Spirituality Matters: August 11th - August 17th

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(August 11, 2024: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“Get rid of all bitterness, anger, harsh words, slander and malice of every kind. In place of these be kind, compassionate and mutually forgiving.”

“In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. Through the Word God made all things; not one thing in creation was made without the Word.”

Just as the Word who is Jesus Christ is the source of all power, so too, our words are powerful. At their best, our words feed, heal and create. At their worst, our words choke, injure and destroy. St. Paul certainly knew this truth. St. Francis de Sales also knew this truth.

And we know this, too.

St. Francis de Sales observed that negative speech breeds “disdain for one’s neighbor, pride, self-satisfaction and a hundred other very pernicious effects, among them the greatest pest of conversation, slander”. He continued: “Slander is a kind of murder…whoever removed slander from the world would remove a great part of its sins and injustice as well”.

Using words that are “kind, compassionate and mutually forgiving” isn’t just a matter of being nice. No, it’s a matter of justice. It is about giving people their due; it’s about giving people respect and it’s about recognizing people’s God-given dignity. Ultimately, it’s about using the power of our God-given ability that is embodied in language in ways that build up – not tear down – the people of God.

Salesian spirituality is known for its practicality. What could be more practical than using words that help to build up, encourage and support one another? What is more readily available for us to give one another than the words we speak? Even when we need to challenge or correct others, we should still speak in such a way that ultimately promotes healing. Our tongues, says St. Francis “ought to be like a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon who is cutting between nerves and tendons.” St. Jane de Chantal observes: “When you need to correct someone, make it in private and with kindness.”

In the beginning was the Word. May our words continue the story of God’s creative, redemptive and life-giving love. May God’s Word be for all of us the last word. May God’s Word – the Word that gives life – be all the words that we ever need. Beginning today!

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(August 12, 2024: Jane de Chantal - Wife, Mother, Widow, Religious and Founder)
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In the Introduction to the book, Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction, we read:

“Jane de Chantal continued with her work of overseeing the large family of religious to whom she was the chief spiritual mother. She wrote ardent letters to superiors, novice-mistresses and novices which reflect her struggle to institute a way in which the authentic Salesian spirit might come to be observed everywhere.”

“In her letters of spiritual direction (where her concern was to stay close to the very Salesian spirit of beginning right where one is and with the facts at hand, Jane de Chantal continued to show herself as a masterful director of souls. She brought to this task her own life-experience and temperament. The experience of motherhood was chief among those experiences. Since her youth she had been engaged in the art of biological mothering, and since midlife she had exercised her spiritual maternity. The correspondence she maintained with the superiors of the Visitation reflects a self-conscious cultivation of attitudes and skills she believed were congruent with maternal care. Superiors were enjoined to be true mothers, tolerant of their children’s weaknesses, encouraging their small steps, never overly ambitious for their advancement until they themselves grew into the maturity of spiritual wisdom…This task of cultivating and disseminating this spirit of motherly direction occupied Jane de Chantal for many years. It was part of her long-term effort to ensure the survival – both institutional and spiritual – of the Salesian charism in its manifestation as the order of the Visitation.” (LSD, p. 32)

Jane de Chantal shows us a sure and certain method for bringing out the good in others. Her approach included:

  • Beginning right where she with the facts at hand
  • Nurturing others
  • Tolerating others’ weaknesses
  • Encouraging small steps
  • Allowing others to experience spiritual maturity at their own pace.

We are the beneficiaries of Jane de Chantal’s efforts to ensure the survival of the Salesian charism. How can we pick up where she left off - just today?

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(August 13, 2024: Tuesday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth…”

Francis de Sales opened his preface to the Spiritual Directory by drawing on these same verses above from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. In addition, Francis included the following words below:

“This book will prove bitter to your interior, for it will lead to the perfect mortification of your self-love. It will, on the other hand, be sweeter than honey in your mouth, because there is no consolation equal to that of mortifying our self-love in order to let live and reign in us the love of him who dies for love of us. In this ay your bitterness will be transformed into the sweetness of a perfect peace, and you will be filled with true happiness.

Mortification of our self-love, self-absorption and self-centeredness? Sure, it’s tough. Yes, it can be distasteful. But how can this even come close to the sweetness that comes from becoming the people that God created us to be – images and likenesses of his only Son and our savior?

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(August 14, 2024: Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr)
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Today we remember the ultimate witness to the love of God made by the Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, Maximilian Kolbe. “During the Second World War, he provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalanów. On 17 February 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Pawlak prison. On 28 May, he was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670. At the end of July 1941, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander to select ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men cried out, ‘My wife, my children,’ Kolbe volunteered to take his place.” “In the starvation cell, he celebrated Mass each day and sang hymns with the prisoners. He led the other condemned men in song and prayer. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards administered to Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe)

How might we be called to bear witness to our faith in Jesus Christ today?

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(August 15, 2024: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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“Blessed are you among women ...”

Our Salesian reflection for this Feast Day – the Assumption – comes entirely from Francis de Sales’ Treatise on the Love of God, Book 7, Chapter 14.

“I do not deny that the soul of the most Blessed Virgin had two portions, and therefore two appetites, one according to the spirit and superior reason, and the other according to sense and inferior reason, with the result that she could experience the struggle and contradiction of one appetite against the other. This burden was felt even by her Son. I say that in this heavenly Mother all affections were so well arranged and ordered that love of God held empire and dominion most peaceably without being troubled by diversity of wills and appetites or by contradiction of senses. Neither repugnance of natural appetite nor sensual movements ever went as far as sin, not even as far as venial sin. On the contrary, all was used holily and faithfully in the service of the holy love for the exercise of the other virtues which, for the most part, cannot be practiced except amid difficulty, opposition and contradiction…”

“As everyone knows, the magnet naturally draws iron towards itself by some power both secret and very wonderful. However, there are five things that hinder this operation: (1) if there is too great a distance between magnet and iron; (2) if there is a diamond placed between the two; (3) if the iron is greased; (4) if the iron is rubbed with onion; (5) if the iron is too heavy.”

“Our heart is made for God, and God constantly entices it and never ceases to cast before it the allurements of divine love. Yet five things impede the operation of this holy attraction: (1) sin, which removes us from God; (2) affection for riches; (3) sensual pleasures; (4) pride and vanity; (5) self-love, together with the multitude of disordered passions it brings forth, which are like a heavy load wearing it down.”

“None of these hindrances had a place in the heart of the glorious Virgin. She was: (1) forever preserved from all sin; (2) forever most poor in spirit; (3) forever most pure; (4) forever most humble; (5) forever the peaceful mistress of all her passions and completely exempt from the rebellion that self-love wages against love of God. For this reason, just as the iron, if free from all obstacles and even from its own weight, would be powerfully yet gently drawn with steady attraction by the magnet – although in such wise that the attraction would always be more active and stronger according as they came closer together and their motion approached its end – so, too, the most Blessed Mother, since there is nothing in her to impede the operation of her Son’s divine love, was united with him in an incomparable union by gentle ecstasies without trouble or travail.”

“They were ecstasies in which the sensible part did not cease to perform its actions but without in any way disturbing the spiritual union, just as, in turn, perfect application of the spirit did not cause any great distraction to the senses. Hence, the Virgin’s death was the gentlest that can be imagined, for her Son sweetly drew her after the odor of his perfumes and she most lovingly flowed out after their sacred sweetness even to the bosom of her Son’s goodness. Although this holy soul had supreme love for her own most holy, most pure, and most lovable body, yet she forsook it without any pain or resistance…At the foot of the cross love had given to this divine spouse the supreme sorrows of death. Truly, then, it was reasonable that in the end death would give her the supreme delights of love.”

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(August 16, 2024: Friday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“I will re-establish my covenant with you…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“In his infinite mercy God would never be unbending toward the work of his hands. He saw that we were clothed ‘in flesh, a wind’ which is dissipated as it goes, ‘and does not return.’ Therefore, according to the bowels of his mercy he did not will to cast us into total ruin, nor to take from us the sign of his lost grace. This was in order that as we saw him and felt within us this covenant and this inclination to love him, we should strive to do so, and that no one could justly ask, ‘Who will show us good things?’ By this natural inclination alone we cannot attain the joy of loving God as he should be loved. Still, if we would only use it faithfully, the sweetness of God’s divine mercy would grant us some help and by it we might go forward. If we cooperate with this first assistance God’s fatherly goodness would afford us another still greater help. He would most gently lead us from good to better, until he had brought us to the supreme love toward which our own inclination naturally urges us. It is certain that to him he who ‘is faithful over a few things’ and has done what is in his power, a benevolent God never denies his help to advance him more and more.” (TLG, Book I, Chapter 18, p. 98)

This faithfulness is the nature of God’s covenant with us. Notwithstanding our infidelity, God is forever faithful to us. No matter what we do or don’t do, God “never denies his help” to us in our attempts – however imperfect - to be the people that God calls us to be.

Today, what return can we make for such mercy and generosity on God’s part? The answer - by doing our level best to never deny our help to others in need.

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(August 17, 2024: Saturday, Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“If a man is virtuous, he shall surely live…”

Practicing virtue – that is, developing the habit of doing what is good – is the ultimate expression of any authentic spirituality. In the Salesian tradition, it isn’t enough to do what is good, but one also has to do what is good in ways that fit the state and stage of life in which one finds oneself.

In her book Earth Crammed with Heaven, Elizabeth Dreyer wrote:

“Francis de Sales stands out as one who was firmly convinced that people in every walk of life are called to holiness. His life’s effort, truly innovative in his day, was to help people find God in their particular life calling. The nearness of God was not the exclusive domain of any one group in the church. ‘True devotion,’ he said, ‘adorns and beautifies any vocation or employment.’ He constantly opposed the tendency, frequently found among those who want to live a spiritual; life, to seek the virtues of another state in life while neglecting those proper to one’s vocation. The home is not a convent, and the virtues of the monastic life are not lived in the same way in family life…” (p. 46)

We will truly live to the extent that we practice virtue. We will truly live life to the full to the extent that we practice the virtues proper to the events, circumstances and relationships that we experience day in and day out.

Today, what virtues might God be calling you to practice?


Spirituality Matters: August 4th - August 10th

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(August 4, 2024: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron...”

Sometimes the only thing worse than the bad things that happen to us is to invest tons of energy and effort into complaining about them.

Think about it. Who of us ever really improves our situation or lot in life by complaining about it? Still, we do…and to our own detriment.

Was it tough for the Israelites in the desert? You bet! As bad as things were in Egypt, did they have “three hots and a cot”? Yes! By contrast, did they enjoy any such comforts in the wilderness? Apparently, aside from their freedom, not much!

Still, God had redeemed them from slavery after all. God had given them leaders, whose charge it was to lead the Israelites to a promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. However, one might wonder where the Israelites got the idea that somehow this trek or quest should be nothing but smooth sailing. Nonetheless, they complained…which even now seems somehow petty or small-minded.

Let’s bring this situation closer to home. Who among us in our own day is not tempted to complain when things don’t go our way, when our jobs, our marriages or our relationships turned out to be more difficult or challenging than we had expected or hoped? And to be brutally honest, who of us can claim that grumbling or complaining about the hand we’ve been dealt makes playing that hand any easier? In fact, doesn’t it only make it more – and painfully – difficult?

Francis de Sales is pretty clear when it comes to grumbling or complaining:

“Complain as little as possible about the wrongs you suffer. Undoubtedly a person who complains commits a sin by doing so, since self-love always feels that injuries are worse than they really are.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 3)

Does this mean that we should never raise an issue, a concern or a gripe? No, but we need to be very judicious about those people with whom we raise them. Francis observed:

“Do not complain to irascible or fault-finding persons. If there is some just occasion for complaining to someone either to correct an offense or restore your peace of mind, do so to those who are even-tempered and really love God. Otherwise, instead of calming your mind the others will stir up worse difficulties and instead of pulling out the thorn that is hurting you they will drive it deeper into your foot.” (Ibid)

To be sure, God hears the cries of those who complain. But truth be told, aren’t there better ways to use our words…and spend our lives?

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(August 5, 2024: Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Give them some food yourselves.”

The disciples were concerned for the welfare of the crowd that had followed Jesus to a remote place. It had been a long day. Evening was fast approaching and there was no place nearby for the people to get food or, for that matter, shelter. Fearful of the possible consequences, the disciples suggested to Jesus that he should send the crowd away.

On the face of it, this was a very reasonable suggestion. From a purely practical point of view, the disciples were fearful of the possible results of the people being stranded in a deserted place without provisions. All the more remarkable that instead of dismissing the crowd, Jesus said to the disciples: “Give them some food yourselves”.

What possibly could have motivated Jesus to respond this way?

Consider the possibility that Jesus recognized a deeper level of fear in the disciples, a fear far more terrifying than the prospect of scores of men, women and children going without food or water. Perhaps, the disciples were afraid that the crowd would turn to them for help…or maybe even turn against them for failing to help. Faced with this overwhelming prospect, the disciples, in effect, decided to suggest to Jesus that sending folks away would fix the problem.

To be sure, there are some situations or circumstances in our own lives – and in the lives of those we love – that seem far beyond any time, talent or treasure that we might possess. As Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” character suggests, “A man’s got to know his limitations”. Faced with our own limitations it is wise, indeed, to turn to Jesus in times of need.

But this scene from Matthew’s Gospel challenges us to consider circumstances in which we are tempted to turn to God too quickly for answers without first considering how God may be asking us to act as instruments of life and love for others. To be sure, bringing peace to the Middle East is way beyond my singular abilities. Therefore, I pray to God for peace and pray for those who are working for that peace. But closer to home, how often do I expect God to feed the hungry without first considering how I might be called to offer myself as food and drink to others? How often do I ask God to heal a relationship without first making any effort on my own to be a source of healing? How many times in my life do I immediately expect God to fix the problem without ever considering how God may be asking me to be a part of the solution?

In short, living a life of devotion – following the example of Jesus – avoids two extremes – expecting God to do everything, or expecting us to do everything. Life is about balance, about discernment and about accepting the situations in which when we depend on God to bring about something good, as well as recognizing the circumstances in which God is depending on us to make good things happen.

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(August 6, 2024: Transfiguration of the Lord)
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“He was transfigured before them…”

Something remarkable happened on that mountain. Consider the possibility that it was not Jesus who changed, but rather, it was Peter, James and John who were transformed.

Imagine that this account from Mark’s Gospel documents the experience of Peter, James and John as if their eyes were opened and their vision widened, enabling them to see without impediment the virtually blinding light of Jesus’ love that flowed from every fiber of his being.

Indeed, every day of Jesus’ life something of that remarkable brilliance, that remarkable passion and that remarkable glory was revealed to people of all ages, stages and states of life. The shepherds and magi saw it; the elders in the temple saw it; the guests at a wedding saw it; a woman caught in adultery saw it; a boy possessed by demons saw it; a man born blind saw it and a good thief saw it.

If so many others could recognize that virtually blinding love of Jesus in a word, a glance or a touch, why might Peter, James and John have required such extra effort in helping them to see Jesus’ glory? Perhaps it was because they were so close to Jesus; perhaps it was because they were with him every day; perhaps it was because, on some level, they had somehow taken his glory for granted.

Now, what about us? Do we recognize that same divine glory present in us, present in others, present in creation and present in even the simplest and most ordinary, everyday experiences of justice, truth, healing, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion? Or do we take it for granted?

St. Francis de Sales saw the Transfiguration as a “glimpse of heaven.” How might our eyes, our minds and our hearts need to be transfigured and transformed in ways that enable us to catch this “glimpse of heaven” within us and around us? How might we need to see more clearly the glory of a God who always loves, redeems, heals, forgives, challenges, pursues., strengthens and inspires us?

Today, may we grow in our ability - through the quality of our lives - to make that “glimpse of heaven” more clearly visible and available to the eyes – and in the lives – of others.

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(August 7, 2024: Wednesday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“O woman, how great is your faith!”

Today’s Scripture readings offer us a study in contrast. In the Book of Numbers, we see how the faith of the Israelites was shaken when they learned that the land of “milk and honey” promised by the Lord was already occupied by other people, and not just any other people – they were strong, fierce giants living in well-fortified towns. It would seem that the Israelites simply expected to inherit the Promised Land unopposed without any effort or resistance.

Contrast this situation with the faith demonstrated by the Canaanite woman in Matthew’s Gospel. Three times Jesus rebuffed her request to drive a demon out of her daughter. Undaunted, the woman continued to press Jesus to the point where he was not only impressed by her faith but also granted her request.

The Israelites teach us that having a strong faith in God’s Providence doesn’t mean that God’s promises always come easily. Many good things in life require hard, difficult work. For her part the Canaanite woman demonstrates that strong faith in God does not require passivity, but in fact, it often requires persistence and tenacity.

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(August 8, 2024: Dominic, Founder and Priest)
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“Get thee behind me, Satan.”

Wow, how that must have stung! The command “Get behind me, Satan,” spoken to Peter by Jesus, is recorded in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33. “Get behind me, Satan” seems harsh and out of character for Jesus, especially when addressing Peter, one of His most devout disciples. Why did Jesus say this? What was it Peter did to deserve such a rebuke? Without knowing it, Peter was speaking for Satan.

Jesus had just revealed to His disciples for the first time the plan: He was to go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and be raised to life (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31). Contrary to their expectations of Him, Jesus explained that He had not come to establish an earthly Messianic kingdom at that time. The disciples were not prepared for this new revelation of the Messiah’s purpose. Though Peter understood Jesus’ words, apparently, he simply could not reconcile his view of the conquering Messiah with the suffering and death Jesus of which Jesus spoke. So, Peter “began to rebuke Him” for having such a fatalistic mindset.

Peter might in fact have been “a Rock” on which Jesus would subsequently rely heavily, but at this moment, Peter was – however unwittingly – serving as a tool for the Tempter. Like Jesus’ adversary, Peter was not setting his mind on the things of God—His ways, His plans, and His purposes. Instead, his mind was set on the things of man, the things of the world and its earthly values. Jesus was saying that the way of the cross was God’s will, the plan of redemption for all the human family. Peter’s reaction was most likely shared by the other disciples although - as always - it was Peter who first gave voice to it. Peter was inadvertently being used by Satan in thinking he was protecting Jesus. Recall, Satan had purposely tempted Jesus in the wilderness to the run-up to His public ministry: Satan attempted to divert Jesus from the cross, from fulfilling the grand design of the Father and the Son. Without realizing it, Peter was doing the same thing. He had not yet grasped the counterintuitive truth of Jesus’ Messianic purpose.

Although Peter had just moments before declared Jesus as the Christ, seconds later he turned from God’s perspective and viewed the situation from a solely human perspective, which brought about the stern rebuke: “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus went on to explain: “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”.

At the time, Jesus’ stern reprimand did not make sense to Peter. However, Jesus’ indictment presents a profound message for us. We can easily see that Peter had the wrong perspective of God’s plan for Christ’s suffering and death. But we must also see how easily we can become an unwitting tool for Satan. This is especially true when we lose sight of God’s plan for us. This comes about when our focus is on our careers, our possessions, our security and our advantage rather than upon sacrifice and service and the proclaiming of God’s message. When Peter’s focus shifted to his own desires and plans, Jesus’ rebuke was a wake-up call for him. Jesus shocked Peter with the aim of getting him back on track. Perhaps we can learn from St. Peter to avoid the temptation ourselves to view life in a way contrary to the power and promise of true discipleship.

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(August 9, 2018: Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Religious/Martyr)
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“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters on “Hope,” Francis de Sales counseled:

“If divine Providence does not permit afflictions or mortifications to come upon you, then do not desire them or ask for them. On the other hand, if divine Providence permits afflictions or mortifications to come upon you, you must not refuse them but accept them courageously, lovingly and calmly.” (Conference VI, P. 95)

Some crosses can be delayed but not denied. On any given day we would do well not to desire or ask for afflictions or mortifications, but if any afflictions or mortifications should come our way today, how will we accept – and deal with – them?

“St. Teresa converted from Judaism to Catholicism in the course of her work as a philosopher, and later entered the Carmelite Order. She died in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in August 1942.” “Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891 – a date that coincided with her family's celebration of Yom Kippur, the Jewish “day of atonement.” Edith's father died when she was just two years old, and she gave up the practice of her Jewish faith as an adolescent.”

“As a young woman with profound intellectual gifts, Edith gravitated toward the study of philosophy and became a pupil of the renowned professor Edmund Husserl in 1913. Through her studies, the non-religious Edith met several Christians whose intellectual and spiritual lives she admired.”

“After earning her degree with the highest honors from Gottingen University in 1915, she served as a nurse in an Austrian field hospital during World War I. She returned to academic work in 1916, earning her doctorate after writing a highly-regarded thesis on the phenomenon of empathy. She remained interested in the idea of religious commitment but had not yet made such a commitment herself.”

“In 1921, while visiting friends, Edith spent an entire night reading the autobiography of the 16th century Carmelite nun St. Teresa of Avila. ‘When I had finished the book’ she later recalled, ‘I said to myself: This is the truth.’ She was baptized into the Catholic Church on the first day of January 1922.”

“Edith intended to join the Carmelites immediately after her conversion but would ultimately have to wait another 11 years before taking this step. Instead, she taught at a Dominican school, and gave numerous public lectures on women's issues. She spent 1931 writing a study of St. Thomas Aquinas, and took a university teaching position in 1932.”

“In 1933, with the National Socialists coming to power in Germany - combined with Edith's Jewish ethnicity – her teaching career came to an end. After a painful parting with her mother, who did not understand her Christian conversion, she entered a Carmelite convent in 1934, taking the name “Teresa Benedicta of the Cross” as a symbol of her acceptance of suffering.”

“’I felt,’ she wrote, ‘that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take upon themselves on everybody's behalf.’ She saw it as her vocation “to intercede with God for everyone,’ but she prayed especially for the Jews of Germany whose tragic fate was becoming clear. ‘I ask the Lord to accept my life and my death,’ she wrote in 1939, ‘so that the Lord will be accepted by his people and that his kingdom may come in glory, for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world.’”

“After completing her final work, a study of St. John of the Cross entitled ‘The Science of the Cross,’ Teresa Benedicta was arrested along with her sister Rosa (who had also become a Catholic), and the members of her religious community, on August 7, 1942. The arrests came in retaliation against a protest letter by the Dutch Bishops, decrying the Nazi treatment of Jews. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. Blessed John Paul II canonized her in 1998 and proclaimed her a co-patroness of Europe the next year.”

(https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-teresa-benedicta-of-the-cross-edith-stein-557)

A year before her death, Maximilian Kolbe (who likewise perished in Auschwitz), wrote the following:

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"

(http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2006/08/favorite-quotes-from-st-maximilian.html)

The Nazis may have taken her life, but they failed to annihilate her legacy – through her willingness to take up her cross, the Truth, in fact, had already set her free.

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(August 10, 2024: Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr)
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“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”

“A well-known legend has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with the responsibility for the material goods of the church and the distribution of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he sought out the poor, widows and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels to increase the sum. When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore, and be rich in words.’”

“Lawrence replied that the church was indeed rich. ‘I will show you a valuable part. But give me time to set everything in order and make an inventory.’ After three days he gathered a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned and widowed people and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, ‘These are the treasure of the church’.”<< data-preserve-html-node="true"/p>

“The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared, with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, ‘It is well done. Turn me over!’.”

(http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1103)

In “losing” his life, Lawrence came to know his most authentic self. How might we follow his example with the everyday challenges that we might experience just today?


Spirituality Matters: July 28th - August 3rd

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(July 28, 2024: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“Live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:

As living plants of the Church, the call that each of us has received is to bear fruit – fruit that will last. Of course, insofar as devotion adapts itself to the strengths, situations and circumstances of each person, we bear fruit in ways particular to the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves. In short, we are all called to live a life of virtue.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“The king of bees never goes out into the fields without being surrounded by his little subjects. In like manner, charity never enters a heart without lodging both itself and its train of all the other virtues which it exercises and disciplines as a captain does his soldiers. It does not put them to work all at once, nor at all times and in all places. The just man is ‘like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season’, for charity waters the soul and produces in it virtuous deeds, each in its proper time.”

“A great fault in many who undertake the exercise of some particular virtue is thinking they must practice it in every situation. Like certain philosophers, they wish either always to weep or always to laugh. What is still worse, they condemn and censure others who do not practice the same virtues they do. The Apostle says, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep’, and ‘charity is patient, is kind’, generous, prudent discreet and considerate.”

To sum it up, to live a life worthy of our calling requires that we live lives of virtue. But, from a Salesian perspective, there’s more to it than that – we also need to know when and how to practice a particular virtue (or virtues) in any given relationship, situation or circumstance.

In other words, it isn’t enough to have all the tools – we need to know when and how to use them. Put another way, when it comes to the practice of virtue, we always need to know when it is time to practice it.

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(July 29, 2024: Martha, Mary and Lazarus)
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"You are anxious and worried about many things."

