Spirituality Matters 2019: October 31st - November 6th
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“Trick or treat!!!”
“Trick-or-treating or guising is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children wearing costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money) with the question ‘Trick or treat?’ The ‘trick’ is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them. In North America, trick-or-treating became an ever-growing phenomenon Halloween tradition in the years following the lifting in 1947 of nationwide sugar rationing that had occurred during WWII.”
“The tradition of going from door to door receiving food already existed in Great Britain and Ireland in the form of ‘souling’, where children and poor people would sing and say prayers for the dead in return for cakes. Guising, that is, children disguised in costumes going from door to door for food and coins also predates trick-or-treating, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895, where masqueraders - in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips - visited homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money. While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish, the North American custom of saying "trick or treat" has become the norm.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating)
(NOTE: in the United States Halloween has become one of the most popular social events for adults, second only to News Years Eve.)
Many of us will be opening our doors countless times tonight for little ghosts, ghouls and goblins who are wearing disguises and hoping for treats. Isn’t it reassuring that when we approach God in prayer for the many good things that we seek on behalf of ourselves or others that we don’t need to be disguised – that we don’t need to wear masks – that we don’t need to pretend to be something or someone we’re not? Isn’t it wonderful that we can simply be who we are on this earth without the need to hide our faces from a God who loves us for who we are?
Of course, there’s no ‘trick’ to expressing our gratitude to a God who loves us for who we are. The best way is to ‘treat’ others in the same way, that is, to love them not for who they aren’t, but to love them for who they are!
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“He began to teach them...”
In her book entitled Saint Francis de Sales and the Protestants (in which she examines his missionary activity in the Chablais, one of the most seminal periods in the life of the “Gentleman Saint”), author Ruth Kleinman wrote:
“Saintliness is hard to practice, but it is even more difficult to describe.” A notable exception to this dictum are the words we hear proclaimed today in the Gospel of Matthew on this Solemnity of All Saints.
Jesus describes saintliness simply and succinctly. It is about living a life of Beatitude:
• Saintly are those who mourn, i.e., those who refuse to harden their hearts when faced with the needs of others.
• Saintly are those who show mercy, i.e., those who are willing to forgo old hurts and to forgive others from their hearts.
• Saintly are those who are poor in spirit, i.e., those who experience everything as a gift and who demonstrate their gratitude through their willingness to share what they have (regardless of how ordinary or extraordinary) with others.
• Saintly are the pure of heart, i.e., those who avoid artificiality and pretense and who have the courage to be their true, authentic selves.
• Saintly are the meek, i.e., those who know that power isn’t demonstrated by taking from others but about giving to others. It’s not about doing to others but about doing for/with others.
• Saintly are the peacemakers, i.e., those who bring people together rather than drive them apart.
• Saintly are those who hunger and thirst for what is right, i.e., those for whom doing good comes with the same frequency and urgency as the need to eat and drink.
• Saintly are those persecuted for doing what is right, i.e., those who are willing to stand up for what is right regardless of the cost(s) incurred.
And as it turns out, not only is sanctity not hard to describe, but also it isn’t nearly as hard to practice as we might think. In a sermon on Our Lady, Francis de Sales observed:
“There is no need of putting ourselves to the trouble of trying to find out what are the desires of God, for they are all expressed in His commandments and in the counsels of Our Lord Himself gave us in the Sermon on the Mount when He said: ‘How blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the lowly, and the other Beatitudes.’ These are all the desires of God upon which we ought to walk, following these as perfectly as we can.” (Select Salesian Subjects, #0170, p. 37)
Sanctity? To be sure, it is hard work. But with the grace of God – and the support of one another – it is doable!
And - of course - with one another.
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“The souls of the just are in the hands of God...”
In one of his pamphlets that was later published in a broader collection entitled The Catholic Controversy, Francis de Sales wrote:
“We maintain that we may pray for the faithful departed, and that the prayers and good works of the living greatly relieve them and are profitable to them for this reason: that all those who die in the grace of God – and consequently, in the number of the elect – do not go to Paradise at the very first moment, but many go to Purgatory…from which our prayers and good works can help and serve to deliver them.”“We agree the blood of Our Redeemer is the true purgatory of souls, for in it are cleansed all the souls of the world. Tribulations also are a purgatory, by which our souls are rendered pure, as gold refined in the furnace. It is well known that Baptism in which our sins are washed away can be called a purgatory, as everything can be that serves to purge away our offenses. But in this context we take Purgatory for a place in which after this life the souls which leave this world before they have been perfectly cleansed from the stains they have contracted. And if one would know why this place is called simply Purgatory more than are the other means of purgation above-named, the answer will be, that it is because in that place nothing takes place but the purgation of the stains which remain at the time of departure out of this world, whereas in Baptism, Penance, tribulations and the rest, not only is the soul purged from its imperfections, but it is further enriched with many graces and perfections. And agreeing as to the blood of Our Lord, we fully acknowledge the virtue thereof, that we protest by all our prayers that the purgation of souls – whether in this world or in the other – is made solely by its application.” (CC, pp. 353-354)
Notwithstanding the effects of our prayers and good works on behalf of our dearly departed, Francis de Sales reminds us that at the end of the day it is the life and death of Jesus Christ that purifies our souls, whether in this life or in the next. To that end, whether it’s the just or the unjust, whether it’s in this world or the next, we are all in the hands of God.
