal glory. St. Francis de Sales notes: “When God spoke to and promised Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, Abraham had only God’s Word to assure him. God also speaks to us in inspirations that propose the mysteries of faith.”

Through faith, we know God’s Word. In hearts that give their consent to God’s inspirations, God, little by little, gently strengthens these hearts with divine love. These first perceptions of God’s love are poured into us through the Holy Spirit. Still, these first movements of love are just the dawn of faith.  They are like the green buds of springtime. Faith begins with a love for things of God.  Faith shows us that we have implanted in us, a holy natural inclination to love God above all things. No other love can satisfy this desire.

While we have the power to reject divine inspiration, we can not prevent God from inspiring us. Inspirations are favors that God does before we have thought of them. God awakens us when we are asleep. Still, it is in our power to rise or not to rise. Whereas God has awakened us without our help, God will not raise us up without our cooperation. We must consent to God’s call, for God always respects our freedom. God has no slaves, only friends. So it is that Our Savior never abandons us. It is we who abandon Him.

Our confession of faith is an act of choosing to love and serve God as faithful servants. Walk simply and faithfully along the path that God has marked out for you, and you will walk confidently. Be at peace, for Our Savior, who has shown His glory, has taken you by the hand and set you on the way to eternal glory.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales)

First Sunday of Lent March 6, 2022

Salesian Sunday Reflections

First Sunday of Lent

March 6, 2022

 The Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent reminds us that when we are tempted with selfish desires we must keep focused on God’s way of love as exemplified in Jesus. Here are a few of St. Francis de Sales’ thoughts on loving God first, then doing what we desire.

 Jesus was tempted in order to teach us that we will always have to choose between good and evil during our entire life. While Jesus tells us that the life of a Christian is a continual rejecting of evilness, and a constant choosing of God’s truth and goodness, He also urges us to walk in the way of love as God’s most dear children. When we live to do God’s will nothing can harm us, for we are armed with faith in God. God’s love becomes the source of all of our desires.

 Yet even in our desire to do God’s will, our selfish motives can infect our thinking. Many people who counted on their own strength to work marvels for God failed when under fire, while those who found their strength in God’s help accomplished wonders. We may feel that we do not have the strength to resist our selfish desires.  We ought not to be afraid of our weaknesses.  Since we desire to belong entirely to God, we must rely on the strength of God, who never fails us in the midst of our weaknesses.

  While we must have a firm and habitual resolution never to willfully commit any imperfection, we must not be astonished if we do. At such times we must confide ourselves to the goodness of God, who does not love us less. Very gently place your heart back into the hands of Our Lord, asking God to heal your heart. Then set yourself once again on the path of virtue, practicing the virtue that opposes your selfish desire.

 As we grow in holiness, knowledge of our faults disturbs us more. When we find ourselves not the saints we hoped to be, we are very discouraged in the pursuit of real virtue. Do not hurry on so fast. Begin to live well your life in light of your duties of state. Perfection consists in doing the little we do in our vocation, in love, by love, and for love. Trust God. When it pleases God to do so, God will make all your desires holy.

 (Adapted from J. Power & W. Wright, Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal; L. Fiorelli, ed. Sermons)

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 27, 2022)

“From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks…”

Today’s selections from the Book of Sirach and Luke’s Gospel suggest a powerful standard by which we can judge the heart and mind of another person: the subject and manner about which one speaks.

Pretty obvious, isn’t it? Negative people tend to speak negatively. Jealous people speak resentfully. Judgmental people speak suspiciously. Their conversations tend to weigh others down.

By contrast, positive people speak positively. Happy people speak graciously. Energized people speak enthusiastically. Their conversations tend to lift others up.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, conversation seems to be expressions of the heart.

Francis de Sales writes in his Introduction to the Devout Life: “Just as physicians learn about a person’s health or sickness by looking at the tongue, so our words are a true indication of the state of our souls.” (Part III, Chapter 26) This diagnosis has several aspects.

