*****
“Conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.”
How do we find favor with God by humbling ourselves? For that matter, when we humble ourselves, what are we really doing?
First of all, humility challenges us to avoid two extremes in life: the temptations to either exalt ourselves or trash ourselves. Francis de Sales offered very concrete examples of how to do this.
“I don't want to play either the fool or the wise man, for if humility forbids me to play the sage, candor and sincerity forbid me to act the fool. Just as I would not parade knowledge even of what I actually know; so, by contrast, I would not pretend to be ignorant of it. Humility conceals and covers the other virtues in order to preserve them, but it also reveals them when charity so requires in order that we might enlarge, increase and perfect them.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 5)
More deeply, humility is about acknowledging our littleness and God's greatness.
“Let us consider what God has done for us and what we have done against God, and as we reflect upon our sins one by one let us also consider God's graces one by one. There is no need to fear that the knowledge of God's gifts will make us proud if only we remember this truth: none of the good in us comes from ourselves alone.” (Ibid)
Finally, having a balanced view of ourselves, acknowledging our littleness and God's greatness, and being grateful for God's fidelity to us, lead us to live lives of generosity.
“Generous minds do not amuse themselves with the petty toys of rank, honor, and titles. They have other things to do. Such things belong only to idle minds. Those who own pearls do not bother about shells, while those who aspire to virtue do not trouble themselves over honors.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 4)
Humbling ourselves is not about putting ourselves down. No, humbling ourselves is about taking our rightful place in life - beneficiaries of God's love for us and instruments of God's love in the lives of other people.
Humility is ultimately about coming to know our place in God’s plan of salvation and having the courage to take and embrace it. This true humility, in turn, should lead us to encourage others gently and respectfully in their quest to likewise know their place in God’s plan of salvation and to have the courage to take it.
What better way of finding favor with God than by pursuing this quest together and why not start today?
*****
“Lord, I love your commands…”
“All the martyrs died for divine love. When we say that many of them died for the faith, we must not imply that it was for a ‘dead faith’ but rather for a living faith, that is, faith animated by charity. Moreover, our confession of faith is not so much an act of the intellect as an act of the will and love of God. For this reason, on the day of the Passion, the great Saint Peter preserved his faith in his soul – but lost charity – since he refused in words to admit as Master Him whom in his heart he acknowledged being such. But there are other martyrs who died expressly for charity alone. Such was the Savior’s great Precursor who suffered martyrdom because he gave fraternal correction…” (TLG, Book VII, Chapter 10, pp. 40-41)
We see in John the Baptist one who loved the commands of the Lord. As the herald of Jesus both before and after the latter’s baptism in the Jordan, John respected, honored, and loved the Lord, as well as the things, values, and standards of the Lord. His willingness to stand firm in the Lord and in the ways of the Lord impelled him to call Herod out on his immoral lifestyle (taking his brother’s wife to be his own) in a very public forum. His love of the Lord and the commands of the Lord ultimately cost John his life. John didn’t lose his head over some mere intellectual principle. No, he gave it because of something he believed from – and in – the depth of his heart.
How far are we willing to go for the things, the values, and the people that we hold deeply in our hearts, presuming, of course, we possess such deep, heartfelt convictions? Today, on what issues – and for whom – are we willing to stand firm, whatever the cost?
*****
“We have the mind of Christ…”
What does it mean to “have the mind of Christ?” What does the “mind of Christ” look like?
Today’s Gospel certainly provides a practical answer, powerfully portrayed!
Look how Jesus used his God-given power - the power of both word and action. He didn’t use it for his own aggrandizement. On the contrary, Jesus used it for the benefit of others. If his audience was “astonished at his teaching,” one can only imagine how astonished they must have been when Jesus expelled an unclean demon from a man in the synagogue! Jesus’ “one-two punch” approach to preaching – employing both word and action – stood in stark contrast to the preaching of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes which Jesus himself criticized as being too long on words and too short on action.
What does it look like when “we have the mind of Christ?” When we both speak like Christ and act like Christ, that is, when we not only wish people well – in words – but also, we do what we can – in actions – to make our wish for others’ welfare a reality.
*****
“We are God’s co-workers…”
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:
“God acts in our works, and we co-operate in God’s action. God leaves for our part all the merit and profit of our services and good works; we leave God all the honor and praise thereof, acknowledging that the growth, the progress, and the end of all the good we do depend on God’s mercy, finishing what God had begun. O God, how merciful is God’s goodness to us in thus distributing his bounty!” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 6, p. 212)
It would be enough if God simply made us the recipients of his mercy and generosity, but in His wisdom, God has also made us the agents or instruments of His mercy and generosity. Our common vocation is not simply limited to enjoying the gift of creation, but rather we are called to nurture it, care for it, shepherd it, and develop it! God works in and through us; we work in and through God’s action. To us come all of the benefits, but to God goes all of the glory.
Who could ask for a better arrangement than that?
We are – in word and in deed – God’s co-workers. We celebrate both God’s generosity to us and share that generosity with others.
Today, how might God employ our cooperation in both receiving – and sharing – His bounty?