We are all-too familiar with this image from the Gospel according to Luke. All-too familiar because it is all-too easy to see in this Gospel a putdown of action and activity as compared with prayer and contemplation.

We need to revisit this interpretation. We need to understand how this Gospel speaks about Martha and Mary. More importantly, we need to consider how this Gospel speaks to us.

Jesus does not criticize Martha for being busy about the details of hospitality. Rather, Jesus criticizes the fact that Martha is allowing her activity and expectations to make her anxious. Likewise, Mary is not exalted due to her inactivity, but rather because she is not burdened with anxiety. In short, Martha is upset and flustered, while Mary is calm and centered.

Both Martha and Mary bring something to the experience of hospitality. In Martha, we see the importance of tending to detail when welcoming people into our homes. In Mary, we see the importance of welcoming people into our lives, into our hearts and into the core of who we are without allowing the details to overwhelm us. Hospitality, then, is not a matter of choosing between activity and availability. It is a matter of incorporating – and of integrating – both.

Francis de Sales certainly knew this truth when he described the two great faces of love: the love of complacence and the love of benevolence. Complacence is love that delights in simply being in the presence of the beloved; benevolence is love that delights in expressing this complacence by doing for the beloved.

Doing and being. Being and doing. This is the dance of hospitality. This is the dance of love…a dance that challenges us to be as free as possible from anxious self-absorption, self-preoccupation and self-destruction.

To be truly open, to be truly welcoming, to be truly hospitable, there needs to be something of both Martha and Mary in each of us.

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(July 30, 2024: Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
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“Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field…”

Within the last week or so, we touched upon the image of wheat and weeds. There is something of both wheat and weeds inside each and every one of us. Careful examination of the interior gardens of our thoughts, feelings and attitudes reveals things which promote life. Likewise, in those same gardens we can identify things that can compromise life.

In a letter to Madame de la Flechere, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Don’t be examining yourself to see if what you are doing is little or much, good or bad, provided that it is not sinful and that, in all good faith, you are trying to do it for God. As much as possible, do well that you have to do, and once it is done, think no more about it but turn your attention to what has to be done next. Walk simply along the way our Lord shows you and don’t worry. We must hate our faults, but we should do so calmly and peacefully, without fuss or anxiety. We must be patient at the sight of these faults and learn from the humiliation which they bring about. Unless you do this, your imperfections – of which you are acutely conscious – will disturb you even more and thus grow stronger, for nothing is more favorable to the growth of these ‘weeds’ than our anxiety and over eagerness to rid ourselves of them.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, pp. 161-162)

In each of us we find a mixture of both wheat and weeds. In each of us we find a mixed bag of both good and bad. Essentially, the Salesian tradition challenges us to deal with this reality in three ways:

  • First, detest the weeds within us.
  • Second, don’t dwell on those weeds within us.
  • Third, focus on – and nourish – the wheat within us.

I hope these thoughts help you to understand this parable better and to put it into practice!

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(July 31, 2024: Ignatius of Loyola, Priest)
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“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure; like searching for fine pearls.”

A traditional way of explaining these images in today’s Gospel is to place the emphasis on us. This perspective considers this Gospel as a challenge to the hearer to “trade up”, that is, to give up those things we most value in order to obtain that which has the greatest value - the Kingdom of God.

A non-traditional way of explaining these images – and, apparently, the more accurate one – is to place the emphasis on God. It is God who is “trading up” for something better; it is God who is – as it were – cashing in all his chips for something even more valuable. What is that “treasure”? What are those “fine pearls”? We are the treasure that God pursues at any price and we are the pearls that God leaves no stone unturned to possess.

God “traded up” his only Son because He wanted to reclaim us. God “cashed in\” his only Son, because He wanted to redeem us. God gave away everything He had in order to make us his own. In these acts God clearly displayed that it’s people, not things – like possessions, power or privilege – that God values the most.

We are God-given treasures! We are pearls bought at the highest of prices! Do we treat ourselves – and one another – accordingly?

Today and every day!

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(August 1, 2024: Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)
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“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.”

What should I hold onto in life? What should I let go of in life? What’s good for me? What’s not good for me? These kinds of questions are the stuff of discernment. John Crossin, OSFS offers for our consideration three aspects of any discernment process, that is, any attempt to determine God’s will.

Mind you, discernment is not an exact science. While we can come to know God’s Will in broad strokes – and sometimes even in the particular – we can’t presume to know it all. And sometimes, we may even get it wrong. Still, some of the things that can help us to know what to keep and what to give away in life include:

  • God’s Signified Will – It is the information we already have at our disposal from the Scriptures, Commandments, Counsels etc. This information clearly communicates what God considers to be good, virtuous and life-giving values, attitudes and actions.

  • Feedback from Others – We should make good use of the wise counsel of friends, clergy, mentors, counselors and other people whom we trust. True friends will know when to tell us what we want to hear, and when to tell us what we need to hear.

  • Flexibility – Francis de Sales observed that while all the saints are recognized for their conformity to God’s will, no two saints followed God’s Will in exactly the same way. We need to remind ourselves that discernment is about what God wants us - not others - to do in any particular situation. Sometimes, this may require us to “think outside of the box” - we need to be open to change.

Today, life being what it is, we may catch all kinds of things in the nets of our lives. Some things are always good for us; other things are always bad for us. However, there may be some things we catch that used to be good but no longer are. On the other hand, there may be other things once considered bad that may now actually be very good.

Decisions, decisions! What do I keep? Well, I keep the things that promote the Kingdom of heaven! What do I throw away? I throw away the things that don’t!

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(August 2, 2024: Friday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place, in his own house...”

It isn’t an accident that prophetic people are often most unappreciated by those closest to them. It isn’t by chance that prophetic voices encounter the most resistance from members of their own family, relatives or friends. It isn’t a surprise that prophetic movements are often far easier to export abroad than to practice at home. Recall the saying: “Familiarity breeds contempt”.

Strangers don’t see our foibles. Strangers don’t see our weaknesses. Strangers don’t experience our dark side. But as we know all-too-well, those who know us well do see those things…and much, much more. We are all disciples of Jesus. We are all commissioned by virtue of our Baptism to preach the Word. So, what are we to do? Preach freely to strangers but remain silent when in the presence of those with whom we labor, live and love? No, that won’t do. When it comes to following Jesus, we know that there’s extra pressure when we are among our own. We realize that there is extra scrutiny in our own glass house. We accept that there is greater expectation (and perhaps more skepticism) in our native place. So, how should we as would-be prophets deal with this reality?

The answer - make sure that you’re already making your best efforts to put into practice what you are pondering to preach. Beginning today!

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(August 3, 2024: Saturday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“The priests and the prophets said to the princes and to all the people, ‘This man deserves death…’”

Speaking of prophets being without honor in their native place, consider today’s selection from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. In a classic case of no good deed going unpunished, Jeremiah stirs up a hornet’s nest by being faithful to God’s will for him, which was to prophesy against his own house and his own city. While protesting his innocence, Jeremiah spends what may be his last breaths trying to convince the people to accept God’s word on its own merits rather than to bargain for his life. Having spoken his peace, Jeremiah decides to let the chips fall where they may.

Fortunately for him, the chips fell both God’s way and Jeremiah’s way!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“We must not be too ardent, precise and demanding in regard to preserving our good name. Men who are overly tender and sensitive on this point are like people who take medicine for slight indispositions. Although they think they are preserving their health, they actually destroy it. In like manner those who try too carefully to maintain their reputation lose it entirely. Generally speaking, to ignore or despise an injury or calumny is a far more effective remedy than resentment, fighting and revenge. Crocodiles harm only those who are afraid of them and detraction hurts only those who are vexed by it. Excessive fear of losing our good name reveals great distrust in its foundation, which is living a good life. Towns that have wooden bridges over great rivers are afraid that they will be swept away by every little rise of water, but those with stone bridges fear only extraordinary floods. In like manner those with souls solidly grounded on virtue usually despise the floods let loose by harmful tongues…” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 27, pp. 195-196)

Jeremiah faced not only the prospect of losing his reputation or credibility for speaking God’s word, but he also faced the possibility of losing his life for speaking God’s word. His response showed remarkable strength of character and purpose - a character that obviously convinced enough people to not only protect his life but also to preserve his reputation. His courage persuaded the people to accept his message as well.

Have you ever faced “push-back” from others for saying or doing the right thing? While your life may not have been at risk, how might your reputation among others suffered as a result of your decision to stand up for what it right? How did you deal – or are your dealing - with that experience?


Spirituality Matters: July 21st - July 27th

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(July 21, 2024: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“Rest a while...”

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Not only might it make Jack dull, but it also might cripple Jack’s attempts at being happy, healthy and even holy!

Make no mistake. Growing in holiness - making real in our own lives the love of the God in whose image and likeness we are created - is serious business. It requires hard work; it requires discipline; it requires self-examination; it requires commitment.

As Francis de Sales would say, it requires devotion.

Salesian spirituality also recognizes the value of relaxation, of taking “time out”, of “catching your breath” and making time for play. In fact, relaxation is not only permissible, but it is also necessary!

Francis de Sales claimed: “It is actually a defect to be so strict, austere and unsociable that one neither permits oneself nor others any recreation time”. His Introduction to the Devout Life (1609) contains ample evidence of the Gentleman Saint's appreciation of the important role that rest and recreation play in the pursuit of a fully human, God-centered life. He said:

“From time to time we must recreate in mind and body. Take the air, go for a walk, enjoy a friendly chat, play music, or sing or hunt…are such honest diversions that the only thing needed to utilize them well is simple prudence, which gives to all things their rank, time, place and measure”.

To be balanced, we need to know our limitations. We need to know when it’s time to say “enough”, if only for a little while. St. Jane once wrote in the context of a letter to a member of her community:

“I must run, for I have little leisure and my arm and hand are starting to tire and hurt, even though I’ve just begun to write. I’m not able to do as much as I used to”.

In his book Touching the Ordinary, Robert Wicks identifies practices that can help us establish and maintain a balanced life: get enough sleep, eat right, practice leisure and pace yourself. Learn to laugh; focus on values; practice self-appreciation; be involved, but not too involved; have a support group; escape on occasion; be spontaneous; avoid negativity; establish good friendships and practice intimacy.

Our Lord Jesus Christ spent virtually his entire public ministry meeting the needs of others: healing, teaching, feeding, challenging and forgiving - in short, working. But the Gospels that document Christ's work ethic also clearly document those times when he withdrew from his activities to rest, to renew, to enjoy another’s hospitality and to spend time with friends. All these ways were helpful in rededicating himself to doing the Will of God.

There are plenty of ways for us to achieve a balance between work and play, livelihood and leisure, pay and play. Consider them in a personal, prayerful manner. Choose those consistent with the state and stage of life in which you find yourself at this time. Realize that as your life changes, so too may your means for achieving this happy, healthy and holy balance.

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(July 22, 2024: Mary Magdalene, Saint)
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“She saw Jesus but did not know it was Jesus.”

In a letter to Marie Bourgeois Brulart, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Mary Magdalene is looking for Our Lord and it is he whom she holds. She is asking him, and it is he whom she asks. She could not see him as she had hoped to see him. This is why she did not recognize him as he actually was and continues to see him in another guise. She wanted to see him in his robes of glory and not in the lowly clothes of a gardener. But in the end she recognized him when he spoke to her by name: ‘Mary’.”

“You see, Our Lord meets you every day dressed as a gardener in any number of places and situations…Be of good cheer and let nothing dismay you.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 136)

On any given day God may be, as it were, hidden in plain sight. However, it is not a case of God trying to hide from us! Rather, it is our desire to see God in ways that match our preferences, and that prevent us from seeing God as He really is, especially when it comes to recognizing how God is present in us and in one another!

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(July 23, 2024: Tuesday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, sister and mother…”

In the opinion of William Barclay, this selection from Matthew’s Gospel offers us an expanded notion of the ties that bind - a new way of looking at kinship, family and friendship. He wrote:

“True kinship is not always a matter of flesh and blood relationship. It remains true that blood is a tie that nothing can break and that many people find their delight and their peace in the circle of their families. But it is also true that sometimes a man’s nearest and dearest are the people who understand him least, and that he finds his true fellowship with those who work for a common ideal and who share a common experience. This certainly is true – even if Christians find that those who should be closest to them are those who are most out of sympathy with them, there remains for them the fellowship of Jesus Christ and the friendship of all who love the Lord.”

Barclay says that this expanded notion of family – of home – is founded on three things:

  1. A common ideal. People who are very different can be firm friends, if they have a common ideal for which they work and toward which they press.

  2. A common experience and the memories that come from it. When people have passed together through some great experience – and when they can look back on it together – real friendship begins.

  3. Obedience. There is no better way of showing the reality of love than the spirit of obedience.

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters, Francis remarked:

“Let us hear and follow the voice of the divine Savior, who like the perfect psalmist, pours forth the last strains of an undying love from the tree of the cross, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ After that has been said, what remains but to breathe forth our last breath and die of love, living no longer for ourselves but Jesus living in us? Then, all the anxieties of our hearts will cease – anxieties proceeding from desires suggested by self-love and by tenderness for ourselves that make us secretly so eager in the pursuit of our own satisfaction…Embarked, then, in the exercises of our own vocation and carried along by the winds of this simple and loving confidence we shall make the greatest progress; we shall draw nearer and nearer to home.” (Living Jesus, p. 430)

As members of Jesus’ family, let us do our level best to be obedient, that is, to listen to the voice of God in our lives and act upon what we hear. May we celebrate the kinship, friendship and love that come with following the will of our heavenly Father and experience the ties that truly and tenaciously bind us together.

Today!

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(July 24, 2024: Wednesday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit…”

In a letter to the Duc de Bellegarde, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Persevere in this great courage and determination which keeps you lifted high above temporal things. Keep your eyes fixed steadfastly on that blissful day of eternity towards which the course of years bears us on. As these pass they themselves pass by us stage after stage until we reach the end of the road. But in the meantime, in each passing moment there lies enclosed as in a tiny kernel the seed of all eternity, and in our humble little works of devotion there lies hidden the prize of everlasting glory…”(TLG, Book XI, Chapter 6, Chapter 29, p. 212)

Regardless of how large or small the yield of the seeds that God has planted deep within you, there is only one place in which you will find those seeds – today.

In each and every present moment!

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(July 25, 2024: James, Apostle)
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“Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant…”

Francis de Sales once wrote:

“‘Borrow empty vessels, not a few,’ said Elisha to the poor widow, ‘and pour oil into them.’ (2 Kings 4: 3-4) To receive the grace of God into our hearts they must be emptied of our own pride…” (Living Jesus, p. 149)

It’s all-too-easy to fill our hearts – our precious earthen vessels – with all kinds of earthly treasures, things that – as good as they might be – aren’t really treasures at all - at least, not where God is concerned. The less space occupied in our hearts by things that merely pass for treasure, the more room we make available in our hearts for the real, heavenly treasure that is truly precious - the love of God. Recall the words of St. Francis de Sales in a conference (On Cordiality) he gave to the Sisters of the Visitation:

“We must remember that love has its seat in the heart, and that we can never love our neighbor too much, nor exceed the limits of reason in this affection, provided that it dwells in the heart.” (Conference IV, p. 56)

The story of Zebedee’s sons illustrates the importance of being very careful about what we store in our hearts. Notwithstanding their intimate relationship with Jesus, they set their hearts on a treasure that was not in Jesus’ power to grant: places of honor in His Kingdom. He responds to this request (made on James and John’s behalf by their mother, no less, who apparently also had her heart set on honor for her sons as well) by challenging them to set their hearts not on the desire for honor but on opportunities to serve the needs of others…and so to have honor beyond their wildest dreams!

Jesus tells Zebedee’s sons that the chalice from which they will drink (the same chalice from which Jesus drank every day) is an invitation to experience the greatness that comes from being a servant. Francis de Sales wrote:

“To be a servant of God means to be charitable towards one’s neighbors, to have an unshakable determination in the superior part of one’s soul to obey the will of God, to trust in God with a very humble humility and simplicity, to lift oneself up as often as one falls, to endure through one’s own imperfections and to put up with the imperfections of others.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 140)

Today, how ready and willing are we to drink from that same chalice today?

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(July 26, 2024: Joachim and Anne, Parents BVM)
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“Hear the parable of the sower….”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Ostriches never fly; hens fly in a clumsy fashion, near the ground, and only once in a while, but eagles, doves and swallows fly aloft, swiftly and frequently. In like manner, sinners in no way fly up towards God, but make their whole course upon the earth and for the earth. Good people who have not as yet attained to devotion fly toward God by their good works but do so infrequently, slowly and awkwardly. Devout souls ascend to him more frequently, promptly and with lofty flights.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

There is something of the ostrich, something of the hen and something of the eagle in all of us. We crawl in God’s paths; we stumble in God’s path; we fall in God’s paths; we walk and sometimes run in God’s paths, and on occasion, we even manage to fly in God’s paths. So, too, there is something of each of the scenarios of the seed in today’s Gospel that applies to us. Sometimes God’s word is stolen from our hearts before it has a chance to grow. Sometimes God’s word springs up quickly in us but withers even more quickly because of our shallowness or hardness of heart. Sometimes God’s word falls to the wayside because we lose heart in the midst of trials and difficulties. Sometimes God’s word is simply overwhelmed by our fears, doubts, anxieties and second-guesses.

But sometimes – just sometimes – God’s word finds a home deep in our hearts – deep in our souls, deep in our lives – and bears a harvest beyond our wildest dreams: thirty, sixty or even a hundredfold.

And so we don’t just hear the parable of the sower, but also – more importantly – we live the parable of the sower! Consider the ways in which the seeds of God’s love might have trouble taking root in your life. More importantly, focus your attention and energy on the ways in which the seeds of God’s love have made a deep, abiding and fruitful home in your mind, heart, attitude and actions!

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(July 27, 2024: Saturday, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Let them grow together until harvest…”

In the garden of our lives all of us can find both wheat and weeds. It’s really tempting to focus our energy and attention on identifying and removing the weeds, but we do this at the risk of unintentionally removing the wheat as well. Jesus suggests that it is far better to be comfortable with the fact that we have both wheat and weeds in our lives and to allow God to sort them out over time. Francis de Sales clearly grasped the wisdom of Jesus’ advice. In a letter to Madame de la Flechere, he wrote:

“Don’t be examining yourself to see if what you are doing is little or great, good or bad, provided that it is not sinful and that, in all good faith, you are trying to do it for God. As much as possible do well what you have to do, and once it is done, think no more about it but turn your attention to what has to be done next. Walk very simply along the way our Lord shows you and don’t worry. We must hate our faults, but we should do so calmly and peacefully, without fuss or anxiety. We must be patient at the sight of these faults and learn from the humiliation that they bring about. Unless you do this, your imperfections, of which you are acutely conscious, will disturb you even more and thus grow stronger, for nothing is more favorable to the growth of these ‘weeds’ than our anxiety and overeagerness to get rid of them.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, pp. 161-162)

What’s the bottom line? God loves us just the way we are - weeds and all. Who are we to suggest that God will love us more without them?


Spirituality Matters: July 14th - July 20th

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(July 14, 2024: Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

“In Him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things, according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory we who first hoped in Christ.”

St. Francis de Sales once traveled to Bellevaux with a young priest where he relived his first days as a missionary in the Chablais. The residents were very timid and wary. The two could not get any lodging, no wine and no seats on which to sit. The two had to eat poor bread for which they paid enormously - a little cheese, a little water, having no table other than the ground - no tablecloth other than their own cloaks.

Francis said:

“Here is the real apostolic life, the life where one can imitate in some fashion the poverty of Jesus Christ and his Apostles. I am accustomed to this because for two or three years I experienced the same cruelty from the residents in various villages.”

Even with these setbacks or because of them, Francis loved the people whose pastor he was. He gave everyone a fraternal welcome and led them in apostolic generosity, which he himself practiced. He put into practice: “It is better to be humble with the poor than to share booty with the proud”. (Proverbs. 16: 19) He knew the apostolic spirit: “He is close to the broken-hearted; he soothes the dejected spirit”. (Proverbs 33:19)

Francis listened to God's voice and added his own to the Lord's. His keen intellect and educational background prepared him for how to argue, yet he was able to turn aside hatred. Francis had a great desire to debate the Protestant ministers, but few took up the challenge. A few in his audience secretly took notes from his sermons, copied them, and passed them around Geneva. At first there was little response, but with the passage of time came a great many conversions to the faith.

One can do a great deal in his or her own style of preaching, teaching and working. It is a great gift to allow the Lord's Spirit to work in us and others, and not to be discouraged by hardships, disappointments, and our own way of wanting to get things done. Many great people, who have gone before us, have shown us the way.

Francis de Sales showed the power of the virtue of hope. A hope which eventually produced great fruit, due to the insight, vigor and determination of a saint who was unwilling to allow frustration and pain from preventing him from preaching the word of the Lord.

May we be emboldened, enlightened and – when necessary – encouraged by his example.

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(July 15, 2024: Our Bonaventure, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)
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“Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple - Amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

In Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Little daily acts of charity, a headache, toothache or cold, the ill humor of a husband or wife, this contempt or that scorn, the loss of a pair of gloves, a ring or a handkerchief, the little inconveniences incurred by going to bed early and getting up early to pray or attend Mass, the little feelings of self-consciousness that comes with performing good deeds in public – in short, all such little things as these when accepted and embraced with love are highly pleasing to God’s mercy. For a single cup of water God has promised to his faithful people a sea of endless bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves constantly each day it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches only if you use them well…Great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves, whereas little ones are frequent.”(IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, pp. 214 - 215)

Jesus - as it were - throws cold water on the notion that serving God is limited to doing great things for others. As Francis de Sales clearly understood, the point that Jesus makes is that serving God, more often than not, is displayed in our willingness to do little things for one another with great love.

Francis de Sales tells us that we can store up vast spiritual riches by enriching the lives of others in simple, ordinary ways.

Today, how might we store up such riches?

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(July 16, 2024: Tuesday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”

In Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Put your hand to strong things, by training yourself in prayer and meditation, receiving the Sacraments, bringing souls to love God, infusing good inspirations into their hearts and in fine, by performing big, important works according to your vocation. But never forget to practice those little, humble virtues that grow at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick and taking care of your family with all the tasks that go with such things and with all the useful diligence that will not allow you to be idle.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 35, pp. 214 - 215)

The selection from today’s Gospel suggests why Jesus emphasized the importance of doing little things for other people as illustrated also in yesterday’s Gospel selection. Jesus had firsthand experience of how some of his contemporaries were left cold and unconvinced by even some of the greatest deeds that he performed. Put another way, Jesus discovered that even the greatest of deeds are powerless in the presence of hardened hearts. Mind you, the selective stubbornness of some folks did not deter Jesus from doing great things, but Jesus doubtless enjoyed great success in his ministry by performing little deeds as well - visiting people in their homes, walking and talking with people and just simply being with other people.

In our own lives there may be times when our love for God and others may require us to perform “important works” associated with the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves. Chances are, however, that the challenge to do big things won’t present itself frequently. However, never forget that time-honored saying to which most – if not all – of us can relate. Little things mean a lot.

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(July 17, 2024: Wednesday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Judgment will be with justice, and the upright of heart shall follow it...” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines judgment as “the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing an idea that is believed to be true or valid without positive knowledge.” Synonyms include: belief, conclusion, conviction, determination, diagnosis, eye, mind, notion, opinion, resolution, sentiment, verdict and view.

OK. Then, it should be obvious that a world without judgment (and things akin to it) would be a pretty chaotic place. We need to be able to make determinations, draw conclusions, form opinions and develop views in order to make our way through life. The challenge (presented to us in today’s Responsorial Psalm) is to render judgments that are just and to avoid the temptation to make judgments that are rash.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“How offensive to God are rash judgments! The judgments of the children of men are rash because they are not the judges of one another, and when they pass judgment on others they usurp the office of our Lord. Such judgments are rash because the principal malice of sin depends on the intention and counsel of the heart. They are rash because every man has enough on which he ought to judge himself without taking it upon himself to judge his neighbors…fear, ambition and similar mental weaknesses often contribute to the birth of suspicion and rash judgment.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 28, p. 196-197)

What is the cure for rash, unjust judgments?

“Drink as deeply as you can of the sacred wine of charity. It will set you free from the perverse moods that cause us to make such tortured judgments, for whoever wants to be cured must apply remedies not to one’s eyes or intellect but to one’s affections. If your reflections are kind, your judgments will be kind; if your affections are charitable, your judgments will be the same.” (Ibid, pp. 198-199)

What is Francis de Sales’ advice for those dedicated to judging justly

“Those who look carefully into their consciences are not very likely to pass rash judgments. Just as bees in misty or cloudy weather stay in their lives to prepare honey, so also the thoughts of good men do not go out in search of things concealed among the cloudy actions of their neighbors. It is the part of an unprofitable soul to amuse itself with examining the lives of other people.” Duly note, however, an important caveat that Francis wrote: “I except those who are placed in charge of others, whether within a family or in the state. For them a great part of their duties consists in inspecting and watching over the conduct of others. In such cases as these, let those responsible for others discharge their duty and make judgments with love.” (Ibid, pp. 200-201)

If/when you need to make judgments, avoid the temptation to do so rashly. If/when you need to make judgments, do so justly. That is, with love!