First: how do we speak of God? “If you are truly in love with God you should often speak of God in familiar conversation with others…just as bees extract with their mouths nothing but honey, so your tongue should always be sweetened with its God…always with attention and reverence.” (Ibid)

Second: how do we speak of others? “Be careful never to let an indecent word leave your lips, for even if you do not speak with an evil intention those who hear it may take it a different way.” When one’s heart is filled with evil or rancor or intrigue, their tongues are no longer like the sweet ones of the bees but become “like a lot of wasps gathered together to feed on corruption.” (Part III, Chapter 27)

Third: how balanced is our conversation? “It seems to me that we should avoid two extremes,” observes Francis de Sales. “To be too reserved and to refuse to take part in conversation looks like lack of confidence in the others or some kind of disdain. On the other hand, to be always babbling or joking without giving others time or chance to speak when they wish is a mark of shallowness and levity.” (Part III, Chapter 30)

What do the content and tone of our words tell others about our hearts?

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 20, 2022)

Today’s gospel offers us the great challenge for a disciple of Jesus:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who dislike you, bless those who speak ill of you and pray for those who mistreat you.” “Be merciful just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”

We all know how difficult this is to do.

We’ll never be able to do it without God’s grace, without learning to be very conscious that God is present with us each day, without asking God for the strength of his grace many times each day. The invitation of Jesus to love those who get in our face, who know how to push all our buttons, goes against our natural feelings of irritation and anger. Jesus seems to be asking too much.

What Jesus is asking of us is to be all that grace enables us to be. By our baptism, we have been given a share in the life and love of God. Jesus has become our brother; we are children of our heavenly Father by grace. Divine life is in us and that life enables us to live as Jesus lived. Jesus is asking us to learn to live by the new life we have been given. Because of grace, we are able to be merciful as our Father is merciful. Jesus has shown us how to love those who irritate us, how to forgive those who injure us.

St. Francis de Sales recommends several practices that can help us remember the strength of divine life within us.

Begin the day with a short prayer of awareness: “My God, you are here loving me today; help me to remember you’re with me as we go through the day.” Then, talk with God about the grace I will need to deal with particular people in my life who can irritate me or have mistreated me. During the day, when I know I’m going to meet such a person, I ask God’s help that I may relate with that person in a way that is pleasing to God. Then, each evening, thank God for the times when grace gave me strength and ask pardon for the times I forgot to ask for God’s help and failed because I tried to do it on my own.

The key is learning the discipline of remembering that I share divine life. When my prayer leads me to greater awareness of God’s loving presence each day, then I will more likely become dependent on the grace God makes available to me. Then the challenge that Jesus offers – to love my enemies – is not so impossible for me to try to meet. I can meet it because I trust in God who lives in me.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (February 13, 2022)

A barren bush in the desert or a tree planted by running water – which of these images reflects your choices in life? Have you chosen to trust other people or are you trusting in the care of the Lord?

Jeremiah reminds us that, if we choose to trust in the Lord, then together we can face whatever life brings to us. God is with us, nourishing us even in the heat and drought of daily living.

Jesus asks us to take our trust in the Lord with us into our world and find ways to share it with the less fortunate – people who are poor, hungry, suffering and alienated. Jesus’ presence and message is meant for those who are ready and willing to focus on God rather than themselves, in order to experience the blessings of God given through others rather than holding on to the good things of life for themselves.

When you and I have learned to trust in God’s care, we are willing to share whatever we have with the poor, to give whatever nourishment we can to those who are hungry, to bring moments of joy and care to those who suffer, and to welcome into our circle of friends people who feel left-out. As disciples of Jesus, we are to be evidence of the kingdom of God present among us – by the way we live each day.

When we have learned to accept our own poverty, hunger, sufferings and alienation as human beings and are open to the many ways that God’s care has touched our lowliness and drawn us into his circle of friends, then we are better able to be more like God in caring for the lowly around us. Then we can be good news to our brothers and sisters.

During this ordinary time of the year, we are being taught about being better disciples. We are being taught to grow in more confident trust in God – that God is loving us and caring for us at every moment as his children.