*****
“If anyone among you considers himself wise, let him become a fool, so as to become wise…”
This apparent paradox – wisdom as foolishness, foolishness as wisdom – is found in both the Old and New Testaments. Of course, it is “worldly” wisdom that is foolish, whereas divine “foolishness” is, in truth, authentic wisdom. Put another way, when our “wisdom” makes us the center of the universe, we are truly the most foolish of men. By contrast, when we are so “foolish” as to make God the center of the universe, it is only then that we can hope to become truly wise.
Francis de Sales was no stranger to this paradox. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, he wrote:
“We recognize genuine goodness as we do genuine balm. If balm sinks down and stays at the bottom when dropped into water, it is rated the best and most valuable. So also, in order to know whether a person is truly wise, learned, generous, and noble, we must observe whether his abilities tend to humility, modesty, and obedience for in that case they will be truly good. If they float on the surface and seek to show themselves, they are so much less genuine insofar as they are showier. People’s virtues and fine qualities when conceived and nurtured by pride, show, and vanity have the mere appearance of good without juice, marrow, and solidity. Honors, dignities, and rank are like saffron, which thrives best and grows most plentifully when trodden under foot. It is no honor to be handsome if a person prizes himself for it; if beauty is to have good grace, it should be unstudied. Learning dishonors us when it inflates our minds and degenerates into mere pedantry. Just as honor is an excellent thing when given to us freely, so, too, it becomes base when demanded, sought after, and asked for.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 4, pp. 132-133)
So, ask yourself the question: “Does my wisdom inflate my mind, or does it tend to humility, modesty, and obedience?” If your answer is the former, you may be far more foolish than you know. By contrast, if your answer is the latter, you may be far wiser than you ever thought possible.
*****
“Do not make any judgment before the appointed time…”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales makes a direct reference to this admonition from Saint Paul, when he wrote:
“‘No,’ says the Apostle, ‘judge not before the time until the Lord comes, when He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsel of hearts.’ The judgments of the children of men are rash because they are not the judges of one another, and when they pass judgments on others they usurp the office of the Lord. They are rash because the principal malice of sin depends on the intention and counsel of the heart, and to us, they are the hidden things of darkness. They are rash because every man has enough on which he ought to judge himself without taking it upon him to judge his neighbor. To avoid future judgment, it is equally necessary both to refrain from judging others and to judge ourselves.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 28, pp. 196-197))
Note that Paul is willing to go even a step further than Saint Francis de Sales when it comes to making judgments. The former goes so far as to say, “I do not even pass judgment on myself.” In the big scheme of things, each of us has more than enough on our own plate each day just trying to live our lives as best we can without spending extra time and energy (that we really don’t have) judging ourselves and others. Besides, who are we to judge? After all, as both Saints Paul and Francis de Sales point out, it is God who is the one and only just judge.
Just today, try and remember this admonition: whether toward others or ourselves, judging is simply above our pay grade.
*****
“Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
In today’s Gospel, some Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath by picking heads of grain in order to feed themselves. The Pharisees seem to suggest that in life you have to choose between what is reasonable and what is right. As he frequently did, Jesus turned the Pharisees’ rationale on its head by suggesting that oftentimes that which is most reasonable is most lawful.
In the Salesian tradition, we know this position as “liberty of spirit." In a letter to Saint Jane de Chantal, Francis cites examples in an attempt to describe this “liberty of spirit:”
“Take the case of Cardinal Borromeo. He was one of the most precise, unbending, and austere men imaginable. He lived on bread and water. He was so strict that after he became archbishop, he only visited his brothers’ homes twice in twenty-four years, and in those cases only because they were ill. He only went into his own garden twice. Nevertheless, this strict man, who often accepted invitations from his Swiss neighbors in the hope of winning them back to the truth, made no difficulty about drinking a couple of healths or toasts with them at every meal, over and above what he needed to still his thirst. Here you see the trait of holy liberty in one of the most austere men of our times. A lax person would have overdone it, a scrupulous mind would have feared committing mortal sin, but true liberty of spirit does it out of love.”
“Bishop Spiridion of old once took in a famished pilgrim during the season of Lent. There was nothing available to eat except salt meat, so the bishop had some cooked and served it to the pilgrim. The visitor did not want to take the meat in spite of his hunger, so, out of charity Spiridion ate some first so as to remove the pilgrim’s scruples by his example. Here we see the loving freedom of a holy man. In another example, Ignatius Loyola ate meat on Wednesday in Holy Week because the doctor ordered it and thought it expedient for some trouble that Ignatius was having. A person of scrupulous mind would have contested this point for at least a good three days.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 73)
Consumed as they were about not breaking any laws, the Pharisees almost always placed this concern heads and shoulders above meeting the needs of others. By contrast, Jesus was convinced that meeting the needs of others was the fulfillment of the law. Francis de Sales put it this way (in all caps, by the way!):
LOVE AND NOT FORCE SHOULD INSPIRE ALL YOU DO;
LOVE OBEDIENCE MORE THAN YOU FEAR DISOBEDIENCE
By all means, try your level best to observe God’s Law today. And above all, try your level best to observe the greatest of all God’s Laws – the Law of Love.