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(July 18, 2024: Thursday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

St. Francis de Sales clearly learned from this self-described Jesus. The “Gentleman Saint” is recognized by the universal Church for the great strides that he made in imitating in his own life and in the lives of others the meek, humble Sacred Heart of Christ. In his daily attempts to shepherd the people of his diocese – and many others beyond the confines of Savoy – there is no doubt that he followed and modeled the “meek and humble” Jesus.

In her book St. Francis de Sales and the Protestants, author Ruth Kleinman remarked:

“The special qualities of Francis de Sales’ method of conversion were his gentleness and his humanity. God gave Francis de Sales the incomparable meekness absolutely necessary to soften the bitterness of heresy and to conquer the spirit by touching the heart, making him the master of spiritual persuasion.”

She then adds:

“But his gentleness did not mean softness.”

Francis de Sales was tender toward heretics, while tough on heresy. He was yielding with people seeking spiritual growth, while unrelenting with corrupt clergy or recalcitrant cloisters. He was meek when dealing with sinners, while militant when dealing with sin. Fr. Alexander Sandy Pocetto, OSFS, suggests that in imitating the Sacred Heart of Jesus Francis de Sales learned the importance of being not only a lamb, but also a lion.

Look at the “meek and humble” Jesus himself. He healed the sick; he welcomed the lost; he freed the imprisoned; he forgave sinners; he promoted justice; he called “great” all those who did the will of his Father. But he also drove out demons; he confronted injustice; he called out the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes; he turned over the tables of the moneychangers; he even once referred to Peter as “Satan”.

While the meek and humble Jesus didn’t look for a fight, he wouldn’t duck one, either, not when it came to promoting the Kingdom of God, the things of God, the values of God and the love of God.

Today, let us ask God to help us to continue to learn from his Son. When it comes to our daily attempts to be people who strive to be both firmly gentle and gently firm, may Jesus teach us how and when to be lambs – and lions – of God.

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(July 19, 2024: Friday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“That saying, so celebrated among the ancients – ‘know thyself’ – even though it may be understood as applying to the knowledge of the greatness and excellence of the soul (so that it might not be debased or profaned by things unworthy of its nobility) it may also be taken as referring to the knowledge of our unworthiness, imperfection and misery. The greater our knowledge of ourselves, the more profound will be our confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, for between mercy and misery there is so close a connection that the one cannot be exercised without the other. If God had not created man He would still indeed have been perfect in goodness, but He would not have been actually merciful, since mercy can only be exercised towards the miserable.” (Select Salesian Subjects, 022, pp. 46 - 47)

We see this dynamic at work in today’s Gospel, but not in quite the way that Francis de Sales intended. The Pharisees observe Jesus’ disciples feeding themselves by picking the heads of grain. Blinded by their own self-perceived “greatness and excellence,” the Pharisees considered this activity to be work, something strictly forbidden on the sabbath. As we’ve seen in many other places throughout the Gospels, seeing Jesus’ disciples – or Jesus himself, for that matter – being merciful (that is, being generous) to others on the sabbath made the Pharisees miserable. If they had really known themselves - that is, their own unworthiness, imperfection and misery - the Pharisees would have approved and applauded Jesus for doing the right thing, regardless of when, where or with whom he did it. Instead, they seized on every opportunity they could to condemn Jesus for it.

Isn’t it amazing, how someone doing what is right can bring out the worst in others? As we’ll see in tomorrow’s continuation of Chapter 12 of Matthew’s Gospel, the Pharisees’ misery rises ultimately to the level where they decide to put Jesus to death.

Well, what about us? Have we ever seen somebody else doing something merciful and generous at a time or in a place or in a way with which we did not agree and attempted to discredit them?

Put another way, who would we like others to see and experience in us – the merciful Jesus or the miserable Pharisee?

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(July 20, 2024: Saturday, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches…”

Oh, come on! Who actually plans iniquity? Who actually sits around and plans on doing evil?

How about those who gossip? How about those who bad-mouth others or who disparage others in speech? In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“To scoff at others is one of the worst states in which a mind can find itself. God detests this vice and in past times inflicted strange punishments on it. Nothing is so opposed to charity – and much more to devotion – than to despise and condemn one’s neighbors. Derision and mockery are always accompanied by scoffing, and it is therefore a very great sin. Theologians consider it one of the worst offenses against one’s neighbor of which a person can be guilty. Other offenses may be committed with some esteem for the person offended, but this treats a person with scorn and contempt.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 27, pp. 195-196)

We all know from our own experience that speaking negatively about others is all too easy. Be it planned or spontaneous, God is very clear: woe to those who engage in evil things, evil things like bad-mouthing others.

Today, what strategies might we employ to avoid woes like these?


Spirituality Matters: July 7th - July 13th

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(July 7, 2024: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.”

The account in today’s Gospel is but one of many episodes in which Jesus experienced rejection. People “took offense” at him because of his dedication and devotion to doing God’s Will in his own life. So strong was this resistance and rejection in his native place that “he was not able to perform any mighty deed” there.

The temptation that Jesus faced – the temptation we all face – is to be more concerned about being accepted by others than to stick to our convictions, when confronted by rejection. We are tempted to dilute the truth, to lower our standards and to avoid anything that “rocks the boat”. We are tempted to win friends at all costs, but unfortunately, we lose ourselves in the process.

St. Francis de Sales, the gentleman saint, was a man who tried his best to speak and live the truth of the Gospel in a humble, gentle and friendly way. For all his powers of persuasion, though, he, also experienced rejection. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, he writes:

“As soon as people see that you wish to follow a devout life, they aim a thousand darts of mockery and detraction at you. The most slanderous of them will slander your devotion as hypocrisy, bigotry and trickery. Your friends will raise a lot of objections which they consider very prudent and charitable: they will tell you that you will become depressed, lose your reputation in the world, become unbearable, grow old before your time, and that your affairs at home will suffer. They will say that you can save your soul without going to such extremes.” (Part IV, Chapter 1)

Ouch! It seems (by some standards, at least) that the Good News is not always so good - or, at least, not very easy - for the folks who try to live it!

To be sure, we sometimes need to look for the kernels of truth that may be contained in criticism and rejection. Are we arrogant? Are we strident? Are we too pushy or stubborn? Is it really God’s Will that we are promoting or is it our own? Still, if our conscience is clear, how do we deal with rejection?

Francis de Sales’ advises:

“Be firm in your purposes and unswerving in your resolutions. Perseverance will prove whether you are sincerely sacrificing yourself to God and dedicating yourself to living a devout life.” He concludes: “The world may hold us to be fools.”

Like Jesus, rejection is a price – however painful – that we must sometimes be willing to pay. And so today, if rejection comes our way, how will we deal with it?

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(July 8, 2024: Monday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Courage! Your faith has saved you…”

How many times does Jesus make this statement (or ones similar to it) in the context of performing a miracle? Some might interpret his words as gratuitous. They might view these words as Jesus’ attempt to make the beneficiaries patronize them into thinking that they contributed – somehow, even in some small way - to the releasing of His life-changing power.

Those who would interpret Jesus’ words as patronizing would be wrong – dead wrong.

When Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you”, He is simply speaking the truth. The two miracles in today’s Gospel illustrate this point. In both cases (an official with a dead daughter and a woman with a chronic illness) the story that ends with the daughter being raised from the dead and the woman being cured from her hemorrhage were set into motion because someone had the courage to approach Jesus with a request and/or an intuition: “Come, lay your hand on her, and she will live” and “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured”.

What if the official had been too proud to ask Jesus for help? What if the woman had been too ashamed to reach out to Jesus? Fortunately for them, each of them was (1) humble enough to acknowledge their need, and (2) courageous enough to ask for help.

How about us? Are there any needs that we (or those we love) have that we believe only Jesus has the power to address? Are we humble enough to name those needs for ourselves? Are we courageous enough to bring those needs to Jesus?

Do you believe your faith in Jesus can save you?

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(July 9, 2024: Tuesday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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"At the sight of the crowds his heart was moved…”

In commenting upon the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn…” William Barclay wrote: “It is first of all to be noted about this beatitude that the Greek word for to mourn – used here – is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the mourning that is used for mourning for the dead, for the passionate lament for one who was loved…it is defined as the kind of grief that takes such a hold on a man that it cannot be hidden. It is not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings the unrestrained tear to the eyes…” (The Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p. 93)

In the case of Jesus, it is this sorrow that moves his heart and releases miraculous power!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales cites one of two virtues associated with mourning or sadness: “Compassion”. (IDL, Part IV, Chapter 12, p. 253) At the sight of the man with a dead daughter and the woman with a chronic illness in yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus’ heart was deeply moved: the woman was cured, and the girl was raised. In today’s Gospel Jesus’ heart was deeply moved as He taught in synagogues, proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, and cured every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved. Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size and scale of the neediness that He himself was encountering in others, Jesus asked His disciples to pray that God send more laborers for His harvest. In tomorrow’s Gospel, Jesus’ heart will move Him to go a step further with this request: He himself will commission his disciples to be those very laborers.

Whenever Jesus’ heart was moved by the sight of others’ needs, power was released in Him. The people were taught; the sick were healed; the possessed were freed; the lost were found and the dead were raised. These actions are at the heart of compassion, because it’s not enough merely to feel sorry for someone else’s plight. Compassion requires that we do something to address another’s plight. Compassion is more than just feeling; compassion is about doing.

Today, are we willing to take our rightful place as laborers for God’s harvest? At the sight of other people’s needs, will our hearts – like the heart of Jesus himself – be moved to meet their needs? In other words, will we respond with compassion?

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(July 10, 2024: Wednesday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety.”

Wikipedia defines piety as “a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions is humility.” Merriam-Webster defines piety as (1) “the quality of being religious or reverent,” and (2) “the quality of being dutiful.” Synonyms include: “devoutness, godliness, religiousness and devotion.”

In a letter to Madame de Limojon, Francis de Sales wrote:

“I have said this to you in person, madam, and now I write it: I don’t want a devotion that is bizarre, confused, neurotic, strained, and sad, but rather, a gentle, attractive, peaceful piety; in a word, a piety that is quite spontaneous and wins the love of God, first of all, and after that, the love of others.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 156)

As Francis de Sales understood it, piety is less a function of how many prayers we say, how many spiritual exercises we perform or how many hours we spend on our knees (although these things do have their place!). No, piety is more about being devout, about being “dutiful,” that is, about honoring what is due to God and honoring what is due to our neighbor.

In other words, piety is about justice; piety is about doing what is right.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, (Book XI, Chapter 3, p. 202) Francis observed:

“Of all virtuous actions we ought most carefully practice those of religion and reverence for divine things. Such are the acts of faith, hope and holy fear of God. We must often speak of heavenly things, think of eternity and sigh for it, frequent churches and sacred services, read devout books and observe the ceremonies of the Christian religion…” Provided, of course, that all these nourish “sacred love.”

Today, do you want to reap “the fruit of piety”? Then, sow justice for God and sow justice for others.
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(July 11, 2024: Benedict, Abbot)
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“Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

What could be more humbling than to consider all the good that God has, is and will do done for us? Well, perhaps even more humbling is the realization that God’s goodness, mercy and generosity come without cost or condition. Insofar as we are created from nothing, we have done nothing to deserve God’s overwhelming blessings, gifts and love. They are unconditionally free gifts!

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation on the virtue of generosity, Francis de Sales remarked:

“We must indeed keep ourselves humble because of our imperfections, but this humility must be the foundation of a great generosity. Humility without generosity is only a deception and a cowardice of the heart that makes us think that we are good for nothing and that others should never think of using us in anything great. On the other hand, generosity without humility is only presumption. We may indeed say, ‘It is true I have no virtue, still less the necessary gifts to be used in such and such an endeavor,’ but after that humble acknowledgement we must put our full confidence in God as to believe that He will not fail to give His gifts to us when it is necessary to have them, and when He wants us to make use of us, provided only that we forget ourselves in praising faithfully His Divine majesty and helping our neighbor to do the same so as to increase His glory as much as lies in our power. ” (Living Jesus, p. 152)

On one level it is true to say that we are “nothing”, creatures that we are. But because of the God who has created us, each and every one of us is – in God’s eyes – marvelous to behold. What a humbling, empowering gift!

What better way to say “thank you” for such gift than to freely and generously share who we are and what we have with one another?

Today!

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(July 12, 2024: Friday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say…”

In a letter to Jane de Chantal in 1606, Francis de Sales wrote:

“I cannot think of anything else to say to you about your apprehension of your particular troubles, nor of the fear of being unable to bear it. Did I not tell you the first time I spoke to you about your soul that you pay too much attention to what afflicts or frightens you? You must do so only in great moderation! People frequently reflect too much about their troubles and this entangles thoughts and fears and desires to the point that the soul is constricted and cannot be itself. Don’t be afraid of what God has in store for you – love God very much for He wants to do you a great deal of good. Carry on quite simply in the shelter of your resolutions and reject anticipations of your troubles as simply a cruel temptation…Fear is a greater evil than the evil itself, but if terror should seize you cry out loudly to God. He will stretch forth his hand towards you – grab it tightly and go joyfully on your way.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 124 -125)

Francis de Sales recommends that we begin every new day with what he calls a “preparation of the day”. Consider all the things you may need to accomplish today. Think about the people and situations that you may encounter today. When you finish, does anything, place or person you may face today make you worry, anxious or fearful?

Then, take hold of God’s hand, and do your best to go joyfully through your day!

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(July 13, 2024: Saturday, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Do not be afraid…”

In the same letter that we considered yesterday, Francis de Sales wrote to Jane de Chantal concerning the issues of worry, anxiety and fear. We read:

“Don’t philosophize about your trouble – don’t argue with it. Quite simply, continue to walk straight on. God would not allow you to be lost while you live according to your resolutions so as not to lose him. If the whole world turns topsy-turvy, if all around is darkness and smoke and din, yet God is still with us. So, if we know that God lives in the darkness and on Mount Sinai which is full of smoke and surrounded with the roar of thunder and lightning, shall not all be well with us as long as we remain close to him? So, live wholly in God, and do not fear. Jesus in his goodness is all ours; let us be all his. Let us cling to him with courage!” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 124 -125)

This exhortation is very challenging! After all, who can say that they have never been afraid, worried or anxious? Doesn’t even the Book of Proverbs (9:10) claim that “fear (of the Lord) is the beginning of wisdom?” Some things should scare us!

Let’s look at it this way. While we may have our share of fears in life, it is critical that we try our level best to avoid becoming people who are fearful and remain people who are joyful!


Spirituality Matters: June 30th - July 6th

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(June 30, 2024: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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"God did not make death, nor does God rejoice in the destruction of the living."

"Just as you excel in every respect, so may you excel in this gracious act also…”

Death is an unavoidable part of life. In truth, long before each of us takes our last breath, we will experience many little deaths throughout our lives: occasions of loss, disappointment, surrender and letting go.

Francis de Sales offers this advice to all people who, while celebrating God's gift of life, also accept the reality of death:

“How worthwhile it is really to understand that we are only given this life so as to gain eternal life! Without this knowledge we fix our affections on what is in this world through which we are passing; when it comes to leaving it, we are dismayed and full of fear. Believe me, if we are to live happily during this pilgrimage, we must keep alive before our eyes the hope of arriving in our homeland where we shall stay for all eternity.” (Selected Letters by Elizabeth Stopp, p. 261)

Life is full of so many people, relationships, gifts, blessings, challenges and endeavors that enhance and nourish the human spirit! How do we truly, fully and completely enjoy them without clinging to them?

The answer - by being generous!

So, look no further than to the example of Jesus himself. Jesus, the Son of God, the one in whom, through whom and for whom all things exist, “made himself poor so that we might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8) Jesus did not cling to all that was good and blessed here on earth for his own consumption or satisfaction. No, his satisfaction was found in generously sharing all of whom he was and what he possessed with others. Jesus conquered sin and death precisely because he had committed himself to the path of generosity during the course of his life.

In the face of limitation, in the face of setback, in the face of sin and in the face of surrender we are tempted to cling exclusively to all the good that God gives us. However, Jesus shows us another way. Insofar as we are willing to respond to the experiences of loss and letting go by generously sharing ourselves with others, we are destined to conquer death and come to understand what it means to truly live. If there is anything that we truly possess and never lose in this life, let it be our commitment to perform good works, to make real and tangible the richness of God's love in us, and to generously share God's love and good works with one another.

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(July 1, 2024: Monday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“You sit speaking against your brother; against your mother’s son you spread rumors…Shall I be deaf to it? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.” (Responsorial Psalm)

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales exhorted:

“Never slander anyone either directly or indirectly. Beware of falsely imputing crimes and sins to your neighbor, revealing his secret sins, exaggerating those that are manifest, putting an evil interpretation on his good works, denying the good that you know belongs to someone or maliciously concealing it or lessening it by words. You would offend God in all these ways but most of all by false accusations and denying the truth to your neighbor’s harm. It is a double sin to lie and harm your neighbor at the same time.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 29, p. 202)

Let’s say that we are making progress in refraining from saying anything against other people that would either exaggerate their vices or diminish their virtues. Let’s say that our consciences are clear because we are making strides in refraining from bad-mouthing other people or putting other people down. Are we in the clear? Not quite! At least, not in St. Francis de Sales’ opinion, for in the same chapter he stated:

“When you hear anyone spoken ill of, make the accusation doubtful if you can do so justly. If you cannot, excuse the intention of the accused party. If that cannot be done, express sympathy for that person change the subject of conversation, reminding yourself and others that those who do not fall into sin owe it all to God’s grace. Confront the slanderer in a mild way and tell of some good deed of the offended party if you are aware of any.” (Ibid, pp. 205-206)

Do you want to rid the world of rumors? It isn’t enough to refrain from spreading them ourselves, but we must also be willing to speak up when we hear them spread by others.

Today, if you hear something uncharitable, say something! Like God, don’t be deaf to it – address it!

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(July 2, 2024: July, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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"Why are you terrified?”

Given the fact that the disciples were caught out on open water in a violent storm would be plenty of reason to be terrified, regardless of whether Jesus was with them or not. In the event, the disciples’ terror quickly subsided, when they witnessed the calming power of Jesus.

In a letter to Madame Gasparde de Ballon, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Regarding your fears, they are the work of the enemy who sees that you are quite determined to live in Our Lord without any reserves and exceptions. The evil one will make every sort of effort to upset you and make the way of holy devotion seem hard for you. What you must do to counteract this is to open your heart and often repeat your protestation never to give in, always to keep faith, to love the challenges of God’s service more than the sweetness of the world’s service and to say that you will never leave God’s side. Be careful not to give up on prayer, for that would be playing into the hand of your adversary. Instead, continue to go steadfastly with this holy exercise and wait for Our Lord to speak to you, for one day he will say words of peace and consolation to you. Then you will know that your trouble will have been well spent and your patience and trust useful…Say often: May Jesus reign!’” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 225 - 226)

We all have things in life that should concern, scare - and even - terrify us. Jesus is not asking us to never be fearful or even terrified; rather, Jesus asks us to trust him precisely in times of timidity, tempests and terror.

No matter how daunting the storms of life may be, do not allow them to shake your faith in God’s love for you and fidelity to you. Regardless of how your boat may get rocked during the course of your life, Jesus will never – never – abandon you. He will either calm the storms for you or ride them out with you.

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(July 3, 2024: Thomas, Apostle)
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"Unless I see the mark of the nails…I will not believe.”

In the same chapter (“On Slander”) to which we referred during Monday’s homiletic reflection, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Do not say that so-and-so is a drunkard even though you have seen him intoxicated, or that so-and-so is an adulterer even if you saw him in his sin, or that so-and-so is incestuous because he has been guilty of a certain depraved deed. A single act is not enough to justify the name of vice...To deserve the name of a vice or a virtue, there must be some advance in an act and it must be habitual. Hence it is untrue to say that so-and-so is bad-tempered or a thief simply because we once saw him in a fit of anger or guilty of theft…We must not draw conclusions from yesterday to today, nor from today to yesterday, and still less to tomorrow.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 29, p. 202)

So why is it, then, that we continue to refer to the Apostle whose life and legacy we celebrate today as “Doubting Thomas”. It has been nearly two thousand years since he declared to his peers what it would take for him to believe that Jesus was risen. Why should we vilify Thomas for being honest? Why should we beat up on Thomas for speaking from his heart?

Jesus certainly didn’t!

Jesus didn’t scold Thomas for his declaration. Jesus didn’t refuse Thomas’ request. Quite the contrary! Jesus showed him his hands and his side, and said, in effect: See my wounds? You bet! Touch my hands and side? Absolutely! If that’s what it’s going to take to convince you that I’m real, Thomas, then by all means do it!” It was then that Thomas believed that the person who was standing in front of him was the same Jesus with whom he walked for three years - the same Jesus, who spent his ministry meeting people where they were, now offered the same courtesy to him.

In the closing scene from the film Red Dragon, Dr. Hannibal Lector’s character opined: “Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real.” Perhaps Thomas intuited that only the scars left by Jesus’ humiliation, passion and death could convince him that Jesus had conquered death! Perhaps this is what prompted Thomas’ request. Perhaps that’s why Thomas had the courage to speak his truth despite the giddy euphoria of the other Apostles who had previously seen Jesus. Can you really blame Thomas for not taking their word?

Come to think of it, it is remarkable that the experience of resurrection did not remove the wounds of Jesus - the lasting marks of pain, disappointment, misunderstanding, rejection, humiliation, abandonment, suffering and death. Notwithstanding these wounds, however, Christ's resurrection powerfully demonstrated that pain, sadness, suffering and injustice -- as real as they were -- did not, ultimately, wield the last word. While suffering was clearly a part of Jesus’ life, there was so much more to his life than only suffering.

Maybe it’s time for us to retire the moniker “Doubting Thomas” and replace it from this day forward with “Believing Thomas”!

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(July 4, 2024: Independence Day)
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“Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.”

IN CONGRESS,

July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary…to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Do you want to have Life, and to have Life in abundance? Do you want to experience true Liberty? Do you want to experience lasting Happiness? Then serve God! Show in your own life – and in the lives of others – the power and promise that comes with giving homage to God! How can we do that?

  1. Seek good by pursuing and promoting the God-given, unalienable gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with others, and
  2. stop evil by confronting and containing anything that threatens these same God-given, unalienable gifts.

Using the language of the Salesian tradition, we are most free when we pay homage to God by treating ourselves and others with profound respect and reverence. And isn’t this self-evident!

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(July 5, 2024: Elizabeth of Portugal)
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“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

In today’s Gospel, we are considering two related – but remarkably different – notions of what it means to be God-like. We are considering two related – but remarkably different – models for growing in holiness.

The tension between mercy and sacrifice is not something invented by Jesus, but it is as old as the Hebrew community itself. It is as old as the human family itself (Cain and Abel – Abraham and Isaac). But Jesus does make this issue front and center in his ongoing struggle with the Scribes and Pharisees.

Under the paradigm of SACRIFICE, holiness is all about proving my fidelity to God. It is all about showing God that I love God enough to go without food for a day, to slaughter a bull, to walk so many miles in my bare feet or to donate $5 million to my church’s capital campaign. Mind you, none of these things are wrong per se, but when holiness is understood almost exclusively as sacrifice, the danger is that it may ultimately lead to loving God to the exclusion of loving my neighbor.

The ancient Israelite prophets frequently criticized their people for somehow attempting to pit the love of God against the love of neighbor. In the prophet Isaiah, we hear:

“The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have more than enough burnt offerings, or rams and the fat of fattened animals. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” (1: 11 – 17)

By contrast, the MERCY paradigm of holiness emphasizes the need to integrate the two components of Jesus’ Great Commandment exemplified in the words of 1 John 4:12:

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and love is made complete in us.”

Not to put too fine a point on it, but loving God and loving neighbor can never be separated. They are indeed two indispensable sides of the very same coin. The goal of holiness that we pursue in praying, fasting, singing songs of praise, donating blood making meals for the homeless and every other act of piety and mercy is not to prove anything to God but to give God complete influence over our hearts.

Sacrifice can be extremely beneficial when it is a means for submitting ourselves more completely to God’s mercy and not a substitute for it. For example, fasting can teach us to be aware of our own hungers and our need for God to feed us as a remedy for the pride of self-sufficiency. However, if God indeed desires mercy over sacrifice, the commands that God gives us are not intended to be tests of our loyalty to God but rather a pathway for allowing His reign of mercy to reign in our hearts - a reign expressed through our exercise of mercy toward one another.