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“…You have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made…your imperishable spirit is in all things!”
The author of our reading from Wisdom gives grateful thanks to God for his gentleness, patience, and mercy. The Lord loves all that he has made. All creation is meant, as the reading from Thessalonians reminds us, to glorify God, its loving Creator. Indeed, all of creation bears the imperishable spirit of the One who has loved it into life.
Our offenses, our failures to give glory to God, are not to be denied, nor are they to weigh us down and keep us from moving forward, from being called forth anew by God. We are meant to bear the image of the God who created us in love. In his Treatise on the Love of God, De Sales writes, “Consider the nature God has given to you. It is the highest in this visible world; it is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty.” [Treatise 1:1]
When we fail, God gently calls us back into right relationship. The call is an invitation, not a demand, and we respond to that invitation in freedom. Psalm 145 praises God who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.” Since God is gentle and patient with us, so, too, we must be gentle and patient with ourselves. De Sales captures these qualities in the Introduction to the Devout Life: “When we have committed some fault if we rebuke our heart by a calm, kind remonstrance, with more compassion for it than passion against it and encourage it to make amendment, then repentance conceived in this way will sink far deeper and penetrate more effectually than fretful, angry, and stormy repentance.” [Introduction III.9] With this gentleness and patience, we reflect the love of God and, in the words of our reading from Thessalonians, we give glory to our loving Creator.
Our Gospel story puts flesh and blood on the qualities of repentance, gentleness and mercy. Jesus reaches out, looking up into the tree and calling to Zacchaeus rather than waiting for Zacchaeus to climb down and approach him. Jesus seeks the “lost” Zacchaeus and, by coming to where Zacchaeus lives, invites him back into a relationship of love. Zacchaeus repents in a true spirit of humility. He accepts the gentle invitation in freedom. Without being coerced, he offers reparation.
Gentleness, patience and mercy are qualities of God that we, as creatures who bear his image, are called to reflect. When we witness them in human relationships, we catch glimpses of our creating, redeeming and inspiring God -- alive and smiling -- here on earth.
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“The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable…”
At the risk of being politically incorrect, God is not an “Indian giver.” (For the record, “Indian-giver” has nothing to do with the Indians reneging on a promise – it has to do with a government that gave all kinds of things to Native Americans only to rescind them later.) Unlike human institutions, when God gives gifts, they are non-refundable. They cannot be returned. They cannot be traded in. They must be used.
In today’s Gospel, we hear that one of the best ways to make use of your God-given gifts is to share them with folks from whom you can expect to receive no return. In other words, what better way to say ‘thank you’ to God than by sharing your gifts with no hope of being repaid?
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:
“To give away what we have is to impoverish ourselves in proportion as we give, and the more we give the poorer we become. It is true that God will repay us not only in the next world but even in this one. Nothing makes us so prosperous in this world as to give alms. Oh, how holy and how rich is the poverty brought on by giving alms!” (IDL, Part Three, Chapter 15, p. 165)
What return can we make to God for all the gifts that God has given us? In the Salesian tradition, we show our gratitude by ‘paying it forward,’ that is, we share what we have – and who we are – with others who have less.
Without making them feel any less.
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“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them.”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:
“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 according to one’s position and vocation. Devotion must be exercised in different ways by the gentleman, the laborer, the servant, the prince, the widow, the young girl and the married woman. Not only is this true, but the practice of devotion must also be adapted to the strength, the activities and the duties of each particular person.” (IDL, Part One, Chapter 3, p. 143)
All of us are called to be saints. No two of us are called to be saints in exactly the same way. As living plants of the Church, how will each of us in our own ways bring forth the fruits of devotion today?
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“Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another…”
In an episode of Gilligan's Island (guest-starring Phil Silvers as a director and/or talent scout) entitled, The Producer, the cast creates a musical version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Three songs are performed, one in which they cast sings “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”. Here are the lyrics:
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Do not forget: Stay out of debt; Think twice, and take this good advice from me, Guard that old solvency. There’s just one other thing you ought to do. To thine own self be true.”
Economics 101 tells us that we should not rack up debt. We should fulfill our obligations. We should only buy those things for which we can afford to pay.
In the Salesian tradition, however, there is one exception. We all owe a debt to one another that Francis de Sales calls Christian ‘piety.’ And what is this debt? We have an obligation to treat one another with profound respect and reverence. And this debt is non-negotiable.
How can we fulfill that debt today?