St. Francis de Sales offers us an image that we can take to prayer each day:

“In all your affairs lean solely on God’s Providence, by means of which alone your plans can succeed. Imitate a little child, whom one sees holding tight with one hand to its father, while with the other it gathers strawberries or blackberries from the wayside hedge. Even so, while you gather and use this world’s goods with one hand, always let the other be fast in your Heavenly Father’s hand and look round from time to time to make sure that He is satisfied with what you are doing, at home or abroad. Beware of letting go, under the idea of making or receiving more—if He forsakes you, you will fall to the ground at the first step. When your ordinary work or business is not especially engrossing, let your heart be fixed more on God than on it; and if the work be such as to require your undivided attention, then pause from time to time and look to God, even as navigators who make for the haven they would attain, by looking up at the heavens rather than down upon the deeps on which they sail. In so doing, God will work with you, in you, and for you, and your work will be blessed.”

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (February 6, 2022)

What a wonderful set of life-vocation stories in today’s Scriptures.

Isaiah experiences (sees) the Lord of hosts in the Temple. He is humbled: “Woe is me, I’m doomed. I’m a man of unclean lips.” The ember carried by the seraph removes his wickedness. And Isaiah is ready to go forth: “Here I am, send me!”

Jesus has confronted Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul acknowledges that he is not worthy to be an apostle. And yet he preaches faithfully: “By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Peter reluctantly puts out into deep water at the command of Jesus – and witnesses nets so full that they are breaking. He kneels before Jesus in great humility: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus gently tells him not to be afraid: “From now on you will be catching men.” Peter and his mates leave everything and follow Jesus.

Each of these encounters with God became life-changing. Isaiah will speak God’s word for his lifetime, whether he is accepted or rejected. Peter and Paul engage in “catching men” for the rest of their lives until they are ultimately killed for their preaching.

How many times in their lives as apostles would they be asked again to ”put out into deeper water and lower your nets”? Often their security was not to be found near the shoreline but with Jesus in the deep water.

Jesus’ invitation always seems to be “put out into deep water.” As we grow older, the invitation to let Jesus live in us more fully leads us into the deeper waters of our own life and that of our community. We can only fill our nets with the grace of God when we’re willing to leave our own security and trust in the invitation to come deeper.

Like Isaiah, the Lord will remove our sins and failings that keep us close to shore and prepare us to go deeper. Like Peter, we will hear Jesus gently tell us: “Do not be afraid.”

May our willingness to put out into the deep with Jesus lead us to be able to say with St. Paul: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.”

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time January 30, 2022

In today’s reading of the First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us what it means to love. St. Francis de Sales based his whole life and his teachings on love:

By love we live, feel and move. All our affections follow our love. Love is the life of the heart. As our heart is, so are our actions. Those who open themselves to God’s love in their heart have God’s love in their actions. Divine love can do all things and endure all things when we allow it to reign in our hearts. A heart that has holy love lives a clean, healthy, new life. This new life is both lively and life giving. It is the bond of perfection.

God’s love is always present in us. Unfortunately, we do not see it in ourselves. Because we do not see the presence of God’s love in us, it is easy to forget. We then behave as if God is very distant from us. God’s love is present in a most particular way in your heart and in the very center of your spirit. From time to time, retire into the solitude of your own heart, even while engaged in discussions or transactions. Talk with God. Other people cannot enter this mental solitude since they are not standing around your heart, which remains alone in the presence of God.

Our life on earth is like the perpetual, diverse motions of the waves of the sea. Some days we are buoyed up in hope, and sometimes we are cast down in fear. Even though everything changes within or around us, we must be like the mariner’s needle that always points to the North Star. Our will must remain looking, striving, and aspiring toward the love of God. Nothing can disturb or move us from God’s love, since our resolution never to forsake God’s merciful love keeps us steady amid the various changes brought to us by the conditions of this life. Thus, do not lose courage, nor let your spirit sink amid contradictions. God will never abandon the care of your heart, for God’s love is eternal.

(Adapted from the writings of St. Francis de Sales.)