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(July 6, 2024: Saturday, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“If you can stand fasting, you will do well to fast on certain days in addition to those prescribed by the Church. Besides the usual effects of fasting, namely, elevating our spirits, keeping the body in submission, practicing virtue and gaining greater reward in heaven, it is valuable for restraining gluttony and keeping our sensual appetites and body subject to the law of the spirit.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 23, p. 185)

From a Salesian perspective, there is a place for fasting in the spiritual life. However, fasting is not the only method for “elevating our spirits, keeping the body in submission, practicing virtue and gaining greater reward in heaven.” So is work!

Francis continued:

“Both fasting and labor mortify and subdue the flesh. If your work is necessary for you to contribute to God’s glory, I prefer that you endure the pains of work rather than that of fasting. Such is the mind of the Church…One man finds it difficult to fast, while another is called to care for the sick, visit prisoners, hear confessions, preach, comfort the afflicted, pray and perform similar tasks. These latter disciplines are of greater value than the first: besides subduing the body, they produce much more desirable fruits.” (Ibid, pp. 185 – 186)

Why didn’t Jesus’ disciples fast? It seems they were too busy contributing to God’s glory by serving the needs of others.

There are two ways of contributing to God’s glory: fasting (doing without) and laboring (doing).

Today, which way will you pursue today?


Spirituality Matters: June 23rd - June 29th

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(June 23, 2024: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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"Why are you terrified?”

Given the fact that the disciples were caught out on open water in a violent storm would be plenty of reason to be terrified, regardless of whether Jesus was with them or not. In the event, the disciples’ terror quickly subsided, when they witnessed the calming power of Jesus.

In a letter to Madame Gasparde de Ballon, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Regarding your fears, they are the work of the enemy who sees that you are quite determined to live in Our Lord without any reserves and exceptions. The evil one will make every sort of effort to upset you and make the way of holy devotion seem hard for you. What you must do to counteract this is to open your heart and often repeat your protestation never to give in, always to keep faith, to love the challenges of God’s service more than the sweetness of the world’s service and to say that you will never leave God’s side. Be careful not to give up on prayer, for that would be playing into the hand of your adversary. Instead, continue to go steadfastly with this holy exercise and wait for Our Lord to speak to you, for one day he will say words of peace and consolation to you. Then you will know that your trouble will have been well spent and your patience and trust useful…Say often: May Jesus reign!’” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 225 - 226)

We all have things in life that should concern, scare - and even - terrify us. Jesus is not asking us to never be fearful or even terrified; rather, Jesus asks us to trust him precisely in times of timidity, tempests and terror.

No matter how daunting the storms of life may be, do not allow them to shake your faith in God’s love for you and fidelity to you. Regardless of how your boat may get rocked during the course of your life, Jesus will never – never – abandon you. He will either calm the storms for you or ride them out with you.

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(June 24, 2018: Nativity of John the Baptist)
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“I make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Francis de Sales wrote:

“I have often wondered who is the most mortified of the saints that I know, and after some reflection I have concluded that it was St. John the Baptist. He went into the desert when he was five years old and knew that our Savior came to earth in a place quite close by, perhaps only one or two days’ journey. How his heart, touched with love of his Savior from the time he was in his mother’s womb, must have longed to enjoy Christ’s presence. Yet, he spends twenty-five years in the desert without coming to see our Lord even once; and leaving the desert he catechized without visiting him but waiting until our Lord comes to seek him out. Then, after he has baptized Jesus, he does not follow him but stays behind to do his appointed task. How truly mortified was John’s spirit! To be so near his Savior and not see him, to have Him so close and not enjoy His presence! Is this not a completely detached spirit, detached even from God himself so as to do God’s will, and to serve God, as it were to leave God for God, and not to cling to God in order to love him better? The example of this great saint overwhelms me with its grandeur.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, Page 74)

“How truly mortified was John the Baptist’s spirit.” What does Francis de Sales mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines mortify as “to discipline by self-denial or self-inflicted privation.” John did, indeed, discipline himself. He denied himself many things in order to be faithful to his understanding of the person God wanted him to be: a light to the nations, a light to highlight the coming of Jesus.

Think about it: John spends his entire life preparing to announce Christ’s coming. Despite growing up in the same general area, John meets Christ only once – when John baptized him at the Jordan River – and then remains behind as Jesus recruited others to be his apostles and disciples! John never sees his cousin again before dying in prison at the hands of one of King Herod’s executioners.

John was faithful to the role God wanted him to play in the plan of salvation. John played that role supremely well. Listen to what Jesus himself said: “I tell you the truth: among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matthew 11: 11) “Yet,” Jesus continues, “Anyone who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John shows us that being faithful to God’s will often requires that we deprive ourselves of the desire to “have it all” and to dedicate ourselves to discerning – and embracing – our unique roles in God’s plan of salvation.

In ways unique to our states and stages of life, God calls us also to be “a light to the nations.” Are we prepared to practice the discipline required to be that light?

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(June 25, 2024: Tuesday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life…”

Striving for perfection or growing in holiness or “living Jesus” is a formidable challenge. Embracing a life of virtue requires strength and courage. Renouncing sin requires strength and courage. Turning a deaf ear to temptation requires strength and courage. On any given day, our progress in devotion is marked by both success and failure.

However, this striving to be holy is made even more difficult when we attempt to be holy in a way that doesn’t fit our state or stage of life - a way of living that doesn’t fit who we are. While we are all indeed called to be holy, we are not called to be holy in the in exactly the same way as others. Francis reminds us:

“Devotion (holiness) must be exercised in different ways by the gentleman, the worker, the servant, the prince the widow the young girl and the married woman. I ask you, is it fitting for a bishop to want to live a solitary life like a monk? Or for a married man to want to own no more property than a monk, for a skilled workman to spend his whole day in a church, for a religious to be constantly subject to every sort of call in service to one’s neighbor, which is more suited to the bishop? Would not such holiness be laughable, confused and impossible to live?” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 2)

Francis de Sales put it another way in a Conference (On the Virtues of St. Joseph) to the early Visitation community: “Some of the saints excelled in one virtue, some in another, and although all have saved their souls, they have done so in very different ways, there being as many different kinds of sanctity as there are saints.” (Conference XIX, p. 365) A more contemporary reflection on this issue comes from Nobel prize-winning author and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: “There are a thousand and one gates leading into the orchard of mystical truth. Every human being has his or her own gate. We make a mistake of wanting to enter the orchard by any gate other than our own.” (Night, Page 3)

To be sure, if there is indeed one model of Christian holiness, we find that model in Jesus Christ, the one in whom all of us are consecrated. But to be holy - as Jesus is holy - is not about trying to be like someone else. Rather, being holy is about having the strength, integrity and courage to be who God wants each one of us to be, precisely in the places, circumstances and relationships in which we find ourselves each day. Today, where will you find your gate to holiness?

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(June 26, 2024: Wednesday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“By their fruits you will know them…”

Imagine yourself walking through a lush forest in which you encounter a variety of fruit-bearing plants. What would you expect to find along the boughs of an apple tree? Why, apples, of course! What would you expect to find hanging from the branches of a peach tree? Peaches, no doubt! What would you expect to find near the top of a banana tree? Clearly, you’d look for bananas! You approach grape vines. What would you expect to find throughout them? You’d hope to see grapes!

In the opening chapters of his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: “When he created things God commanded plants to bring forth their fruits, each one according to its kind. In like manner he commands Christians, the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one according to his position and vocation.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 3)

Insofar as we are “living plants of the Church,” what kind of fruit(s) should we be producing? He offers some ideas in a letter he wrote four hundred years ago to Mademoiselle de Soulfour: “Let us practice those ordinary virtues suited to our littleness…patience, forbearance toward our neighbor, service to others, humility, gentleness of heart, affability, tolerance of our own imperfections and similar little virtues…” (LSD, p. 98)

Today, how will other people describe us by the fruits that they discover growing in and from us today?

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(June 27, 2024: Thursday, Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: “You must be ready to suffer many great afflictions for our Lord, even martyrdom itself. However, as long as divine Providence does not send you great, piercing afflictions…bear patiently the slight inconveniences, the little inconveniences and the inconsequential losses that daily come to you…All such little trials when accepted and embraced with love are highly pleasing to God’s mercy.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 35, pp. 213-214) When it comes to entering the Kingdom of God, talk is cheap. As we see clearly in the example of Abram, Sarai, and so many others in the selections from the Book of Genesis that we have been hearing this week, there’s a lot less lips service involved with following God’s will and a great deal more hearing – to say nothing of doing it! How far are we willing to go this day in attempting to follow the will of God – by doing it?

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(June 28, 2024: Friday, Twelfth Week in ordinary Time)
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“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:

“The truth is that our Savior’s redemption touches our sins and makes them more beneficial and worthy of love than original innocence could ever have been. After all, Our Savior himself tells us that there ‘is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just people who have no need of repentance.’” “So, too, the state of redemption is a hundred times better than that of innocence. Truly, by the watering of our Savior’s blood - made with the hyssop of the cross - we have been restored to a white incomparably better and brighter than that found in the snows of innocence. Like Naaman, we emerge from the stream of salvation purer and cleaner than if we had never had leprosy in the first place.”

Can God make us clean? Yes. Can God heal us and make us whole? Yes. Can God restore us to life and to love? Yes.

All this, and so much more.

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(June 29, 2024: Peter and Paul, Apostles)
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“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul – Apostles.

Of Saint Peter, Francis de Sales wrote: “St. Peter was chosen to be the chief of the Apostles, although he was subject to so many imperfections that he even committed some after he had received the Holy Spirit, because, notwithstanding these defects, he was always full of courage, never allowing himself to be dismayed by his shortcomings.” (Conferences, Number IV, Page 63)

Francis expounds upon this duality of Peter’s nature in his Treatise on the Love of God. “Who would not marvel at the heart of St. Peter, so bold among armed soldiers that out of all of his master’s company he alone takes his sword in hand and strikes out with it? Yet a little afterwards among ordinary people he is so cowardly that at the mere word of a servant girl he denies and detests his master.” (TLG, Book X, Chapter 9, p, 167)

Now let us turn our attention to some of what Francis de Sales said about St. Paul. “He fights for all people, he pours forth prayers for all people, he is passionately jealous in behalf of all people, and he is on fire for all people. Yes, he even dared more than this for ‘those according to the flesh,’ so that, if I dare to say so, he desires by charity that they may be put in his place with Jesus Christ. O perfection of courage and unbelievable spirit!” (Treatise, Book X, Chapter 16, pp. 188 – 189)

Of course, as in the case of Peter, Paul, too, has his shortcomings. In a letter of encouragement to a sister of the Visitation, Francis wrote: “Do not be ashamed…any more than St. Paul who confessed that there were two men in him, one rebellious to God and the other obedient to God.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 224.)

“I competed well; I have finished the race.” Paul wrote these words, but they could also be said of Peter. But note well – they both finished well. By contrast, look at their earlier track records. Peter was called “Satan” by Jesus and Peter denied Him three times. While Paul, he began his public life by persecuting the early Church as Saul. Neither man’s resumes were particularly impressive!

When it comes to being an apostle, a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ, perhaps this is the most important thing to remember – as imperfect as we are, where we’ve been isn’t nearly as important as where we are going with the grace of God and the support of one another.

All’s well that ends well!


Spirituality Matters: June 16th - June 22nd

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(June 16, 2024: Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed…”

Today’s readings help us to keep things in perspective. Make no mistake – we are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. While we are charged with a tremendous duty - advancing the kingdom of God - the most effective means to accomplish this great calling is to pay attention to detail – that is, by doing little things with great love.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales made the following exhortation:

“Put your hand to strong things, by training yourself in prayer and meditation, receiving the sacraments, bringing souls to love God, infusing good inspirations into their hearts and, in fine, by performing big, important works according to your vocation. But never forget…those little, humble virtues that grow like flowers at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick, taking care of your family, with all the responsibilities that accompany such things and with all the useful diligence which prompts you to not stand idle.”

“Great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves, but little ones are frequent…you will profit greatly in God’s sight by doing all these things because God wishes you to do them.” (III, 35, pp. 214 – 215)

God gives each one of us a rich abundance of means proper for our salvation. By a wondrous infusion of God’s grace into our minds, hearts, attitudes and actions, the Spirit makes our works become God’s work. Our good works - like planting miniscule mustard seeds here or like scattering small seeds there - have vigor and virtue enough to produce a great good because they proceed from the Spirit of Jesus.

As it turns out, little things really do mean a lot in the eyes of God. In fact, they mean everything!

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(June 17, 2024: Monday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“He refused to let me have his vineyard…”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines presumptuous as: “Overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties.”

The story from today’s selection from the First Book of Kings illustrates how one person’s desire can all-too-quickly become an obsession…with disastrous results. Ahab had his heart set of acquiring Naboth’s vineyard. When Ahab’s offer to purchase Naboth’s property was rebuffed, he couldn’t let it go. Undeterred, Ahab and his wife plotted to have Naboth first discredited and subsequently stoned to death. Once dead, Ahab could easily acquire Naboth’s property. Ahab felt entitled to take liberties with others. He believed that other people’s possessions were his for the taking, notwithstanding the fact that other people weren’t offering their possessions! Having little or no sense of boundaries, this presumptuous behavior – as we shall see tomorrow – ended badly for all concerned.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“I think you will agree that what I about to describe is both unjust and unreasonable…we want our neighbor to give up his property and take our money for it. Is it not more reasonable that we simply allow him to keep his property while he allows us to keep our money?” (Part III, Chapter 36, p. 216)

It’s very tempting to tell other people how they should live their lives. It’s all-too-easy to expect other people to make us the center of their universe. In a letter written to Madame Brulart, Francis de Sales counseled:

“Don’t sow your desires in someone else’s garden. Just cultivate your own as best you can.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 112)

By all means follow your dreams and pursue your plans…just remember to extend the same courtesy to everyone else.

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(June 18, 2024: Tuesday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

It’s safe to say that we all have enemies. We all have people in our lives that we do not like. We all have people in our lives whose company we avoid. We all have people in our lives that rub us the wrong way. We all have people in our lives that push our buttons. We all have people in our lives that drive us crazy.

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Antipathies are certain inclinations which excite in us a certain repugnance toward those about whom we entertain these feelings…If I feel a repugnance to conversing with a person whom I know to be most excellent – and from whom I mighty learn much that would do me good – I must not succumb to the antipathy which prompts me to avoid his company. On the contrary, I must discipline myself to listen to the voice of reason telling me rather to seek his company or at least, if I am already in it, to remain there in quiet, peaceful mind…People who are of a harsh, severe disposition will dislike those who are gentle and mild. They will regard such gentleness as extreme weakness, though indeed it is a quality most universally beloved. What remedy is there for these antipathies, since no one, however perfect, can be exempt from them? The only remedy for this evil – as indeed for all other kinds of temptation – is simply to turn away from it and think no more about it…We should never try to justify our reasons for our antipathies, let alone wishing to nourish them. If you have simply a natural, instinctive dislike for anyone, I beseech you to pay no attention to it; turn away your thoughts from it and so trick your mind. When, however, you find these antipathies going too far you must fight against them and overcome them, for reason will never permit us to foster antipathies and evil inclinations for fear of offending God.” (Conference XVI, pp. 298 - 301)

Francis knows the human heart very well. He acknowledges that “this instinctive tendency to love some more than others is natural.” (Ibid) Likes and dislikes are part-and-parcel of life. That said, Jesus commands us to love our enemies. Jesus commands us to love those whom we dislike. Jesus commands us to love those who get on our nerves. Like it or not!

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(June 19, 2024: Romuald, Abbot)
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“Take care not to perform righteous deeds…that others might see them.”

In a letter to Madame de la Flechere, Francis de Sales observed:

“Humility is the virtue of virtues, but a humility that is generous and peaceable. Preserve a spirit of holy joy which – modestly spreading over your words and actions – gives consolation to the good people who see you, that thus they may glorify God, which is your only aim.” (Living Jesus, p. 150)

Jesus calls us to “perform righteous deeds.” He calls us to live a life of virtue. That said, Jesus cautions us against doing so to win the applause, praise or adulation of others.

Let’s try our level best this day to do the right thing for others. Let’s try our level best to do it for the right reason: to the praise and glory of God!

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(June 20, 2024: Thursday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Thy will be done…”

In a sermon on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Francis de Sales preached:

“People who, like Martha, are desirous and anxious to do something for Our Lord believe they are very devout and believe that this eagerness is a virtue. However, this is no so, as He Himself would have us understand. Only one thing is required, that is, to have God and possess Him. If I seek only Him, what does it matter to me if I have to do one thing or another? If I desire only His will, what will it matter to me if I have to do one thing or another? If I desire only His will, what will it matter to me whether I am sent to Spain or to Ireland? If I seek only His cross, why should I be troubled if I am sent to the Indies, or to old countries or to new countries, since I am certain that I shall find it everywhere?” (Living Jesus p. 436)

These words are not mere pious platitudes coming from the mouth of the Gentleman Saint. His life is filled with illustrations of how Francis de Sales practiced what he preached. In reflecting upon an offer he received to become a coadjutor to Cardinal de Retz in Paris, he wrote to Madame Angelique Arnauld:

“I am and shall be and ever want to be at the mercy of God’s divine providence. I want to hold no rank except that of a servant and a follower…I am again invited to go to Paris under advantageous conditions. I said that I would neither go there nor stay here unless to follow the will of God. This country (Savoy) is my home according to my natural birth; according to my spiritual birth, my home is the Church. I shall willingly go or stay wherever I can best serve the latter without attaching myself to the former.” (Ibid, p. 438)

In a Conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales once quipped:

“While all the saints have saved their souls (by following God’s will) they have done so in very different ways…” (Conference XIX, p. 365)

All of us are called to follow the will of God, but no two of us are called to follow God’s will in exactly the same way. All of us are called to put ourselves as the disposal of God’s plans, and God’s plan may take each of us in a variety of different directions. Of course, the one constant in the midst of life’s twists and turns is the God whose will we try to accomplish!

Today, how might God ask us to follow His will?

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(June 21, 2024: Ignatius of Loyola, Religious)
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“Store up treasures in heaven…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life (in a chapter entitled, “We must be Faithful to both Great and Little Tasks”), Francis de Sales wrote:

“The Sacred Spouse implies that He is pleased to accept the great deeds of devout persons, that their least and lowest deeds are also acceptable to Him, and that to serve Him as He wishes we must have great care to serve Him well in both great, lofty matters and in small, unimportant things. With love we can capture His heart by the one just as well as by the other…For a single cup of water God has promised to his faithful a sea of endless bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves from moment to moment it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches if only you use them well.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, pp. 213-214)

Do you want to store up treasures in heaven? Do good things for God – be they little or great – as often as you can on this earth.

Each and every day!

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(June 22, 2024: John Fisher, Thomas More, Martyrs)
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“Do not worry about your life…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life (in a chapter entitled, “We must be Faithful to both Great and Little Tasks”), Francis de Sales wrote:

“The Sacred Spouse implies that He is pleased to accept the great deeds of devout persons, that their least and lowest deeds are also acceptable to Him, and that to serve Him as He wishes we must have great care to serve Him well in both great, lofty matters and in small, unimportant things. With love we can capture His heart by the one just as well as by the other…For a single cup of water God has promised to his faithful a sea of endless bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves from moment to moment it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches if only you use them well.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, pp. 213-214)

Don’t worry about whether or not you are making great progress in the spiritual life. Don’t worry about not measuring up! Don’t worry about not being perfect! Just simply – with trust and confidence - do good things for God – be they little or great – as often as you can on this earth.

In the process you will slowly – but surely - store up treasures not only in heaven, but also right here, right now on this earth.


Spirituality Matters: June 9th - June 15th

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(June 9, 2024: Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“Who told you that you were naked?”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales does not equate happiness with self-centeredness, self-absorption or self-obsession. However, Francis does equate happiness with what he calls self-possession. The Gentleman Saint writes:

“It is man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls.”

What happiness it is to know and accept yourself for who you are in the sight of God! What a delight it is to be comfortable – without being complacent – in your own skin! What joy it is to be essentially at home – to be at peace – with the person that God made you to be! Why, it’s the next best thing to Paradise.

Tragically enough, the ability to be at home with ourselves became the first – and the most fundamental – casualty of The Fall. No sooner had Adam and Eve eaten from the fruit of the tree of knowledge than their natural state – their nakedness, their transparency – became a reproach. They were embarrassed – they were ashamed – of who they were. Literally, they were no longer comfortable in their own skin. Suddenly sullied by self-alienation and self-loathing, Paradise was lost…and life became a burden.

As we know all-too-well, so much of the misery, sin and sadness that plagues the human family to this very day comes from either (1) the inability to be who we really are, or (2) the fruitless attempt to become someone we’re not.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales exclaimed:

“God has signified to us in so many ways and by so many means that he wills all of us to be saved that no one should be ignorant of this fact. For this purpose, through Creation God made us ‘in his own image and likeness’, whereas through the Incarnation God has made himself in our image and likeness.”

The redemptive grace of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the happiness that comes from possessing our own souls. The restorative power of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the joy of being essentially at home with who we are in the sight of God. Wounded as we are by sin, our practice of devotion – our quest to possess our own souls – no longer comes effortlessly as it originally was in Paradise. It requires perpetual practice; it demands tremendous patience That said, God not only promises us the joy and peace born of this heavenly self-acceptance; God also shows us how to achieve it on this earth in the person of his Son.

Jesus embodies the power of self-possession. Jesus exhibits the joy of self-acceptance. Jesus exudes the peace of self-direction. Who better than Jesus shows us what it looks like to be comfortable in one’s own skin? Who better than Jesus demonstrates what it looks like to invite - and to empower - others to do the same?

Not unlike what he did with our first parents, The Evil One hits us where it hurts. Sometimes Satan tempts us to believe that we can’t possibly be happy by being who we are. Other times, Satan tempts us to believe that we’d be happier if we were someone else – perhaps anybody else – other than who we are. In very deep, dark places within our minds and hearts, each and every one of us is tempted to ask this question:

Sinner as I am, weak as I am, wounded as I am and imperfect as I am, why should I believe that God wants me to be comfortable – at home - in my own skin?

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June 10, 2024: Monday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Blessed are...”

How might we experience a blessing in our lives? How might we be a blessing in the lives of others? Some strategies for achieving both might include

  • not clinging to what we have but share it willingly with others
  • being willing to experience the kind of sorrow that leads to compassionate action
  • being humble and gentle enough to see everything as gift
  • making righteousness and justice a priority in our lives
  • a willingness to be generous, especially by acts of forgiveness and reconciliation
  • having hearts that are guileless, open, honest and frank
  • trying to bring others together rather than drive them apart
  • being able to do what is right in the face of misunderstanding, resistance and even hostility

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“To sum up, most holy dilection is a virtue, a gift, a fruit and a beatitude. As a virtue, it makes us obedient to the exterior inspirations that God give us by his commandments and counsels, in fulfillment of which we practice all the virtues. Hence, love is the virtue of all virtues. As gift, dilection makes us docile and amenable to God’s interior inspirations. These are God’s secret commandments and counsels as it were, and in their fulfillment the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are employed. Hence dilection is the gift of gifts. As a fruit in our practice of the devout life, it gives us great relish and pleasure, which are experienced in the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is the fruit of fruits. As beatitude, it enables us to accept the fronts, calumny, reviling and insults the world heaps upon us as the greatest favors and a unique honor. It also leads us to forsake, renounce, and reject all other glory except that which comes from the Beloved Crucified.”(TLG, Book XI, Chapter 19, pp. 252-253)

In short, how do we become Beatitudes of God? The answer - by our attempts each and every day to be a source of blessing in the lives of others.

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(June 11, 2024: Barnabas, Apostle)
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"You are the salt of the earth.”

Today’s Gospel makes it crystal clear the kind of people that Jesus expected his disciples to be. Jesus challenged them to be “salt of the earth”.

In the time of Christ, salt was highly prized. Salt was indispensable as a preservative for food, especially meats, foul and fish. Obviously, salt was used as a seasoning. Salt added zest and tang to food, making it more palatable and enjoyable. Sometimes, new-born babies were rubbed with salt for what was believed to be medicinal purposes. Salt was even used to seal covenants of friendship (which were also called covenants of salt), inviolable and unbreakable covenants to be preserved for life.

Salt was considered to be as valuable as a person's life – in some cases, even more valuable than a person’s life. Soldiers were often paid for their work with bags of salt. In fact, the Latin word for salt is the root for the English word salary.

Ironic, isn’t it, that something so small is so powerful. Salt makes a huge difference even in very small quantities. A mere pinch has an effect out of all proportion to its weight. Yet, salt is inconspicuous, ordinary and often mixed with a variety of other common things. Take it away and you can tell immediately that it is missing. (Just ask anyone who has been on a salt-free diet.)

Like Jesus’ first disciples, we, too, must be salt of the earth. Jesus challenges us to preserve all that is good, loving and life-giving in life. Jesus commissions us to add zest to life with ingredients such as joy, laughter, enthusiasm, truth, peace, and justice. Jesus calls us to be a healing remedy for anxiety, alienation, marginalization and isolation. Jesus encourages us to immerse ourselves into the thick of things, to enrich and enliven the stew that is our lives. Jesus urges to use all of our God-given abilities, skills, time and talent for the benefit of others. In short, Jesus expects us to be worth our salt.

Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth.” In our day and age, salt might be an everyday thing, but from Jesus’ perspective, being salt of the earth is everything. Just this day, how can we be salt of the earth in the lives of others?

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(June 12, 2024: Wednesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets...”

Throughout the Gospels Jesus was repeatedly criticized by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes for not “doing it by the book”. That is, he was accused of abolishing the Law and the prophets by not living by the letter of the Law. In today’s Gospel Jesus responds to that charge by saying not only does He have no intention of abolishing the Law, but also, he plans to go one step further – to fulfill the Law.

And how does Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? He does so by being himself, that is, by performing the works of God in accordance with the will of God, and not by the whims of man – a life described by St. Paul as a life lived in “the Spirit”.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“The Holy Spirit dwells in us if we are living members of Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples, ‘He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit.’ This is because one who abides in him partakes of his divine Spirit, who is the midst of a person’s heart as a living fountain springs up and flashes its waters into everlasting life...Thus, like a little grain of mustard seed, our works are in now ay comparable in greatness to the tree of glory they produce. Still, they have the vigor and virtue to produce it because they proceed from the Holy Spirit. By a wondrous infusion of his grace into our hearts he makes our works become his and yet at the same time they remain our own, since we are members of a head of which he is the Spirit…” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 7, pp. 211-212)

So, it turns out that the reason that Jesus did not abolish the Law – even the smallest parts of it – is that he embodied the Law, that is, the Law of the Spirit which supersedes (“fulfills”) the letter of the Law. While we, the followers of Jesus, may need to know how to do it “by the book”, the life of Jesus clearly suggests that there is something much more important than the letter of the law and that something is the law of the Spirit, which leads to life.

Today, how can we do our part in fulfilling Jesus’ law of love through our love for one another?

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(June 13, 2024: Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church)
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“Go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift…”

There is no question that Jesus raises the bar in today’s Gospel. Essentially, he says: Don’t even think about offering something to God without first offering the opportunity to be reconciled with another. However, Jesus isn’t exactly blazing a trail with this admonition. After all, in the Book of the Prophet Hosea we read, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (6:6) Indeed, Jesus references this quote four chapters later in Matthew’s Gospel when He states: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’”. (9: 9-13)

The single biggest obstacle to our complying with Jesus’ command is making the mistake of waiting for the “right” time or the “perfect” moment to be reconciled with another person. The longer we wait, the more difficult it may be to muster the strength to give/grant forgiveness. Likewise, the longer we wait the more time our injuries have to fester or deepen, making it all the more difficult to “bury the hatchet.” Francis de Sales’ advice when it comes to forgiveness and reconciliation? “Fresh wounds are quickest healed”.

There is no better way to avoid remembering you have something against someone else than to not allow much time to pass between the injury and the remedy. As sinners, what better way is there to become righteous than through our commitment to give and grant forgiveness? For those called by Jesus, what better offering could we possibly make to God than to be reconciled with one another as quickly – and as deeply - as possible?

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(June 14, 2024: Friday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord…” (Responsorial Psalm)

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“God has drawn you out of nothingness to make you what you are now and has done so solely out of his goodness. Consider the nature that God has given you. It is the highest in this visible world. It is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty”. (IDL, Part I, Chapter 9, p. 95)

We know that we don’t always live up to our God-given goodness. We know we fall short. We know we fall down. We know that we even drag others down with us.

Francis de Sales tells us not to give up. Francis de Sales tells us to keep trying. Francis de Sales tells us to keep moving. Be stouthearted (that is, be courageous and determined) and wait for the Lord. In the meantime, try your level best to be the good person that God created you – and redeemed you – to be!

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(June 15, 2024: Saturday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales counseled:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity and dissimulation: such things are dangerous…As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or tricky soul. No artifice is nearly as good or desirable as honest, plain dealing. While worldly prudence and carnal artifice belong to the children of this world, the children of God walk a straight path and their hearts are without guile. ” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

We are children of God. May our efforts - just this day - to both speak the truth and to also walk in the truth enable us to talk the talk – and to and walk the walk - of Jesus Christ!


Spirituality Matters: June 2nd - 8th

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(June 2, 2024: Body and Blood of Christ)
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“He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’”

During the Easter season there is a gradual but purposeful shifting of attention away from the physical, corporeal presence of Jesus in the midst of His apostles and disciples toward His Real Presence in the community that bears His name - Christian. In the Gospels of Easter, Jesus' resurrected, glorified body was frequently not immediately recognized by those who knew Him. In fact, Mary Magdalene thought He was the gardener. Jesus ate cooked fish with his disciples on the lake shore as if to underscore his physical reality - human beings eat and ghosts do not. Doubting Thomas put his hands and fingers into the physical holes left by the nails and the spear, and yet Jesus came into that room without coming through the door! As if to conclude this process of refocusing, this shifting of our attention, eventually the physical body of Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight”.

Today, on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we return to the Upper Room for the Last Supper, and we rightly focus on the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus in His Sacred Body and in His Precious Blood. Our Church has a long and hallowed tradition of awesome reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. This tradition is right and fitting. But always, in addition, the Eucharistic Presence must be related to how we are transformed in ourselves as we assimilate the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and into our lives. We believe that we become more and more like Jesus Whom we receive in Holy Communion. We believe that Jesus indwells in our community of faith. Jesus is just as really present in our “gathering of two or three in His Name” as He is in the Word of God or in the Sacred Host and Precious Blood. Each presence is a different mode of presence, but each is really and truly the Presence of the Lord Jesus.

And so, we ought to esteem in ourselves those qualities that make us unique and which allow us to contribute uniquely to enfleshing the Body of Christ in the midst of our brothers and sisters - especially those most in need. Saint Francis de Sales often reminds us to be ourselves, “Don't long to be other than who you are, but desire to be thoroughly who you are. Believe me, this is the most important and least understood point in spiritual life. Be who you are and be that well.”

This advice is not meant to encourage complacency about our faults; rather, it is to affirm our inestimable value in God's eyes and to encourage us to develop our unique talents and gifts for the building up of God's kingdom and the betterment of the lives of those we touch. For some around us, we will be the medium, the ‘matter’ through which they see the face of Jesus. Ours will be the hands that reach out to help, but those we serve will see the hands of Jesus. We will in a real sense become the Body and Blood of Christ and we will “lend ourselves” to Christ for Him to work through us - His Body and Blood.

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(June 3, 2024: Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs)
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“His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion...”

Life and devotion. Devotion and life. For St. Francis de Sales, these two manifestations of God’s divine power are one in the same. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, he observed:

“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet is not always love as such. Inasmuch divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also to do good carefully, frequently and promptly it is called devotion…Good people who have not yet attained devotion fly toward God by their good works but do so infrequently, slowly and awkwardly. Devout souls ascend to him more frequently, promptly and with lofty flights…To be good we must have charity, and to be devout – in addition to charity – we must have great ardor and readiness in performing charitable actions.”(IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

What is the fullness of life? Simply put, the fullness of life is the true love of God. How do we manifest this true love of God? Not simply by doing good (although that is a good start) but by doing good carefully, frequently and promptly.

Today, how will you make use of the gift of God’s divine power today in ways that give life and lead to devotion?

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(June 4, 2024: Tuesday, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Consider the patience of our Lord as salvation…”

If one took a survey of the things that people most frequently confess in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, “losing patience” would probably be near the top of the list. In addition, it is the experience of “losing patience” that often leads to many other things frequently confessed in this Sacrament: e.g., taking God’s name in vain, using obscene language, saying something hurtful and/or doing something hurtful.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘For you have need of patience that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise,’ says the Apostle. True enough, for our Savior himself has declared, ‘By your patience you will win your souls. ‘It is man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls…Do not limit your patience to this or that kind of injury and affliction. Extend it universally to all those God will send you or let happen to you.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

Jesus encountered his share of injuries and afflictions during the course of his public ministry, and, no doubt, he also experienced the frustration that comes with those same injuries and afflictions. Yet, Jesus seems to have never lost his cool when dealing with difficult people, situations or circumstances, other than when he drove the money-changers out of the temple. He clearly demonstrated an ability to keep the upper hand over his emotions.

We are called to “Live Jesus!”. We are called to continue Jesus’ saving work in our own day. Have you ever stopped to consider that one of the most practical ways of imitating Christ is to follow His example of patience?

And win our souls in the process?

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(June 5, 2024: Boniface, Bishop and Martyr)
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“I am grateful to God…”

How often do we say “thank you” to God? How often do we take time out to remind ourselves of how generous God has been to us? How often do we think about all the blessings that God has showered – and continues to shower – upon us? Of course, if we took the time required to consider all the things that God has done for us, we wouldn’t have time for anything else!

Francis de Sales offers us no fewer than ten meditations in Part I of his Introduction to the Devout Life. The considerations, affections, resolutions and conclusions contained in each meditation leaves no stone unturned in reflecting upon how good God is to us. A quick review of the things for which we should be grateful includes:

  • Being created
  • Being capable of being perfectly united with God
  • Being destined for eternal life
  • Sharing in God’s grace and glory
  • Enjoying so many gifts of body, mind, heart and spirit
  • Opportunities to serve God
  • Opportunities to serve one another.

Francis de Sales also suggested that from time to time it may be appropriate – even helpful – to take time out and reflect upon our ingratitude. He wrote:

“Note how many benefits God has granted you and how you have misused them against their giver. Note especially how many of God’s inspirations you have despised and how many good movements you have rendered useless. Even more than all the rest remember how many times you have received the sacraments: where are the fruits? What has become of those precious jewels with which your beloved Spouse adorned you? Think about such ingratitude…” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 12, pp. 58 – 59)

Recall the great insight from Meister Eckhart: If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”

Being aware of our ingratitude is a good thing. Being grateful to God is a better thing. Being mindful of God’s love for – and fidelity to – us is the best thing!

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(June 6, 2024: Norbert, Bishop)
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“The first commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men keep the commandments in the way sick men take medicine: more from fear of dying in damnation than for joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some people dislike taking medicine - no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. By contrast, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter and more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him great honor. It pours forth and sings great hymns of joy when God teaches it to his commandments and justifications. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he actually lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey.” (TLG, Book VIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)

When you boil it all down, Jesus gives us two – just two – commandments to follow: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. At one and the same time these two commandments are not too much to ask for even if they ask us to give them our all!

What better way of taking our medicine to good effect – and being medicinal in the lives of others – than by living these commandments joyfully?

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(June 7, 2024: Most Sacred Heart of Jesus)
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“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”

In a letter (undated) to the Sisters of the Visitation, Jane de Chantal wrote:

“You are, I hope, always striving more earnestly to rid yourself of all that is displeasing to your sovereign spouse and to acquire those virtues which please him. Oh, my dearest sisters, how deeply is this wish engraved in my heart! Show a childlike trust and gentleness toward one another…So courage, dear ones. May all of you together – and each one in particular – work at this and never grow slack. May you all live in harmony with one heart and mind in God…If you imitate Him in all your little trials and make His divine will rule in you, He will fill it with every blessing…I urge you to this once again, for the love of our Savior and by his Precious blood, and with the deep affection of my heart which is all yours in Jesus. (Wright, Heart Speaks to Heart: The Salesian Tradition, p. 95)

God gives us the courage to accept St. Jane’s exhortation and make it our own! God gives us the grace we need to live in harmony with one heart and mind! God gives us the patience to acquire the virtues that please God and serve others!

May God fill us with every blessing - and help us to be a blessing to each other – as He did so clearly through the Sacred Heart of his Son! May Christ indeed dwell in our hearts through faith!

And, in deeds!

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(June 8, 2024: Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
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“Be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life St. Francis de Sales exhorted:

“Be patient not only with regard to the big, chief part of difficulties that may come to you but also as to things and accidents accompanying them. Many people would be ready to accept trials provided they were not inconvenienced by them. ‘I wouldn’t be bothered by poverty,’ one man says, ‘if it didn’t keep me from helping my friends, educating my children and living as respectably as I’d like.’ ‘It wouldn’t bother me,’ another says, ‘if people didn’t think it was my own fault.’ Another would be willing to suffer patently false reports about him provided that no one believed his detractor. Others are willing to endure part of an evil, so they think, but not the whole of it. They say that they don’t complain about being ill but about their lack of money to get cured or because they are so much bother to those around them. Now I say that we must have patience not merely at being ill but at having the illness that God wishes, where he wishes, among the people he wishes and with whatever difficulties he wishes.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 129)

Many people would be ready to accept trials provided they were not inconvenienced by them. This statement sounds like the restaurant owner who says: “Business would be great if it weren’t for the customers,” or the teacher who opines, “My job would be great if it weren’t for the kids.”

In what ways might I be a “sunshine patriot” when it comes to following Jesus? Do I follow him when it’s easy, but head for the hills when it’s tough? Imagine if Jesus only helped people when it was convenient for him! Where would that have left the people of his day?

Where would that leave us in our day?


Spirituality Matters: May 26th - June 1st

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(May 26, 2024: The Most Holy Trinity)
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“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The doctrinal image of the Trinity is a difficult concept to understand. In fact, one might recall being taught that the Trinity is a mystery.

The best way to approach this mystery might be to consider the experience of God. There is no denying that we indeed have a continued experience of God. St. Francis de Sales refers to the experience of the Trinity as an example of God’s continual dialogue with us. For Francis de Sales, we continually experience this Triune God, because he never stops communicating with us through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St. Paul said it best in his greeting to the Corinthians which we hear every time we gather for the liturgy: “May the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always.”

This notion of three persons and one God is a concept that is difficult to understand. Maybe that is why St. Augustine was one of the first to refer to the dogma as a mystery and why St. Patrick is often depicted as trying to explain the Trinitarian mystery through the use of the three-leafed clover. The notion of a triune God will always be difficult to explain and understand. And maybe that explanation - or the attempt at explanation - is best left to the theologians.

Today is one of the few Sundays of the year when we celebrate a dogma. On this Sunday, Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the mystery of three persons, one God. What we contemplate is the ongoing experience of the Triune God, a God who constantly reveals to us something of what it means to be divine – and by extension, therefore, something of what it means to be human.

Every time we bless ourselves with the sign of the Cross, or when we baptize, or begin Mass, we always do so in the name of the Triune God. There simply is no way to avoid it. On Trinity Sunday and on every Sunday that we gather, we can celebrate the Triune Godhead in a variety of ways, including spending time with the theological concepts of what it means to be Three Persons, One God. Today in particular, that reflection would mean spending time with the notion of a Triune God. Also, one could celebrate today by taking advantage of the offer for continued dialogue with our God as Father…Son…and Spirit.

As we heard in today’s first reading taken the Book of Deuteronomy, God continues to reveal himself to his people. What might this triune God be revealing to us today about not only about what it means to be divine, but also what is also means to be human?

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(May 27, 2024: Monday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“You may have to suffer through various trials…”

While there is so much more to life than suffering, suffering is indeed an unavoidable part of life. Francis de Sales was keenly aware of this lived reality. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, we read:

“Our Savior himself has declared, ‘By your patience you will win your souls.’ It is a man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely we possess our souls. We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials and discomforts we meet.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

That said, Francis de Sales was quite clear: we should not go out of our way looking for trials or afflictions. Life being what it is, trials and sufferings have a nasty habit of looking for - and finding - us! When tough times and situations do come our way, Francis cautions us to avoid getting all worked up by trying to go around, over or under them. We need to walk straight through them as patiently and calmly as we can.

Look at the day ahead. What trials – large or little – might be headed your way? How do you plan to deal with them?

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(May 28, 2024: Tuesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Gird up the loins of your mind; live soberly.” Sobriety is the state of being sober. The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers the following definitions of sober:

  1. Sparing in the use of food and drink; abstemious: not addicted to intoxicating drink; not drunk;
  2. Marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor;
  3. Unhurried, calm;
  4. Marked by temperance, moderation, or seriousness;
  5. Subdued in tone or color;
  6. Showing no excessive or extreme qualities of fancy, emotion, or prejudice.

Sobriety is the best remedy for what many people in recovery often refer to as “stinkin’ thinkin’”. People who are intoxicated don’t think clearly; people who are intoxicated suffer from impaired judgment; people who are intoxicated aren’t very realistic.

We can be intoxicated by any number of things, even by things that – on the face of it – appear to be very good! In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales named one such thing that can intoxicate and debilitate us if we are not careful - desire!

“Do not desire things that endanger your soul…Desire neither honors and offices and neither visions nor ecstasies. There is a great danger, self-deceit and vanity in such things. Do not desire faraway things, that is, things that cannot happen for a long time – as many people do – and by so doing wear out and waste their hearts to no purpose and expose themselves to the danger of becoming very discontented. If a young man greatly desires to be established in some position before the proper time, what help, I ask you, does this desire bring him? If a married woman wants to be a nun, to what purpose is it? If I want to buy my neighbor’s property before he is ready to sell it, don’t I waste my time by such desires?” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 37, pp. 217-218)

Lack of sobriety with regards to desires, plans, hopes and dreams can result in our simply spinning our wheels. Not only does “Stinkin’ thinkin’” frustrate us with desires that aren’t healthy or realistic, but it also prevents us from pursuing those desires that are appropriate and achievable! The remedy? Francis wrote:

“A variety of foods – especially if a large amount is eaten – overburdens the stomach and ruins it if it is weak. Don’t overburden your souls with many dreams or desires, neither with worldly ones – which may completely corrupt you – nor with spiritual ones, for they may cause you difficulty. When our soul has been purged and feels free from evil passions. Like a famished person, it longs for many different kinds of pious practices, mortifications, penance, humility, charity and prayer. To have so keen an appetite is a good thing, but you must consider whether you can properly digest all that you want to eat. From among all the desires choose those that you can practice and fulfill at present. Turn them to your best advantage, and this done, God will send you others that you can practice in due time. In this way you will never waste time with useless desires….I give this advice not only to spiritually-minded but to worldly people as well. Without it we will live only in anxiety and confusion.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 37, p. 219)

Do you want to avoid “anxiety and confusion” in the midst of life’s dreams and demands? Then gird up the loins of your mind and live soberly. St. Francis de Sales observed: ‘Do not desire means of serving God that you presently lack; rather, diligently use the means you actually have!’ One day at a time.

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(May 29, 2024: Wednesday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you…”

We witness a pretty bold – perhaps, even presumptuous – move on the part James and John in today’s Gospel. The two brothers attempt to wrest from Jesus the promise of granting an open-ended request: “we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you”. Wow! Talk about chutzpah!

Yet, haven’t we been guilty of the same thing? Haven’t we asked Jesus at times for things with the expectation that our request must be granted? Haven’t we prayed at times for our hearts’ desires with little or no consideration that God might have other thoughts or plans? Haven’t there been times when we simply wanted God to give us a blank check? Talk about chutzpah! In a sermon on prayer, Francis de Sales observed:

“Between meditation and contemplation there is the prayer of petition which is made when – after having considered the goodness of our Lord, His infinite love and His omnipotence we become confident enough to ask for and entreat Him to give us what we desire…True prayer of petition is made by grace, that is, when we ask for something which is not due to us at all and when we ask it of someone who is far superior to us, as God is…The point is absolutely clear: we can – and ought – to ask God for both our temporal and spiritual needs.” (Living Jesus, p. 304)

You know the old adage: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” However, as James and John learned in a very hard way in a very public forum, just because you ask for something doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get! When it comes to prayers of petition, we should (1) have the courage to ask for whatever we want, and (2) we should have the courage to accept whatever God ultimately grants – or doesn’t grant – us.

Are you looking for a prayer of petition to start today and every day? How about this variation on the request of James and John: “We want to do for you whatever you ask of us”. Amen!

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(May 30, 2024: Thursday, Eighth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Master, I want to see…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales offered wrote:

“God is in all things and places. There is no place or thing in this world in which God is not truly present. Everyone knows this truth in theory, but not everyone puts this knowledge to good effect. Blind men do not see a prince who is present among them, and therefore do not show him the respect they do after being informed of his presence. However, because they do not actually see the prince, they easily forget he is there, and once they forget this fact, they still more easily lose the respect and reverence owed to him. Unfortunately, we frequently lose sight of the God who is with us. Although faith assures us of his presence, we forget about him and behave as if God were a long way off because we do not see him with our eyes. While we may tell ourselves and others that God is present in all things, we often act as if this were not true because we fail to remind ourselves of God’s presence.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 2, p.84)

Even though the blind man in today’s Gospel could not actually see Jesus, it is crystal clear that he showed Jesus respect and reverence. What is the moral of the story? Even when we lose sight of how Jesus acts in our lives and in the eyes of other people day in and day out, it is always within our power to show him the respect and reverence by acting as Jesus did in showing respect and reverence for others.

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(May 31, 2024: Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
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  • “Anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal…”

No sooner had Mary received the announcement from the Angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the Messiah than she “set out and traveled to the hill country in haste” where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. (Recall that in the context of the Annunciation, Mary had learned that her cousin was pregnant.) As if Mary didn’t have enough on her plate already, she dropped whatever she was doing in order to offer assistance to Elizabeth for “about three months”. Mary didn’t wait for the request; Mary anticipated the need.

One of the hallmarks of the Salesian tradition (and as embodied in the Sisters of the Visitation, founded by Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal) is this notion of “anticipating the need of our neighbor”. This quality invites us to be “on the lookout” for opportunities to do good for others. Simple things like:

  • holding open a door for another
  • offering to help carry someone’s groceries
  • assisting someone who may have dropped something on the floor
  • checking in on someone who’s under the weather
  • being the first to greet someone or to call someone by name
  • asking how someone is doing today.

These are ordinary, everyday ways of honoring others by simply acknowledging their presence and by recognizing that they exist.

Here is where Paul’s admonition in his Letter to the Romans comes into play. Insofar as each day is loaded with countless opportunities to honor people by anticipating their needs – by “looking out” for their interests – such efforts could understandably become wearisome over time. In the Salesian tradition, we need to approach each new day as yet another God-given gift: the invitation to offer to do good things for others rather than waiting for others to ask us to do good things for them.

Mary embodied the virtue of anticipating the need of another in her decision to offer her cousin Elizabeth assistance without waiting to be asked. In so honoring her cousin, she brought honor to herself.

Today, how might we honor Mary by following her example through our willingness to anticipate the needs of one another?

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(June 1, 2024: Justin, Martyr)
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“By what authority are you doing these things…?”

We see in today’s Gospel a typical tactic employed by those who take umbrage with others. If they can’t refute what others do, they’ll attempt to refute their authority for doing so.

Jesus didn’t ask permission to do good things. He simply did them, regardless of the consequences. Tragic, indeed, that his enemies attempted to use his good deeds as evidence of wrongdoing!

We’ve all heard the expression: “No good deed goes unpunished”. Today’s Gospel reminds us that in a perfect world, doing good should be applauded and rewarded. However, insofar as we do not live in a perfect world, we shouldn’t be shocked that doing good may sometime bring its share of resistance and hostility.

By any means – by all means – do good things. Just be certain that you are doing that good for God’s glory, and not your own glory.


Spirituality Matters: May 19th - May 25th

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(May 19, 2024: Pentecost Sunday)
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“Each of us hears them speaking in our own tongue about the marvels that God has accomplished.”

Despite the fact that they were speaking to many people from many languages and many cultures, the apostles were understood by all of their listeners as they proclaimed the marvels that God had accomplished. How was this possible?

Inflamed by the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were speaking the language of the heart. They were speaking with enthusiasm. They were speaking with gratitude. They were speaking with praise and thanksgiving. They were speaking from their core. They were speaking from their soul. In short, they were speaking the universal language – the language of the heart.

We are most human - we are also most divine - when we speak the language of the heart, when we speak the language of love, when we speak and listen from the soul and when we are grounded in the Word Made Flesh.

Communicating is often easier said than done. We misunderstand one another. We presume to know what others are thinking or feeling. We use the same words for which we have different meanings. We have different ways of saying the same thing. We hear, but we fail to listen. We are always talking, but we so seldom share something of the soul.

St. Francis de Sales tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to inflame the hearts of believers. When we speak and listen from hearts inflamed with joy, truth and gratitude, conflict gives way to understanding, confusion gives way to clarity, estrangement gives way to intimacy, hurt gives way to healing, frustration gives way to forgiveness, violence gives way to peace and sin gives way to salvation.

Today, be it through speaking or hearing, how might we become more fluent in the language of love?

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(May 20, 2024: BVM, Mother of the Church)
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“All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales made the following observation regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is both Mother of the Messiah and Mother of the Church:

“Since maternal love is the most urgent, the most active and the most ardent of all forms of love, how much it must have worked in the heart of such a Mother and for the heart of such a Son?...Hence, it is true that this Mother is ‘the mother of fair love’, that is, the most worthy of love just as she is the most loving, and the most loving just as she is the most beloved Mother of this unique Son. He is, in turn, the most worthy of love, the most loving and the most beloved Son of this unique Mother.” (BK 3, Chapter 8)

Just today, how might we imitate the love of so unique and loving a Mother in our relationships with one another?

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(May 21, 2024: Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales offers some insight regarding the question raised in today’s selection from the Letter of James:

“It often happens that good people, all with good intentions, because of conflicting ideas stir up great persecutions and attacks on one another.”

What is the source of conflicts among us? Often times, it’s because while we may agree on the things in life that really matter, we may have very different ideas regarding how to make those priorities a reality, especially when we may “dig in” or become uncompromising in our dealings with others.

What is a remedy for such conflicts, which of course are part and parcel of our lives as human beings? It may be high theology, but it might be helpful to remember this image: when it comes to addressing/resolving conflicts, perhaps the reason that God gave us two ears and one mouth is with the hope that we would listen more and speak less.

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(May 22, 2024: Wednesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit’– you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.

In this selection from the letter of James, we hear in one of Jesus’ disciples wisdom from the Master himself. In the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 6: 28 – 36), Jesus observed:

“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wildflowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

Let’s be clear – it’s prudent to have a plan. It’s prudent to prepare for tomorrow. It is only natural to anticipate what the future may bring. But, as our own lived experience repeatedly reminds us, the only time we actually have at our disposal is today: now, this hour and this moment. We can hope for tomorrow, but we can’t always count on tomorrow.

Of course, Jesus’ insight was clearly not lost on Francis de Sales. In a letter of spiritual direction, Francis wrote:

“Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”

With an eye to tomorrow, let us do our level best to pursue that which is within our power – to live TODAY well!

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(May 23, 2024: Thursday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."

Salt is essential for life in general, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt)

In his commentary on this closing verse of today’s Gospel of Mark, William Barclay made the following observation:

“Here we must take salt in the sense of purity. The ancients declared that there was nothing in the world purer than salt because it came from the two purest things – the sun and the sea. The very glistening whiteness of salt was a picture of purity. So, this will mean, ‘Have within yourselves the purifying influence of the Spirit of Christ. Be purified from selfishness and self-seeking, from bitterness and anger and grudge-bearing. Be cleansed from irritation and moodiness and self-centeredness, and then – and then only – will you be able to live in peace with your fellow men and women.’ In other words, Jesus is saying that it is only the life that is cleansed of self and filled with Christ that can live in real fellowship with others.” (Daily Bible Series, Mark, p. 236)

In a letter of spiritual direction, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Self-love, then, is one of the sources of our disturbance. The other is the importance we give ourselves. Why is it that when we happen to commit some imperfection or sin, we are so surprised, upset and impatient? Without doubt, it is because we thought we were something special, resolute and steady, and therefore, when we discover that in reality, we are nothing of the kind and have fallen flat on our face, we are disappointed, and consequently we are vexed, offended and upset. If we really knew ourselves well, instead of being astonished at finding ourselves on the ground we would marvel that we ever manage to remain standing up. That’s the other source of our disquiet: we want nothing but consolation and are taken aback when we see and experience our misery, our nothingness and our weakness.”

Nothing will make us lose our taste for life and love more quickly than self-love. Nothing will help us maintain – and increase – our taste for life and love more quickly than the love of God.

And neighbor!

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(May 24, 2024: Friday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged.”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“Complain as little as possible about the wrongs you suffer. Undoubtedly, a person who complains commits a sin by doing so, since self-love always feels that injuries are worse than they really are. Above all, do not complain to irascible or fault-finding persons. If there is just occasion for complaining to someone either to correct an offense or restore peace of mind, do so with those who are even-tempered and who really love God. Otherwise, instead of calming your mind said others will stir up worse difficulties and instead of pulling out the thorn that is hurting you they will simply drive it deeper into your foot.” (IDL, Part III, p. 130).”

In a letter of spiritual direction, Francis wrote:

“Strong and staunch hearts only complain when there is really something important to complain about, and even then they do not harbor resentment – at least, they do not succumb to fuss and agitation.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 207)

What’s the takeaway from today’s first reading? If you must complain (1) do it for something really important, (2) do it with people who won’t make it worse and (3) move on when you’re done.

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(May 25, 2024: Saturday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Let the children come to me.”

In his commentary regarding this Gospel passage from Mark, William Barclay makes the following observations. What is it about the child – and/or children – that Jesus liked and valued so much?

“First, there is the child’s humility. A child has not yet learned to think in terms of place and pride and prestige. A child has not yet learned to discover the importance of self.”

“Second, there is the child’s obedience. A child’s natural instinct is to obey, that is, to listen. A child has not yet learned the pride and false independence which separates a person from others and God.”

“Third, there is the child’s trust. We see this is a child’s acceptance of authority and in a child’s confidence in other people.”

“Finally, a child has a short memory. A child has not yet learned to bear grudges and nourish bitterness. “

Indeed, of such is the Kingdom of God! How might we follow/imitate the example of such little ones as adults just today!?


Spirituality Matters: May 12th - May 18th

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(May 12, 2024: Seventh Sunday of Easter)
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“Consecrate them ... I consecrate myself for their sakes now, that they may be consecrated in truth.”

For the past six weeks we have been observing the great Sunday of Easter, which lasts 50 days, culminating in the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles.

Christ prays to his Father in the Gospel that we may remain one. He prays that God may protect us and guard us from the evil one “Consecrate them ... I consecrate myself for their sakes now, that they may be consecrated in truth.”

The scene to which our minds take us is the Last Supper. We are all in the upper room. Jesus wants us to experience the joy of being one body, upholding one another in love whatever the circumstances.

Jesus prays that his disciples will see through the world’s illusions. By arming themselves with God’s word, they will outwit the evil one who seeks to separate them from the Father’s protection. Our primary responsibility as Christians is to share with others the love of God that is within us. To share this love, we must see beyond the ways of the world and remain faithful to God’s plan and ways.

What we Christians need in our spiritual life is what St. Francis de Sales reduced to two words in a motto he chose for himself as a youth: NON EXCIDET. They are words of determination. A broader translation would be, “I will not fall away from my original purpose” or “I will not fall down on the job; I will not lose courage.” And yes, Francis was faithful to his chosen motto. He stuck to his books and to the practice of virtue. As a result, he became very learned and very close to God or ‘sanctified’, made ‘holy’ as a result of his industry and tenacity.

The entire secret of his sanctity escaped from his great heart when he said: “If I knew that there was a single fiber of my heart that was not completely saturated with the love of God, I would immediately pluck it out.” St. Francis de Sales knew well what a person needs most in life, i.e. firmness of character.

Today, may all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit!


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(May 12, 2024: Ascension of the Lord - Where Observed)
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“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?”

Well, the day in question finally arrived. Jesus was taken up into heaven and returned to the Father. After standing there in silence for what must have seemed like an eternity, one of the eleven eventually broke the silence by asking the question: “Now what?”

The rest – as they say – is history.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“After Jesus had shown himself for a little while to the disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid him from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of the soul. Therefore our ‘life is hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and when Christ who is’ our love and therefore our spiritual life ‘shall reappear’ in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear ‘with him in glory.’” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

In his Catholic Controversies (p.286) Francis de Sales outlines the activity of the Apostles – especially Peter and Paul – following the Ascension. Simply put, it would appear that once the dust of the Ascension settled, Jesus disciples got to work.

This same work continues for us today. Our task in the wake of the Ascension is to make the “hidden” Christ “reappear” through the quality of our love for others.

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(May 13, 2024: Monday, Seventh Week of Easter)
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“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything…” It is probably safe to say that the Apostles were – as a group – unsophisticated men. Insofar as many of them were tradesmen, they were men who would have put a high premium on keeping things plain and simple. If you had something to say to them, their preference would be that you give it straight to them, without a great deal of images or elaborations. Put another way, these were men for whom ‘less’ would clearly be ‘more.’ So, we can understand their appreciation in today’s Gospel selection for Jesus’ willingness to simply say what they needed to hear in a way they could hear – and understand – it!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say everything that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth. Therefore, you must become accustomed never to tell a deliberate lie whether to excuse yourself or for some other purpose, remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth’…Although we may sometime discreetly and prudently hide and disguise the truth by an equivocal statement, this must never be done except when the matter is important, and God’s glory and service clearly require it. In any other such case such tricks are dangerous. As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or slippery soul. No artifice is as good and desirable as plain dealing.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

When it comes to preaching – to say nothing of living – the Good News of Jesus Christ, you don’t have to convince other people that you “know everything” in order to be effective. Just give it to the people straight, in unembellished and unvarnished words – and in ways – that they can understand.

And live!

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(May 14, 2024: Matthias, Apostle)
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“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete…”

In a sermon entitled “Dedicated Hearts,” Francis de Sales stated:

“We might possibly reach a saturation point when it comes to our quest for wealth and honors, but when it comes to loving God, how can we ever say, “I have enough”? No limits can ever be set to our hunger and thirst for Him...’” (Pulpit and Pew, p. 223)

In other words, no matter how happy and joyful we might be, our happiness and joy will always be incomplete unless it includes the love of God. And in what will we find complete joy? In the opinion of St. Francis de Sales, it is experienced through our willingness to be what he describes as a “servant of God.” He wrote:

“To be a servant of God means to be charitable towards one’s neighbors, to have an unshakeable determination in the superior part of your soul to obey the will of God, to trust in God with a very humble humility and simplicity, and to lift oneself up as often as one falls, to endure with all your abjections and to quietly put up with others in their imperfections. (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 140)

Jesus embodies the fullness of joy. Jesus shows us what a joyful and joy-filled life looks like.

Today, how can we imitate his example today and share His joy – as well as ours – with others?

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(May 16, 2024: Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter)
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“Take courage…”

In a letter to Soeur de Soulfour, Francis de Sales offered this advice:

“Be like a little child who, while it knows that its mother is holding its sleeve, walks boldly and runs all around without being distressed at a stumble or fall; after all, it is as yet unsteady on its legs. In the same way, as long as you realize that God is holding on to you by your will and resolution to serve him go on boldly and do not be upset by your setbacks and falls. Continue on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible. If you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, pp. 45-46)

Be brave; be confident; be courageous.

Being courageous is not about being foolhardy. Being courageous (as we learn from the Italian word, coragio) is about being a person of heart. We all have issues in life; we all have difficulties in life; we all have setbacks in life; we all have heartaches in life. Often times what distinguishes triumph from tragedy in our attempts to deal with life’s challenges is whether we end up encouraged or discouraged, that is, whether we manage to maintain our hearts or whether we lose our hearts. Today, consider the stumbles and falls that you have experienced in life. How have they left you? Encouraged or discouraged? Are you managing to keep your heart or are you losing it?

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(May 17, 2024: Friday, Seventh Week of Easter)
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“Do you love me…?”

In a sermon preached at the Visitation monastery at Annecy on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost in 1618, Francis de Sales observed:

“God wants our love for Him to be a love of choice. He wants us to love Him with a love that chooses Him out from all others. He wants the love which we have for others to be just a faint reflection of the supreme love which we have for Him and to allow His love to reign supreme in our hearts.”

“Some foolish people claim that such a commandment to be impossible in this life. Such people make a big mistake! Our Lord would never have given this commandment without also giving us the power to set about doing it. Other people will say that we cannot love God with our whole heart, soul mind and strength; we must share some of our love with our families and friends. Had our Lord commanded us to love Him as the blessed do in heaven, there might be some point to their objection insofar as the love of the angels and the saints never changes; it is never interrupted. As for us, there are many things vying for our time and attention. Yet for all that, our love for God can be strong and unchanging even though we cannot always be actively showing it.” (Pulpit and Pew, pp. 222 - 223)

Francis de Sales concludes his sermon by asking this question: “How can you be sure that you love God?” He lists three “infallible signs:”

  1. “If you love God, you will seek His presence; you will yearn to be close to Him. You will seek Him, not for your own pleasure, but to please Him.”

  2. “The love of too many things dissipates our love and lessens its perfection. We are to love other things besides God, but always put Him first. Be forever ready to forego whomever and/or whatever else we may love as God’s pleasure may require.”

  3. “You are to love one another with a love similar to the love that God has for us – a love that is loyal and unchanging; a love that does not rely on outward appearances; a love that is not impatient of faults and imperfections; a love that is ever ready to lend a helping hand to further our neighbor’s good…all the ways in which God, in his goodness, shows his love for us.”

Today how will we demonstrate our love for God?

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(May 18, 2024: Saturday, Seventh Week of Easter)
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“Who is the one who will betray you…?”

Well, the obvious answer is Judas. We know that he betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Later he regretted his betrayal and hanged himself.

Then again, Peter betrayed Jesus by denying that he even knew him - not once, not twice but three times. He regretted it almost immediately and went on to become “the rock” on which Jesus would build his Church. How about James and John? Didn’t they betray Jesus – in a way – by asking for places of honor at his left and at his right? In subsequent years they gave their lives for their faith.

It might make a great deal more sense – and require a lot less time – to ask this question: who is the one who has not betrayed Jesus? The answer would produce a much shorter list. After all, each of us betrays Jesus when we are focused upon our own benefit at the expense of others. Each of us betrays Jesus when we turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to the needs of others. Each of us betrays Jesus when we decide that we are not up to the challenges that come with being his disciples.

Each of us betrays Jesus when we sin.

Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t hold grudges. Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t settle old scores. Thanks be to God that Jesus doesn’t hold on to old hurts or betrayals. Imperfect as we are, Jesus continues to say to us, day in and day out: “Follow me”.

Thanks be to God!


Spirituality Matters: April 28st - May 4th (Copy)

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(April 28, 2024: Fifth Sunday of Easter)
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“Those who keep his commandments remain in him and he in them.”

The scripture passage for today is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. In it, Jesus is communicating the most important things he wants them to remember. In a powerful and beautiful extended metaphor, Jesus speaks of himself as the vine and his disciples as the branches. He tells them that they must tie themselves closely to him. In order to be healthy, fruit-bearing branches, they must be willing to be trimmed clean of those growths that keep them from bearing fruit. Above all, they must be part of the vine. If they become separated from the vine, they will produce no fruit. They will become withered and rejected branches, good for nothing but to be burnt.

Jesus makes it clear that his disciples already have been given what they need. If they believe the words of life that Jesus has shared with them, if they make his words part of their lives, they will live in him and he will live in them. Hearing those word is only the first step. Living the word by absorbing it and making it an integral part of one’s life, must happen if one is truly to thrive as a disciple of Jesus. This state is as true for us today as it was for the disciples.

We too have been given God’s word. We too are called to live in Jesus, or to “Live Jesus”, as Francis de Sales said, as we go about our daily tasks. And what is the fruit we are supposed to produce? Our fruit is a life marked by the love of Christ and by a life lived in a way that shows our brothers and sisters that we really believe what Jesus told us. It is a life marked by patience, kindness, gentleness and humility. The second reading perhaps puts it best: “We are to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and are to love one another as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him and he in them.”

The way we know that we are living in Jesus and that he is living in us is that we are keeping his commandments. We are called to love “in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it”. We can and should read the scriptures and other spiritual books. We can and should meditate on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We can and should say our prayers and make use of the sacraments of the Church. In the end, however, it is how we treat our brothers and sisters that will tell the story. If our words are not supported by our deeds, then they are empty and barren words, good for nothing. If we talk about the forgiveness of Jesus but hang on to grudges, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we harbor resentment in our hearts, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we refuse to acknowledge addictive behavior and get help for it, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we delight in gossiping about our neighbor’s misfortunes or weaknesses, we have some pruning and trimming to do before we can bear fruit in the name of Jesus.

Today, let us dig out the pruning shears and start trimming!

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(April 29, 2024: Catherine of Siena, Virgin/Doctor of the Church)
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“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“When I saw in St. Catherine of Siena’s life so many raptures and elevations of spirit, words of wisdom and even sermons uttered by her, I did not doubt that by the eye of contemplation she had ravished the heart of her heavenly Spouse. But I was equally edified when I saw her in her father’s kitchen, humbly turning the spit, kindling fires, dressing meat, kneading bread and doing the meanest household chores cheerfully and filled with love and affection for God. I do not have less esteem for the humble, little meditations she made during these ordinary, lowly tasks than for the ecstasies and raptures she experienced so often. Perhaps the latter were granted to her precisely because of her humility...I cite her life as an example so that you may know how important it is to direct all our actions – no matter how lowly they may be – to the service of his divine Majesty” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, p. 214)

The Salesian tradition reminds us that great ways of keeping God’s commandments are rare and that opportunities to display our love for God in remarkable ways are few and far between. By contrast, opportunities to love God and to keep his commandments in everyday, ordinary ways are legion. It is interesting to consider the possibility that it was St. Catherine’s ability to recognize and to love God in the midst of the mundane responsibilities and demands of everyday life that enabled her to recognize and to love God also in extraordinary ways! Today how might we imitate St. Catherine’s example in our approach to the ordinary tasks that will be part and parcel of our experience?

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(April 30, 2024: Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter)
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“Peace I leave you; my peace I give you…”

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters, Francis de Sales observed:

“God wishes our care to be a calm and peaceful one as we proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us. As for the rest, we should rest in God’s fatherly care, trying as far as is possible to keep our soul at peace, for the place of God is in peace and in the peaceful and restful heart. You know that when the lake is very calm – and when the winds do not agitate its waters – on a very serene night the sky with all its stars is so perfectly reflected in the water that looking down into its depths the beauty of the heavens is as clearly visible as if we were looking up on high. So, when our soul is perfectly calm, unstirred and untroubled by the winds of superfluous cares, unevenness of spirit and inconstancy it is very capable of reflecting in itself the image of Our Lord.” (Conference III, On Constancy, pp. 50-51)

Why were people able to see reflections of the Father in the person of his son, Jesus? Because in the depths of his soul – in his heart of hearts – Jesus managed to rest in his Father’s care. No matter what happened around him on any given day, Jesus was able to keep himself “calm, unstirred and untroubled”. If we are having trouble seeing reflections of that same Father in ourselves (or others), perhaps it is because we have some work to do in our own efforts to remain “calm, unstirred and untroubled” as we try to “proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us.”

Jesus adds this caveat as he offers peace to his disciples: “I do not give it as the world gives it…” What do these words mean?

In broad strokes, many – if not most - of the things that the “world” offers us as sources of peace tend to come from the outside: income, zip code, cologne, clothing, cars, looks, diplomas, etc., etc. However, as the case of Jesus, true peace only from the inside!

It has been said that the essence of peace is being comfortable in your own skin. This way of being at peace, in turn, does not result in complacence. In contrast, it unleashes a personal power flowing from a person’s clear and convincing sense of identity and purpose. In the ebb and flow that marked Jesus’ life and ministry, he was – remarkably and powerfully – comfortable in his own skin. He was at home with himself and with his Father’s will for him. Jesus’ way of being at peace, in turn, helped him to unleash this same peace – this power – in the lives of those he touched.

Jesus shows us the way to true peace in his own life – not a peace that is passive, but rather, a peace imbued with potential, possibility and power! How can we experience that peace ourselves – and share that peace with others – today?

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(May 1, 2023: Joseph the Worker)
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In response to the annual “May Day” celebrations (which invariably included fearsome displays of military might) for the International Solidarity of Workers observed by the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955 as a kind of Catholic expression of its own “Cold War” with atheistic Communism.

“The liturgy for this feast vindicates the right to work, and this is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in our modern society. In many of the documents issued by Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II, reference is made to the Christian spirit that should permeate one's work, after the example of St. Joseph. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work done in caring for the family. The Office of Readings contains an excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world: ‘Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realize God's plan in history.’” (http://www.passionistnuns.org/Saints/StJosephWorker/index.htm)

Of course, associating Joseph with the dignity of human work and enterprise was not solely a creation of the 20th Century. The Gospel itself identifies Jesus’ foster father as a carpenter, an artisan who needed to know as much about working with people as he did woodworking in order to provide for himself and his family. Therefore, Jesus is subsequently described as “the son of a carpenter” – not as a putdown, but rather as recognition of a “hands-on” profession that garnered no small modicum of respect.

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Oh, how faithful was the great Saint of whom we are speaking! Words fail when we try to express the perfection of his fidelity, for consider in what poor estate and abjection he lived throughout his entire life. With what great virtue and dignity he concealed within himself this same poverty and abjection! What a dignity to be the guardian of Our Lord, and not only that, but to be even His reputed father, to be the husband of His most holy Mother! Truly, I doubt not that the Angels, wondering and adoring, came thronging in countless multitudes to that simple workshop to admire the humility of him who guarded that dear and divine Child, and labored at his carpenter’s trade to support the Son and th4e Mother, who were committed to his care. (XIX, The Virtues of St. Joseph, pp. 365-366, 372-373)

It isn’t a stretch to suggest that Jesus’ ability to work with people of all stripes – and in particular, his being comfortable with common, ordinary, everyday working people – was a direct result of values and skills that he learned from his foster father.

Just this day what might St. Joseph teach us regarding the skills and virtues we need to build some of the most important things of all: loving and lasting relationships with others?

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(May 2, 2024: Atanasius, Bishop/Doctor of the Church)
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“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete…”

This debate outlined in the today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles puts us in touch with Francis de Sales’ perspective on two gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge and understanding.

The Gift of Knowledge

“This divine gift, however, has little to do with mere human learning. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to make good and effective use of the previous two gifts, if we are to know how to behave towards the God we mean to fear and love. It is about being capable of discerning evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. As the prophet says, offend no more; rather, do what is good. And be at rest always.”

Mere human knowledge only enables us to know the difference between good and evil. Just hearing God’s word doesn’t guarantee the ability to follow it! The Spirit’s gift of knowledge, by contrast, actually enables us to turn away from what is evil and to put our hands to doing what is good.

Francis concludes with this observation.

“There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.”

Many practicing Jews – considered knowledgeable of the Law and Prophets – rejected Jesus. Many Gentiles – considered by these same Jews – to be ignorant of the Law and Prophets – accepted Jesus! Tough pill for some to swallow.

The Gift of Understanding

“Understanding is a special enlightenment that enables us to see and penetrate the beauty and perfection of the mysteries of faith. We may listen to sermons; we may read widely; yet we can remain ignorant of these divine mysteries if we lack the gift of understanding. A simple soul, open in prayer, may gain some insight into the mystery of the Blessed Trinity – not to explain it, but to draw from it some secret aspect that can save – because the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of understanding. I always maintain that if anyone loses his soul, it is for want of following such mysteries of the faith, for example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs; blessed are the patient, they shall inherit the land. Who is awake to the beauty of these principles, however, except those whom the Holy Spirit enlightens?”

There is no substitute for the knowledge that helps us to grow in our understanding of the ways of the Lord. However, we must be careful not to allow knowledge to take the place of understanding. Ultimately, this became the Achilles heel of many of the Jews of Jesus’ day. While Francis de Sales recognizes the need to know the difference between good and evil (and, by extension, to do good and to avoid evil), such knowledge only comes to full flowering when we demonstrate our understanding of God’s ways through our practice of the Beatitudes, that is, by being sources of blessing, happiness and joy in the lives of others!

How does Jesus make our joy complete? By helping us to be sources – perhaps even signs and wonders - of joy in the lives of one another!

(Based upon a sermon preached by St. Francis de Sales on the feast of Pentecost, date unknown. Translation from Pulpit and Pew: A Study in Salesian Preaching. Vincent Kerns, MSFS.)

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(May 3, 2024: Philip and James, Apostles)
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“Hold fast to the word I preached to you…’

In a letter to Andre Fremyot, Archbishop-elect of Bourges, which dealt with the topic of “Practical Preaching,” St. Francis de Sales wrote the following about the purpose of preaching:

“What end should a person have in view when preaching a sermon? The aim and intention should be to do what our Lord told us when he came into this world to do: ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.’ The preacher’s object, then, is that sinners who are dead through sin may come to life again with a life that looks toward right doing and that the good – who possess spiritual life within them – may have it yet more abundantly, may become more and more perfect…So the preacher should say to himself when he is in the pulpit: “I have come so that these people here may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (Pulpit and Pew: A Study in Salesian Preaching, pp. 37 – 38)

Philip and James – as in the case of all the Apostles – preached the Good News of Jesus Christ in order that others might be saved. They spent their lives holding fast to the word of God even as they shared that word with others, to the point of shedding their blood.

While not all of us are called to preach from a pulpit, all of us are called to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ through our actions. How might we hold fast to the word preached to us by the quality of our lives lived with others, that is, to help others to have life – and have it abundantly?

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(May 4, 2024: Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter)
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"No slave is greater than the master…”

Jesus seems to be saying, in effect, “Don’t even think about trying to be greater than I am.” Put another way, it certainly feels like Jesus is at least reminding us of our place, if not putting us in our place. But as Francis de Sales reminds us in his Treatise on the Love of God, the “place” that Jesus has in mind for us is anything but a put-down.

“You see how God by progressive stages filled with unutterable sweetness leads the soul forward and enables it to leave the Egypt of sin. God leads us from love to love, as from dwelling to dwelling, until He has made us enter into the Promised Land. By this I mean that He brings us into a most holy charity, which to state it succinctly, is a form of friendship and disinterested love, since by charity we love God for his own sake because of his most supremely pleasing goodness. Such friendship is true friendship, since it is reciprocal, for God has eternally loved all those who have loved him, now love him or will love him in time to come. It is manifested and recognized mutually: God cannot be ignorant of the love we have for Him since He himself has given it to us, while we cannot be ignorant of his love for us since He has made it so widely known and we on our part acknowledge that whatever good we possess is the true effect of his good will. In fine, we are in continual communication with Him and He never ceases to speak to our hearts by his inspirations, allurements and sacred movements. He never ceases to do us good or to give us every kind of proof as to his most holy affection. God has openly revealed all his secrets to us as to his closet friends.” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 22, pp. 160 – 161)

The bottom line is that we are already friends of God! Why would we need to be anything greater than that?


Spirituality Matters: April 21st - April 27th

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(April 21, 2024: Fourth Sunday of Easter)
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“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me in the same way that the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

Have you ever heard the expression “to know is to love”? When we’re talking in a general way, it is certainly true that we can hardly be expected to fall in love with someone we don’t know. But the statement “to know is to love” is not completely true when it is a question of human relationships. In these relationships, it is more accurate to say “to love is to know”, i.e., that once we have decided to love others, to commit ourselves to other people, we open ourselves to them and they, in turn, reciprocate by committing and opening themselves to us.

Jesus expresses this truth when he says: "Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."(Jn. 14:21) Francis de Sales echoes this truth by telling us, "Knowledge of the good can give us the beginning of love but not its measure." (Treatise, Book 6, chap. 4)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes a surprising and startlingly revelation about his relationship with us. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me in the same way that the Father knows me and I know the Father.” He is saying that he knows us as intimately and as personally as his heavenly Father knows him. And we, in turn, know him the way he knows the Father. The kind of knowledge that Christ our Good Shepherd has for each one of us is only acquired by a very close and intimate contact with us. It is a result of his love for us, of his willingness to commit himself totally and completely to us just as a shepherd totally and completely commits himself, even his life for his sheep.

If we reflect on the relationship of a shepherd to his sheep, we see that his whole life is centered on the lives of his sheep. The shepherd is with them all day long, and many times throughout the night he watches over them. It’s no surprise then that he gets to know all of the peculiarities, all of the individual traits of each of his sheep and gives them each a name. To others his sheep may all look the same, but to their shepherd, each is different and distinct. So he has no trouble whatsoever picking his own out from among hundreds in the sheep pen.

The parable of the Good Shepherd is not so far removed from us as we might first be inclined to believe. The parable touches the very well-springs of our being - our need to be known and loved for the person we are, no matter what. We might sometimes think, feel or act in ways that are as smelly and dirty as most sheep. We might get into all kinds of trouble by straying from our shepherd, like the sheep who gets caught in bramble bushes, fall into rocky crags or have a hundred and one missteps. Nevertheless, our Good Shepherd is there to bind up our wounds. He knows and loves us to the extent that he puts his life on the line for us.

Like the Good Shepherd, do we put ourselves on the line for one another? Today and every day!

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(April 22, 2024: Monday, Fourth Week of Ester)
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“Whoever does not enter through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber…”

Jesus wants us to “have life, and to have it to the full” (John 10:10) and he tells us there is a right way and a wrong way to have that “full life”. The gateway to that life is through him and through him alone - no workaround or short cut will suffice.

In the first few pages of his book Night, Ellie Wiesel reflects upon the image of heaven offered to him by his mentor Moishe the Beadle:

“‘There are a thousand and one gates allowing entry into the orchard of mystical truth. Every human being has his own gate. He must not err and wish to enter the orchard through a gate other than his own. That would present a danger not only for the one entering but also for those who are already inside.’ Thus began my initiation. Together we would read, over and over again, not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity. And in the course of those evenings, I became convinced that Moishe the Beadle would help me enter eternity, into that time when question and answer would become ONE.”

From a Salesian perspective, this image of heaven makes absolute sense. Many people make the mistake of thinking that in order to “have life, and to have life to the full” they must become someone they’re not. Many people make the mistake of believing they must become someone else, while many people make the mistake of trying try to enter “through a gate other than” their own. What would Francis de Sales’ advise? “Be who you are, and be that perfectly well.” In the big scheme of things, Jesus is the one and only gateway to life. Still, Jesus is big enough to accommodate the fact that no two people enter through him in exactly the same way; no two people experience that fullness of life by walking in the exact same footsteps.

Do you want to experience the fullness of life on earth? Do you want to experience the fullness of life in heaven? Then don’t live someone else’s life.

Today, like Jesus, try to live your own life as best you can.

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(April 23, 2024: Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter)
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"He rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart...”

Firmness - or strength - of heart is an invaluable asset in the pursuit of devotion, especially as we deal with the ups and downs of daily life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“We must try to keep our heart steadily, unshakably equal during the great variety and inequality of daily events. Even though everything turns and changes around us, our hearts must remain unchanging and ever looking, striving and aspiring toward God.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, p. 256)

A little further along in this chapter, Francis de Sales makes a distinction between tenderness of heart and firmness of heart. He continues:

“Some men think about God’s goodness and our Savior’s passion, feel great tenderness of heart, and are thus aroused to utter sighs, tears and prayers, and acts of thanksgiving so ardently that we say that their hearts have been filled with intense devotion. But when a test comes, we see how different things can get. Just as in the hot summer passing showers send down drops that fall on the earth but do not sink into it and serve only to produce mushrooms, so also these tender tears may fall on a vicious heart but do not penetrate and are therefore completely useless to it.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, pp. 257-258)

Tenderness of heart and firmness of heart- each have their place in the pursuit of holiness. Tenderness of heart can help us to enjoy the good times, while firmness of heart can help us get through the difficult times.

What kind of heart might you need to have today?

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(April 24, 2024: Wednesday, Fourth Week of Easter)
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“His commandment is eternal life…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men keep the commandments in the same way that sick men take medicine – more from fear of dying in damnation than for the joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some people dislike taking medicine – no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. On the contrary, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter sand more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him greater honor. It pours forth and sings hymns of joy when God teaches it his commandments. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey. In like manner the devout lover finds such sweetness in the commandments that nothing in this mortal life comforts and refreshes him so much as the precious burdens of God’s precepts.” (TLG, Book XIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)

Perhaps in this observation from Francis de Sales we can hear the echo of Jesus’ words from Matthew 11: 29 – 30: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.”

Seeing the commandments of God as strong medicine that cures our sickness can surely weigh us down but seeing the commandments of God as that which keep us healthy can surely lift us up. How will you see – and experience – God’s commandments today - as burden or bounty?

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(April 25, 2024: Mark, Evangelist)
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“Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…”?

Humility is one of the great hallmarks of the Salesian tradition. It is one of two qualities that Jesus used to describe himself. Obviously, then, our attempts to practice humility help us in our efforts to imitate Christ, to “Live + Jesus”.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Many men neither wish nor dare to think over and reflect on the particular graces God has shown them because they are afraid that this might arouse vainglory and self-complacence. In so doing they deceive themselves. Since the true means to attain to love of God is consideration of God’s benefits, the more we know about them the more we shall love them. Nothing can so effectively humble us before God’s mercy as the multitude of his benefits and nothing can so deeply humble us before his justice as our countless offenses against him. Let us consider what he has done for us and what we have done against him, and as we reflect on our sins one by one let us also consider his graces one by one. There is no need to fear that knowledge of his gifts will make us proud if only we remember this truth: none of the good in us comes from ourselves. A lively consideration of graces received makes us humble because knowledge of them begets gratitude for them.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 5, pp. 134-135)

To humble ourselves does include acknowledging our sins, weaknesses and deficiencies. Unfortunately, many of us stop there. True humility challenges us to name not only our sins but also to name God’s graces. True humility challenges us to count not only our weaknesses, but also to count God’s blessings. True humility challenges us to acknowledge not only our littleness, but also to acknowledge our greatness.

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(April 26, 2024: Friday, Fourth Week of Easter)
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“Do not let your hearts be troubled…”

We all have a deep seated fear. Using the image of musical chairs, we fear that when the music stops, there won’t be a chair for us. Jesus promises us that this situation won’t happen because he has prepared a place for each and every one of us. This promise from Jesus is a great remedy for our fear of being left out.

From a Salesian perspective, however, the “place” that Jesus promises to create for us is not found exclusively in heaven. Jesus has also created a unique place, role or niche for each of us here on this earth - a place in which we are called to be sources of his life and his love in the lives of other people.

How will that place – and the people in it – be better for the way you live your life today?

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(April 27, 2024: Saturday, Fourth Week of Easter)
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"The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit…”

One of the manifestations of living life in the Spirit is happiness and joy. In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“The virtue of cheerfulness requires that we should contribute to holy and temperate joy and to pleasant conversation, which may serve as a consolation and recreation to our neighbor so as to not weary and annoy him with our knit brows and melancholy faces….” (Conference IV, On Cordiality, Book IV, p. 59)

In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal, written not long following their first encounter during the Lenten mission that he preached, Francis specifically cites the relationship between joy and religious liberty:

“No loss or lack can sadden one whose heart is perfectly free. I am not saying that it is impossible for such a person to lose his joy, but it will not be for long.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 71)

In a letter to a young novice who attempted to live the life of a Benedictine sister (but who subsequently left the convent) Francis de Sales underscored the importance of being joyful…or, at least, of trying to be:

“Go on joyfully and with your heart as open and widely trustful as possible; if you cannot always be joyful, at least be brave and confident.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 46)

It’s no accident that we Christians frequently refer to the term “Easter joy”. The power of the Resurrection – and the gifts of the Spirit that flow from it– should go a long way in helping us to be – among other things – joyful! Life being what it is, however, we aren’t always joyful people. When we find it difficult to be joyful, let’s do our best at least to be brave and confident.

And perhaps today, even find joy in that approach!


Spirituality Matters: May 5th - May 11th

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(May 5, 2024: Sixth Sunday of Easter)
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"Love one another as I have loved you."

Jesus taught us about a type of love that is very different from the love we often experience in this world. By His words and by His deeds, He showed us how the Trinity Itself loves. This love is a self-emptying love, a self-sacrificial love, and love so focused on the other that the self is forgotten. In the great Paschal mystery, we see Jesus so absorbed in love of the Father that He willingly sacrificed His very self for this love. His love of the Father's will was all that mattered to him.

St. Francis de Sales is a spiritual master in the school of this love. His great work, Treatise on the Love of God, traces a journey into the very heart of the love of the Trinity. At the very end of this two-volume work, Francis reaches Calvary. For Francis, Calvary is the true academy of love. When the human will surrenders itself to the will of the Father in an act of self-donation, love blossoms. Nothing so inflames the human heart as this act of self-emptying love.

You may ask how St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal can be known for developing a philosophy of life that is optimistic, gentle, humble, and caring, in spite of the fact that it is centered on Calvary. How do joyful friendship and devotion spring from such a source? Yet, this love is exactly what we celebrate today. Easter, the Resurrection and the new life promised by God are ours, when we follow this path. While we will always pass through Calvary, Jesus has shown us that the true end of this sacrificial love is a sharing in the very life of the Trinity Itself. This life, the true destiny of the human spirit, is the love that never ends.

In the garden of the tomb Mary Magdalene thought that the man she met was a gardener- until he pronounced her name – “Mary”. When Jesus spoke her name so intimately, Mary instantly recognized Jesus. This man spoke as Jesus, even if he did not look like Him. To put the Gospel into practice means that we too must speak to others as Jesus spoke to Mary.

We don't have to look far to locate opportunities for self-sacrificial love. As St. Francis de Sales knew so well, they are present in every walk of life and in every situation of life. They come in small, medium and large opportunities. The daily desire and ability to recognize them is a key to holiness. Let us listen to Jesus: “All this I tell you that my joy may be yours and your joy may be complete”. Enjoy what remains of the Easter Season! Love others as Christ loves us and in so doing make every day a celebration of Easter joy!

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(May 6, 2024: Monday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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“I have told you this so that you may not fall away…”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples a “heads up”. Notwithstanding the imminent arrival of the Paraclete, whom Jesus will send from the Father, there will still be tough – and trying – times ahead for them. Jesus wants them to be prepared so that when the tough – and trying – times come, they won’t fall away, that is, they won’t give up.

In a letter to a nun (dated August 20, 1607) Francis de Sales wrote:

“To be a servant of God means to be charitable towards one’s neighbors, have an unshakeable determination in the superior part of one’s soul to obey the will of God, trusting in God with a very humble humility and simplicity, and to lift oneself up as often as one falls, endure oneself with all one’s abjections and quietly put up with others in their imperfections.”. (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 140)

Francis de Sales’ advice to a nun over four hundred years ago is just as relevant today as it was then. Following Jesus – being a servant of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit – will always bring its share of challenges, trials and tribulations. We sometimes fall – we sometimes fail – in the face of these same challenges, trials and tribulations. However, falling down is not the same as falling away - unless, of course, you choose to stay down after falling down.

If you fall – if you fail – in your attempts to “Live + Jesus” just this day, will you stay down or will you get back up?

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(May 7, 2024: Tuesday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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"Where are you going…?” Where are you going? Where are you going? Can you take me with you? For my hand is cold And needs warmth Where are you going?

- <i>“By My Side”</i> (Godspell, 1971)

For some time now, Jesus has been telling his disciples that he will be leaving them in order that the Advocate (a.k.a. the Paraclete) may come to them. As we see in today’s Gospel, Jesus is trying to convince them that it will be better for them if he goes. By all accounts, the disciples are having a hard time believing - or accepting – his reassurances.

Put yourself in their position. Jesus keeps talking about going back to the Father while they’d prefer to ask the question: “Where are you going?” They’d prefer to ask the question: “Do you have to go?” Either way, they are struggling with the fear of losing Jesus; they are struggling with the prospect of being left alone to fend for themselves.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“After Jesus had shown himself for a little while to the disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid him from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of the soul. Therefore our ‘life is hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and when Christ who is’ our love and therefore our spiritual life ‘shall reappear’ in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear ‘with him in glory.’” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

For our purposes, let’s hear the question “Where are you going?” in a slightly different way. Just suppose that now it is Jesus who is asking the question of us! Today, Jesus asks us “Where are you going?”. Where will our steps, conversations and interactions take us? At the end of the day, will we have drawn any closer to the “Day of Judgment” when we shall “appear with him in glory”?

Regardless, we know one thing for sure - no matter where we go, Jesus doesn’t want us to walk alone. We are in this together.

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(May 8, 2024: Wednesday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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“The Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say all that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth. Therefore, you must become accustomed never to tell a deliberate lie whether to excuse yourself or for some other purpose, remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth.’ If you happen to tell a lie inadvertently, correct it immediately by an explanation or making amends. An honest explanation has more grace and force to excuse us than a lie has…As the Sacred Word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or tricky soul.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

Jesus promises that the “Spirit of truth will guide you to all truth.” How do we know, then, that the Spirit dwells in us? How do other people know that the Spirit dwells in us?

The answer - We do when we do our level best to tell the truth, when we do our level best to speak the truth and, when we do our level best to be truthful, truth-filled people.

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(May 9, 2024: Ascension of the Lord – Where Observed)
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“Why are you standing there looking at the sky?”

Well, the day in question finally arrived. Jesus was taken up into heaven and returned to the Father. After standing there in silence for what must have seemed like an eternity, one of the eleven eventually broke the silence by asking the question: “Now what?”

The rest – as they say – is history.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“After Jesus had shown himself for a little while to the disciples, he ascended up to heaven, and at length a cloud surrounded him, took him and hid him from their eyes. Jesus Christ, then, is hidden in heaven in God. Jesus Christ is our love, and our love is the life of the soul. Therefore our ‘life is hidden in God with Christ Jesus, and when Christ who is’ our love and therefore our spiritual life ‘shall reappear’ in the Day of Judgment, we shall also appear ‘with him in glory.’” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

In his Catholic Controversies (p.286) Francis de Sales outlines the activity of the Apostles – especially Peter and Paul – following the Ascension. Simply put, it would appear that once the dust of the Ascension settled, Jesus disciples got to work.

This same work continues for us today. Our task in the wake of the Ascension is to make the “hidden” Christ “reappear” through the quality of our love for others.

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(May 9, 2024: Thursday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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“A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“God is in all things and all places. There is no place or thing in this world where God is not truly present. Everyone knows this truth but not everyone brings this truth home. Blind men do not see a prince who is present among them, and therefore do not show him the respect that they do only after being told of his presence. However, because they do not actually see him they easily forget his presence, and having forgotten it, they still more easily lose the reverence and respect owed to him.”

He continued:

“Unfortunately, we do not see God who is present with us. Although faith assures us of his presence, yet because we do not see him with our eyes we often forget about him and behave as if God were far distant from us. We really know that he is present in all things, but because we do not reflect on that fact we act as if we did not know it.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 2, p. 84)

You know the adage: “Seeing is believing.” As people of faith, we believe that God is fully present within us and among us. Because we do not see God physically, however, it is all-too-easy for us to lose sight of our belief in an all-present God and act in ways that are contrary to our belief.

Today, let us ask God for the vision we need to be ever mindful of his presence. Empowered by this awareness, may the attitudes and actions that others see in us help them also to believe in an all-present God, too.

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(May 10, 2024: Friday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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“You will grieve but your grief will become joy…”

These words spoken by Jesus in today’s Gospel have a familiar ring to those acquainted with the Salesian tradition. They sound like a remarkably simple – but powerful – summarization of St. Francis de Sales’ teaching on what he called “spirit of liberty”:

“The first sign (of this spirit of liberty) is that the heart enjoying this liberty is not at all attached to consolations and accepts afflictions with all the meekness possible to the flesh. I am not saying that the soul does not love consolation and long for it, but without clinging to it. The second sign is that the man enjoying this spirit does not set his heart on spiritual exercises: if illness or some other emergency prevents them, he is on no way upset. I am not saying that he does not love them but that he is not attached to them. Thirdly, he does not lose his joy, because no loss or lack can sadden one whose heart is perfectly free. I am not saying that it is impossible for him to lose his joy, but it will not be for long.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, pp. 70 - 71)

What’s the bottom line? Into everyone’s life a little rain must fall. Into everyone’s picnic ants will sometimes intrude. Into everyone’s success some setbacks will eventually surface. But for those who are freed by the spirit of liberty, any grief associated with these (and other hard knocks in life) will – eventually – turn into joy.

Over and over again!

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(May 11, 2024: Saturday, Sixth Week of Easter)
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"Ask and you shall receive…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“If a man prays to God and perceives that he is praying, he is not perfectly attentive to his prayer. He diverts his attention from the God to whom he prays in order to think of the prayer by which he prays…A man in fervent prayer does not know whether he prays or not, for he does not think of the prayer he makes but of God to whom he makes it.” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 6, p. 32)

Today here’s a question for you. When you “ask the Father for anything” in Jesus’ name, upon what do you focus - that for which you ask or the person from whom you ask it?


Spirituality Matters: April 28st - May 4th

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(April 28, 2024: Fifth Sunday of Easter)
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“Those who keep his commandments remain in him and he in them.”

The scripture passage for today is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse to his disciples. In it, Jesus is communicating the most important things he wants them to remember. In a powerful and beautiful extended metaphor, Jesus speaks of himself as the vine and his disciples as the branches. He tells them that they must tie themselves closely to him. In order to be healthy, fruit-bearing branches, they must be willing to be trimmed clean of those growths that keep them from bearing fruit. Above all, they must be part of the vine. If they become separated from the vine, they will produce no fruit. They will become withered and rejected branches, good for nothing but to be burnt.

Jesus makes it clear that his disciples already have been given what they need. If they believe the words of life that Jesus has shared with them, if they make his words part of their lives, they will live in him and he will live in them. Hearing those word is only the first step. Living the word by absorbing it and making it an integral part of one’s life, must happen if one is truly to thrive as a disciple of Jesus. This state is as true for us today as it was for the disciples.

We too have been given God’s word. We too are called to live in Jesus, or to “Live Jesus”, as Francis de Sales said, as we go about our daily tasks. And what is the fruit we are supposed to produce? Our fruit is a life marked by the love of Christ and by a life lived in a way that shows our brothers and sisters that we really believe what Jesus told us. It is a life marked by patience, kindness, gentleness and humility. The second reading perhaps puts it best: “We are to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and are to love one another as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him and he in them.”

The way we know that we are living in Jesus and that he is living in us is that we are keeping his commandments. We are called to love “in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it”. We can and should read the scriptures and other spiritual books. We can and should meditate on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We can and should say our prayers and make use of the sacraments of the Church. In the end, however, it is how we treat our brothers and sisters that will tell the story. If our words are not supported by our deeds, then they are empty and barren words, good for nothing. If we talk about the forgiveness of Jesus but hang on to grudges, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we harbor resentment in our hearts, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we refuse to acknowledge addictive behavior and get help for it, we are not “Living Jesus”. If we delight in gossiping about our neighbor’s misfortunes or weaknesses, we have some pruning and trimming to do before we can bear fruit in the name of Jesus.

Today, let us dig out the pruning shears and start trimming!

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(April 29, 2024: Catherine of Siena, Virgin/Doctor of the Church)
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“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“When I saw in St. Catherine of Siena’s life so many raptures and elevations of spirit, words of wisdom and even sermons uttered by her, I did not doubt that by the eye of contemplation she had ravished the heart of her heavenly Spouse. But I was equally edified when I saw her in her father’s kitchen, humbly turning the spit, kindling fires, dressing meat, kneading bread and doing the meanest household chores cheerfully and filled with love and affection for God. I do not have less esteem for the humble, little meditations she made during these ordinary, lowly tasks than for the ecstasies and raptures she experienced so often. Perhaps the latter were granted to her precisely because of her humility...I cite her life as an example so that you may know how important it is to direct all our actions – no matter how lowly they may be – to the service of his divine Majesty” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, p. 214)

The Salesian tradition reminds us that great ways of keeping God’s commandments are rare and that opportunities to display our love for God in remarkable ways are few and far between. By contrast, opportunities to love God and to keep his commandments in everyday, ordinary ways are legion. It is interesting to consider the possibility that it was St. Catherine’s ability to recognize and to love God in the midst of the mundane responsibilities and demands of everyday life that enabled her to recognize and to love God also in extraordinary ways! Today how might we imitate St. Catherine’s example in our approach to the ordinary tasks that will be part and parcel of our experience?

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(April 30, 2024: Tuesday, Fifth Week of Easter)
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“Peace I leave you; my peace I give you…”

In a conference to the Visitation Sisters, Francis de Sales observed:

“God wishes our care to be a calm and peaceful one as we proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us. As for the rest, we should rest in God’s fatherly care, trying as far as is possible to keep our soul at peace, for the place of God is in peace and in the peaceful and restful heart. You know that when the lake is very calm – and when the winds do not agitate its waters – on a very serene night the sky with all its stars is so perfectly reflected in the water that looking down into its depths the beauty of the heavens is as clearly visible as if we were looking up on high. So, when our soul is perfectly calm, unstirred and untroubled by the winds of superfluous cares, unevenness of spirit and inconstancy it is very capable of reflecting in itself the image of Our Lord.” (Conference III, On Constancy, pp. 50-51)

Why were people able to see reflections of the Father in the person of his son, Jesus? Because in the depths of his soul – in his heart of hearts – Jesus managed to rest in his Father’s care. No matter what happened around him on any given day, Jesus was able to keep himself “calm, unstirred and untroubled”. If we are having trouble seeing reflections of that same Father in ourselves (or others), perhaps it is because we have some work to do in our own efforts to remain “calm, unstirred and untroubled” as we try to “proceed faithfully along the road marked out for us.”

Jesus adds this caveat as he offers peace to his disciples: “I do not give it as the world gives it…” What do these words mean?

In broad strokes, many – if not most - of the things that the “world” offers us as sources of peace tend to come from the outside: income, zip code, cologne, clothing, cars, looks, diplomas, etc., etc. However, as the case of Jesus, true peace only from the inside!

It has been said that the essence of peace is being comfortable in your own skin. This way of being at peace, in turn, does not result in complacence. In contrast, it unleashes a personal power flowing from a person’s clear and convincing sense of identity and purpose. In the ebb and flow that marked Jesus’ life and ministry, he was – remarkably and powerfully – comfortable in his own skin. He was at home with himself and with his Father’s will for him. Jesus’ way of being at peace, in turn, helped him to unleash this same peace – this power – in the lives of those he touched.

Jesus shows us the way to true peace in his own life – not a peace that is passive, but rather, a peace imbued with potential, possibility and power! How can we experience that peace ourselves – and share that peace with others – today?

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(May 1, 2023: Joseph the Worker)
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In response to the annual “May Day” celebrations (which invariably included fearsome displays of military might) for the International Solidarity of Workers observed by the Soviet Union and other Communist countries, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955 as a kind of Catholic expression of its own “Cold War” with atheistic Communism.

“The liturgy for this feast vindicates the right to work, and this is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in our modern society. In many of the documents issued by Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II, reference is made to the Christian spirit that should permeate one's work, after the example of St. Joseph. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work done in caring for the family. The Office of Readings contains an excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world: ‘Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realize God's plan in history.’” (http://www.passionistnuns.org/Saints/StJosephWorker/index.htm)

Of course, associating Joseph with the dignity of human work and enterprise was not solely a creation of the 20th Century. The Gospel itself identifies Jesus’ foster father as a carpenter, an artisan who needed to know as much about working with people as he did woodworking in order to provide for himself and his family. Therefore, Jesus is subsequently described as “the son of a carpenter” – not as a putdown, but rather as recognition of a “hands-on” profession that garnered no small modicum of respect.

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales observed:

“Oh, how faithful was the great Saint of whom we are speaking! Words fail when we try to express the perfection of his fidelity, for consider in what poor estate and abjection he lived throughout his entire life. With what great virtue and dignity he concealed within himself this same poverty and abjection! What a dignity to be the guardian of Our Lord, and not only that, but to be even His reputed father, to be the husband of His most holy Mother! Truly, I doubt not that the Angels, wondering and adoring, came thronging in countless multitudes to that simple workshop to admire the humility of him who guarded that dear and divine Child, and labored at his carpenter’s trade to support the Son and th4e Mother, who were committed to his care. (XIX, The Virtues of St. Joseph, pp. 365-366, 372-373)

It isn’t a stretch to suggest that Jesus’ ability to work with people of all stripes – and in particular, his being comfortable with common, ordinary, everyday working people – was a direct result of values and skills that he learned from his foster father.

Just this day what might St. Joseph teach us regarding the skills and virtues we need to build some of the most important things of all: loving and lasting relationships with others?

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(May 2, 2024: Atanasius, Bishop/Doctor of the Church)
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“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete…”

This debate outlined in the today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles puts us in touch with Francis de Sales’ perspective on two gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge and understanding.

The Gift of Knowledge

“This divine gift, however, has little to do with mere human learning. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to make good and effective use of the previous two gifts, if we are to know how to behave towards the God we mean to fear and love. It is about being capable of discerning evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. As the prophet says, offend no more; rather, do what is good. And be at rest always.”

Mere human knowledge only enables us to know the difference between good and evil. Just hearing God’s word doesn’t guarantee the ability to follow it! The Spirit’s gift of knowledge, by contrast, actually enables us to turn away from what is evil and to put our hands to doing what is good.

Francis concludes with this observation.

“There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.”

Many practicing Jews – considered knowledgeable of the Law and Prophets – rejected Jesus. Many Gentiles – considered by these same Jews – to be ignorant of the Law and Prophets – accepted Jesus! Tough pill for some to swallow.

The Gift of Understanding

“Understanding is a special enlightenment that enables us to see and penetrate the beauty and perfection of the mysteries of faith. We may listen to sermons; we may read widely; yet we can remain ignorant of these divine mysteries if we lack the gift of understanding. A simple soul, open in prayer, may gain some insight into the mystery of the Blessed Trinity – not to explain it, but to draw from it some secret aspect that can save – because the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of understanding. I always maintain that if anyone loses his soul, it is for want of following such mysteries of the faith, for example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs; blessed are the patient, they shall inherit the land. Who is awake to the beauty of these principles, however, except those whom the Holy Spirit enlightens?”

There is no substitute for the knowledge that helps us to grow in our understanding of the ways of the Lord. However, we must be careful not to allow knowledge to take the place of understanding. Ultimately, this became the Achilles heel of many of the Jews of Jesus’ day. While Francis de Sales recognizes the need to know the difference between good and evil (and, by extension, to do good and to avoid evil), such knowledge only comes to full flowering when we demonstrate our understanding of God’s ways through our practice of the Beatitudes, that is, by being sources of blessing, happiness and joy in the lives of others!

How does Jesus make our joy complete? By helping us to be sources – perhaps even signs and wonders - of joy in the lives of one another!

(Based upon a sermon preached by St. Francis de Sales on the feast of Pentecost, date unknown. Translation from Pulpit and Pew: A Study in Salesian Preaching. Vincent Kerns, MSFS.)

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(May 3, 2024: Philip and James, Apostles)
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“Hold fast to the word I preached to you…’

In a letter to Andre Fremyot, Archbishop-elect of Bourges, which dealt with the topic of “Practical Preaching,” St. Francis de Sales wrote the following about the purpose of preaching:

“What end should a person have in view when preaching a sermon? The aim and intention should be to do what our Lord told us when he came into this world to do: ‘I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.’ The preacher’s object, then, is that sinners who are dead through sin may come to life again with a life that looks toward right doing and that the good – who possess spiritual life within them – may have it yet more abundantly, may become more and more perfect…So the preacher should say to himself when he is in the pulpit: “I have come so that these people here may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (Pulpit and Pew: A Study in Salesian Preaching, pp. 37 – 38)

Philip and James – as in the case of all the Apostles – preached the Good News of Jesus Christ in order that others might be saved. They spent their lives holding fast to the word of God even as they shared that word with others, to the point of shedding their blood.

While not all of us are called to preach from a pulpit, all of us are called to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ through our actions. How might we hold fast to the word preached to us by the quality of our lives lived with others, that is, to help others to have life – and have it abundantly?

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(May 4, 2024: Saturday, Fifth Week of Easter)
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"No slave is greater than the master…”

Jesus seems to be saying, in effect, “Don’t even think about trying to be greater than I am.” Put another way, it certainly feels like Jesus is at least reminding us of our place, if not putting us in our place. But as Francis de Sales reminds us in his Treatise on the Love of God, the “place” that Jesus has in mind for us is anything but a put-down.

“You see how God by progressive stages filled with unutterable sweetness leads the soul forward and enables it to leave the Egypt of sin. God leads us from love to love, as from dwelling to dwelling, until He has made us enter into the Promised Land. By this I mean that He brings us into a most holy charity, which to state it succinctly, is a form of friendship and disinterested love, since by charity we love God for his own sake because of his most supremely pleasing goodness. Such friendship is true friendship, since it is reciprocal, for God has eternally loved all those who have loved him, now love him or will love him in time to come. It is manifested and recognized mutually: God cannot be ignorant of the love we have for Him since He himself has given it to us, while we cannot be ignorant of his love for us since He has made it so widely known and we on our part acknowledge that whatever good we possess is the true effect of his good will. In fine, we are in continual communication with Him and He never ceases to speak to our hearts by his inspirations, allurements and sacred movements. He never ceases to do us good or to give us every kind of proof as to his most holy affection. God has openly revealed all his secrets to us as to his closet friends.” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 22, pp. 160 – 161)

The bottom line is that we are already friends of God! Why would we need to be anything greater than that?


Spirituality Matters: April 14th - April 20th

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(April 14, 2024: Third Sunday of Easter)
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"Peace be with you."

In 1954, the great French painter, Henri Matisse, died at the age of eighty-six. In the last years of his life, arthritis crippled and deformed his hands, making it painful for him to hold a paintbrush. Yet he continued to paint, placing a cloth between his fingers to keep the brush from slipping. One day someone asked him:

  • Why did he submit his body to so much suffering?
  • Why did he continue to paint in the face of such great physical pain?

Matisse's response went something like this: the pain eventually passes, while the beauty remains.

Why tell that story on the third Sunday of Easter? If we look at the Gospel passage from Luke, Jesus encounters his disciples for the first time and says, “Peace be with you”. This particular passage from Luke follows the experience of two disciples on the way to Emmaus. As in the case of Jesus’ first disciples, we, too, can find ourselves still wondering about (perhaps even disbelieving on occasion) in the presence of God in our messy and sometimes even joyless lives.

Some of us gather Sunday after Sunday in church. We wonder if all the claims of faith and stories of Jesus are true. How can Jesus give peace to our lives when we feel that our lives are anything but peaceful? How do we experience peace even as we are full of worries about the house, the car, the kids, the job, and the demands and deadlines of our state and stage of life?

When do we possibly find or make the time to be at peace? How can Jesus possibly provide this kind of peace for which each of us – and all of us - long so deeply?

Remember the story of Henri Matisse? In a similar way, many of the worries, pains and frustrations that we experience will also fade away. At some point in the process many of the worries, pains and frustrations that we experience can be used to shape us into something useful and beautiful for God and for one another. And the beauty of what we become in the process will ultimately prevail long after the world, as we know it, has passed away.

Saint Francis de Sales reminds us:

“Do not worry about the tensions and struggles in your life, because the same loving Father who takes care of you today, will take care of you tomorrow; either He will shield you from suffering or He will give us the unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”

In the midst of life’s difficulties may Christ’s peace be with us - a peace that helps us to embrace all of life’s challenges but likewise enables us to see and reflect – life’s greater beauty!

Today and every day!

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(April 15, 2024: Monday, Third Week of Ester)
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“Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord...”

In today’s Gospel the question is asked of Jesus, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God”? The answer is found in the antiphon from today’s Responsorial Psalm: “Follow the law of the Lord”.

What does it look like when we follow the law of the Lord? In the mind of St. Francis de Sales, the answer is: “Living a life of devotion”.

“Devotion is simply that spiritual agility and vivacity by which charity works in us or by the aid of which we work quickly and lovingly. Just as the function of charity is to enable us to observe all of God’s commandments (the law of the Lord) in general and without exception, so it is the part of devotion to enable us to observe them more quickly and diligently.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 1, p. 40)

Devotion enables us to follow the law of the Lord. Devotion enables us “to do quickly and lovingly as many good works as possible, both those commanded and those merely counseled or inspired”.(Ibid) Such devotion enables us not only to experience the blessings of life for ourselves, but also to be a blessing in the lives of others.

Today, how might we follow the law of the Lord?

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(April 16, 2024: Tuesday, Third Week of Easter)
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“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?”

Jesus was constantly bombarded with requests for signs. People were constantly looking for reasons to put their faith in Jesus, but they wanted him to perform wonders and miracles in order to be convinced. In his life, Jesus gave people more than enough signs to believe in him. Unfortunately, those signs fell on the deaf ears, blind eyes and hard hearts of people who were basically saying to Jesus: “Sure, but what have you done for me lately”?

Aren’t we sometimes guilty of asking God for a favor, a sign or a wonder in order that we might really, really believe in him? Notwithstanding God’s proven track record of mercy and generosity in our regard, aren’t we sometimes guilty of saying to God, in effect: “Sure, but what have you done for me lately”?

What remedy can we apply to this temptation of constantly asking God for signs in order that we might believe in him? How about asking the question, “What signs can we do in order that others may see and believe in him”? In other words, how can we live our lives in ways that help others to believe in God? Rather than asking for signs, we should be asking to be signs in other people’s lives!

What have we done for God – or others – lately?

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(April 17, 2024: Wednesday, Third Week of Easter)
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“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger or thirst…”

In a letter to the Duc de Bellegarde (dated August 24, 1613), Francis de Sales wrote:

“As your heart continues receiving its Savior more often (in Communion) it would also continue being more perfectly converted to him. During the twenty-five years that I have been serving souls, experience has given me an insight into the all-powerful virtue of the Divine Sacrament for confirming hearts in the way of goodness, preserving them from evil, consoling them, and in a word, making them god-like in this world, provided that they are moved by a right faith, by purity and devotion.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, Chapter 29, pp. 215)

Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him – whoever receives him – will never hunger. Whoever believes in him – whoever receives him – will never thirst: with, perhaps, one exception - the hunger and thirst to follow Jesus’ example in doing what is good!

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(April 18, 2024: Thursday, Third Week of Easter)
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“Do you understand what you are reading?”

This question raised in the today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles puts us in touch with Francis de Sales’ perspective on two gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge and understanding.

The Gift of Knowledge

“This divine gift, however, has little to do with mere human learning. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge is essential if we are to make good and effective use of the previous two gifts, if we are to know how to behave towards the God we mean to fear and love. It is about being capable of discerning evil to be avoided and the good to be sought. As the prophet says, offend no more; rather, do what is good. And be at rest always.”

Mere human knowledge only enables us to know the difference between good and evil. The Spirit’s gift of knowledge, by contrast, actually enables us to turn away from what is evil and to put our hands to doing what is good.

Francis concludes with this observation: “There have been saints, to be sure, who were wonderfully wise for all of their ignorance. There have been others, equally as certain, who have been wonderfully ignorant for all of their knowledge.”

The Gift of Understanding

“Understanding is a special enlightenment that enables us to see and penetrate the beauty and perfection of the mysteries of faith. We may listen to sermons; we may read widely; yet we can remain ignorant of these divine mysteries if we lack the gift of understanding. A simple soul, open in prayer, may gain some insight into the mystery of the Blessed Trinity – not to explain it, but to draw from it some secret aspect that can save – because the Holy Spirit has bestowed the gift of understanding. I always maintain that if anyone loses his soul, it is for want of following such mysteries of the faith, for example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs; blessed are the patient, they shall inherit the land. Who is awake to the beauty of these principles, however, except those whom the Holy Spirit enlightens?”

There is no substitute for the knowledge that helps us to grow in our understanding of the ways of the Lord. However, we must be careful not to allow knowledge to take the place of understanding. While Francis de Sales recognizes the need to know the difference between good and evil (and, by extension, to actually do good and to actually avoid evil), such knowledge only comes to full flowering when we demonstrate our understanding of God’s ways through our practice of the Beatitudes.

Do you understand what you are hearing? If you do, then why not do it!

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(April 19, 2024: Friday, Third Week of Easter)
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“He recovered his strength…”

In a letter to Madame de la Flechere, Francis de Sales observed:

“I entreat you by the love of him whom we both love, of Jesus Christ, to live consoled and peaceful in your infirmities. I glory in my infirmities, says our great St. Paul, so that the power of my Savior may dwell in me. Yes, indeed! Our misery is a as throne to make manifest the sovereign goodness of Our Lord.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 203)

Two men loom large in today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles: Saul (a.k.a. Paul) and Ananias. Each has his share of imperfections. Saul was blind. Initially, he was blinded spiritually by his rage against and persecution of the followers of Jesus. Saul was subsequently blinded physically after his encounter with the voice of Jesus along the road to Damascus. For his part, Ananias was reluctant – perhaps, even resentful – at the prospect of welcoming and healing a great persecutor of any man or woman who belonged to the Way.

And yet – as imperfect as they were - each played a role in God’s plan of salvation. In a sermon on the “Failings of the Saints,” Francis de Sales preached:

“With the exception of our Blessed lady, all other creatures contain some imperfections. The man who denies that he has any imperfections is just as much a liar as the man who says that he has no perfections at all. Every man, however holy, has some imperfections; every man, however wicked, has some good points. Made in God’s image, each man reflects something of God’s goodness; made from nothing, each man always carries with him some imperfection.” (Pulpit and Pew, P. 258)

All of us are imperfect people. However, as we see in the cases of Saul (Paul) and Ananias, God asks imperfect people to be instruments of his light, life and love.

Today, how might God desire to make his “sovereign goodness” shine through our imperfection - by asking us to be instruments of God’s healing, redeeming and life-changing strength?

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(April 20, 2024: Saturday, Third Week of Easter)
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“How shall I make a return to the Lord?”

In the first part of his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales raises the same question in the context of the “First Meditation: On Our Creation.” After considering all of God’s benefits to us, Francis asks: “What can I ever do to bless your holy name in a worthy manner and to render thanks to your immense mercy?” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 9, p. 54)

Needless to say, Francis de Sales offers some suggestions as to how we might “make a return to the Lord.” These include:

  • “Give thanks to the Lord. ‘Bless your God, O my soul, and let all my being praise his holy name,’ for his goodness has drawn me out of nothing and his mercy has created me.”
  • “Offer. O my God, with all my heart I offer you the being you have given me. I dedicate and consecrate it to you.”.”
  • “Pray. O God, strengthen me in these affections and resolutions.”

How can I make a return to the Lord? The answer - by being the person that God has created me to be, and by encouraging others to do the same!


Spirituality Matters: April 7th - April 13th

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(April 7, 2024: Second Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday)
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“He showed them his hands and his side.”

In the wake of Jesus' crucifixion and death, the apostles were locked away together in fear. They were afraid that they might suffer the same fate as their teacher. Despite their anxious seclusion, Jesus breaks into their lives. Not only does he break into the physical space in which they were taking refuge, but Jesus also breaks into the core of their minds and hearts. Jesus attempts to calm their fears. He challenges them to be at peace. He does these things in a rather confrontational and mysterious manner: by showing them the wounds in his hands and side.

Perhaps not so mysterious, however, if we understand them in the context of words spoken by the character of Dr. Hannibal Lector in the closing scene of the film Red Dragon: “Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real”.

It is remarkable that the experience of resurrection did not remove the scars of Jesus' woundedness - the lasting marks of pain, disappointment, misunderstanding, rejection, betrayal, humiliation, abandonment, suffering and death. These wounds notwithstanding, Christ's resurrection powerfully demonstrated that pain, sadness, suffering and injustice - as real as they were - did not, ultimately, wield the last word. While suffering was clearly a part of Jesus’ life, there was so much more to his life than just suffering.

St. Francis de Sales wrote:

"We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance, and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible forbearance the injuries, denials and discomforts we meet." (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 3)

All of us bear the wounds of failure, deception, betrayal, disappointment and loss. Our hearts, our minds, our memories - our souls - bear the scars to prove it. Like the apostles, we, too, are tempted to withdraw from others, to lock ourselves away in some secluded emotional or spiritual corner, living in fear of what other pain or disappointments may come our way. Of course, in withdrawing from life, we figuratively - in some cases, even literally - die.

Jesus clearly demonstrates in his own life that our wounds do not necessarily need to overwhelm or disable us. While these wounds may be permanent, they need not rob us of the power and promise of recovery, of renewal - of resurrection - unless we despair and allow ourselves to be defeated by the nails of negativity.

The wounds of our past certainly leave their mark in our present. They don't necessarily determine the course of our future.

Today, turn to the love of Jesus who knows what it means to be wounded and who shows us how to move through and beyond our wounds…and the scars they leave.

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(April 8, 2024: Annunciation of the Lord)
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“Do not be afraid, Mary…”

In a letter he wrote to an unnamed gentleman, Francis de Sales made the following observation:

“We do not always have to feel strong and courageous; it is enough to hope that we will have strength and courage when and where we need them…So now, since you belong entirely to God, why be afraid of your weakness – on which, in any case, you shouldn’t be relying? You do hope in God, don’t you? And will anyone who hopes in Him ever be put to shame? No, never. I beg you, calm all the objections that might be taking shape in your mind and to which you need give no other answer than that you want to be faithful at all times and that you hope God will see to it that you are, without trying to figure out if He will or not.” (LSD, p. 181-182)

Mary was troubled by the angel’s message. Her mind was awash with questions about what this greeting meant for her. There’s no doubt that she was startled; perhaps, initially even afraid. But she worked through her fear; she did not allow herself to be overwhelmed by any objections that might have been forming in her mind. Putting her hope, faith and trust in God, Mary was able to simply say “yes” to God’s invitation to her to become the mother of the Messiah. For His part, God gave Mary the ability to be faithful at all times.

Today, like Mary, do you hope in God?

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(April 9, 2024: Tuesday, Second Week of Easter)
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"The community of believers was of one heart and mind...”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘By the Word,’ St. John said, that is, by that eternal Word who is the Son of God, ‘all things were made.’ Therefore, since this Word is most simple and most single, it produces all the variety among things. Since it is unchanging, it produces all changes that are good. Finally, since it abides eternally, it gives to all things their succession, changes, order rank and season.” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 2, p. 106)

Saint Francis de Sales reminds us of one very important aspect of any community and/or family - diversity! While the early Christian “community of believers” may have been of one heart and mind, it’s difficult to imagine that this state could be achieved without its share of challenges, conflicts and controversy. The fact that community always has its share of diversity begs the question: “What distinguishes a community that is “of one heart and mind” from one that is not? Perhaps it’s the ability – and the willingness – to agree on the things or values in life that really matter in order to build consensus around the issues that are really worth honoring as non-negotiables.

Today, how might God call you to be “of one heart and mind” with others?

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(April 10, 2024: Tuesday, Second Week of Easter)
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“Whoever lives the truth comes to the light so that his works may be clearly seen…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“When our mind is raised above the natural light of reason and begins to see the sacred truth of faith, O God, what joy ensues! As yet we do not see his face in the clear day of glory, but as it were in the first dawn of the day. If divine truths are so sweet when proposed in the obscure light of faith, O God, what shall those truths be like when we contemplate them in the noonday light of glory! We will see God manifest with incomprehensible clarity the wonders and eternal secrets of his supreme truth and with such light that our intellect will see in its very presence what it had believed here below!” (TLG, Book III, Chapter 29, pp. 189-190)

Living in the light of God’s truth enables us to see clearly God’s works in our lives. May our attempts at living in the light of God’s truth also enable other people to see clearly our works in their lives! After all, while we do walk by faith, we also walk by sight!

Today, what will people see in me that gives witness to the truth of what God sees in all of us?

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(April 11, 2018: Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr)
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“The one who is of earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things…

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say everything that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth. Therefore, you must become accustomed never to tell a deliberate lie whether to excuse yourself or for some other purpose, remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth’…Although we may sometime discreetly and prudently hide and disguise the truth by an equivocal statement, this must never be done except when the matter is important and God’s glory and service clearly require it. In any other such case such tricks are dangerous. As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or slippery soul. No artifice is as good and desirable as plain dealing. Worldly prudence and earthly artifice belong to the children of this world, but the children of God walk a straight path and their heart is without guile. Lying, double-dealing and dissimilation are always signs of a weak, mean mind.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

How can I tell if I am a person “who is of earth” or “who is of heaven”? In the opinion of Francis de Sales, look no further than the kind of words that come out of your mouth.

Of what kind of things – and values – will you speak today?

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(April 12, 2024: Friday, Second Week of Easter)
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“What good are these for so many?”

Overwhelmed by the size and scope of the needs of the throng gathered before them, we can understand the skepticism of Philip and the other disciples regarding Jesus announced desire to feed the “large crowd”. You can hear it in their voices. Does Jesus really know what he’s up against? Does Jesus really grasp the situation? Is Jesus – perhaps – out of touch with the enormity of the challenge – and potential disaster – lying before him? Was it possible that Jesus had been out in the sun too long?

In light of this dynamic consider this question: was the miracle that Jesus subsequently – and convincingly – performed solely for the benefit of the “five thousand”? In addition to meeting the physical hunger of “the large crowd”, perhaps Jesus performed this miracle for the benefit of “the twelve”. The lesson? When faced with the needs of others, do not discount what you bring to the table, regardless of how small or insignificant it may appear. As overwhelming as the hungers of other people may be, we’ll never know how much – or how little – we can do for them unless we first try.

What good am I for so many? Remember to let Jesus weigh in on that question.

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(April 13, 2024: Saturday, Second Week of Easter)
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“Do not be afraid...”

“Terrible thing, to live in fear. Brooks Hatlen knew it. Knew it all too well. All I want is to be back where things make sense. Where I won't have to be afraid all the time…” (Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd Redding in The Shawshank Redemption.)

It isn’t all-together clear why the disciples were afraid in today’s selection from John’s Gospel. Was it the darkness? Was it the strong wind? Was it the appearance of Jesus? Regardless of the answer, they were fearful, but before their fear could get the upper hand, they suddenly discovered that they were also safe.

In a letter he wrote to an unnamed gentleman, Francis de Sales made the following observation:

“Mistrust of our strength is not a lack of resolve, but a true recognition of our weakness. It is better to distrust our capacity to resist temptation than to be sure that we are strong enough to do so, so long as we don’t count on from our own strength we don’t count on from the grace of God. This is how it happens that many persons who very confidently promised to do marvels for God failed when under fire, whereas many who greatly mistrusted their own strength and were afraid they would fail accomplished wonders when the time came, because the great awareness of their own weakness forced them to seek God’s help to watch, pray and be humble, so as not to fall into temptation…God, who does nothing in vain, does not give us either strength or courage when we don’t need them, but only when we do. He never fails us. Consequently, we must always hope that He will help us if we entreat Him to do so…Many are afraid before the skirmish, but the actual danger fills them with courage. We must not be afraid of fear. So much for that!” (LSD, p. 181)

What is there to fear? Great question! Perhaps, that question is the first step to avoid living in fear - to name what it is that you are tempted to fear. Perhaps, the second step to avoid living in fear is to believe that God will give you the strength or courage you need to deal with your fears when you need it.

And not when you don’t!