*****
“He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two…”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Do you seriously wish to travel the road to devotion? ‘A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality, and those who fear the Lord find him.’ As you see, these divine words refer chiefly to immortality, and for this we above all else have this faithful friend who by advice and counsel guides our actions and thus protects us from the snares and deceits of the wicked one. For us such a friend will be a treasure of wisdom in affliction, sorrow and failure. He will serve as a medicine to ease and comfort our hearts. He will guard us from evil and make our good still better. You must have a guide (or companion) on this holy road to devotion.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 4, p. 46)
When Jesus sent his followers out to preach the Good News he did not send them out alone. Jesus used the “buddy system,” sending them out together, in pairs. In the mind of God being a disciple of Jesus has nothing to do with being a lone wolf. Clearly, Paul Miki understood that there is strength in numbers, because he had no fewer than twenty-five companions with him while attempting to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Japan. As his martyrdom – as well as that of his fellow missionaries – strength in numbers doesn’t necessarily guarantee ultimate success.
Today, what is the lesson for us? The road of life is sometimes lonely enough without trying to travel it alone. Just as in the case of the first disciples and the martyrs whose lives we honor today we, too, – disciples of Jesus – need to stick together.
*****
"Ask of me whatever you wish, and I will grant it to you."
There’s an old Irish expression that goes something like this: “Be careful what you pray for.” Today’s Gospel offers a variant of this wisdom: “Be prudent about what you promise.”
Herod is so captivated – one might say even star-struck – by the dance performed by his daughter that he impulsively promises her whatever she desires, even “up to half of his kingdom.” Of course, the daughter dutifully asks her mother what she should request. Herodias seizes the opportunity to settle the score with John the Baptizer and instructs her daughter to ask Herod for the head of the prophet.
And we know how this story ends for Herod…and for John.
Perhaps a pithy – but a no-less-powerful – point to ponder today is this. Think twice before you say something. Words once spoken cannot be retrieved. Don’t lose your head – or someone else’s for that matter – over an impulsive proposition or promise.
*****
"His heart was moved…for they were like sheep without a shepherd..."
In today’s Gospel we hear that Jesus’ heart was moved by the sight of the crowd who “were like sheep without a shepherd.” In other words, the people were lost.
“Lost” is defined as:
· not made use of, won, or claimed
· no longer possessed or no longer known
· ruined or destroyed physically or morally
· taken away or beyond reach or attainment
· unable to find the way
· no longer visible
· lacking assurance or self-confidence
· helpless
· not appreciated or understood
· obscured or overlooked during a process or activity
· hopelessly unattainable
It’s safe to say that we all have the experience of being “lost” from time-to-time. Sometimes, we might experience being “lost” in any number of ways for long periods of time. Fortunately for us, one of the reasons that Jesus became one of us was to find the lost.
Consider yourself found!
*****
“You are salt of the earth. You are light of the world.”
Jesus proclaims to all who wish to follow him that they are to be light to the world, and salt of the earth. These are powerful images, as powerful today as they were when Christ first proclaimed them. For disciples of every time and place, these images are not mere ego boosters. No, they are a constant challenge to dare to become for God and others what Jesus was so clearly.
To be a light to the world is to illumine others with God’s truth and mercy. Likewise, that same light must expose the sins of pride, envy, meanness, indifference, injustice and anything else that blinds us from the divine truth and mercy that Christ has gained for us. Insofar as sin is anything that makes it more difficult to see in ourselves and one another the light and love of Jesus Christ, exposing such sin not only frees us from darkness but also better enables us to do all that is good and life-giving.
In Jesus’ light, we see the source of all light. We see the Father’s creative love; we receive Jesus’ redeeming love; we experience the Spirit’s inspiring love. Still, it is not enough to let this light shine out upon others: we must also allow that light to penetrate and permeate every fiber of our being. The greatest encouragement that our God-given light can give to others is to show to others how that light is, in fact and at first, transforming us.
To be salt is to accept that fact that our efforts – or lack thereof – to follow Christ do have an impact upon others, regardless of whether we are always aware of that impact or not. There are times in our lives when we lose our taste for God and/or the things of God. More frequently than not this is displayed by our own feelings of inadequacy and/or indifference when it comes to practicing virtue. We all have our moments when we are tempted to believe that our day- to-day efforts at following Christ simply don’t make a positive difference in the lives of others, let alone in God’s overall plan for salvation. Unlike salt, however, we can regain that taste for doing what is righteous and good through prayer, the sacraments and, perhaps most practically, by doubling – even tripling – our efforts at practicing those very virtues that we are tempted to cease pursuing.
When we are tempted to wonder about our own efficacy in witnessing to the power and promise of God’s creative, redeeming, inspiring, healing and challenging love in our everyday, imperfect lives we should take consolation and encouragement about something which is true about both light and salt: even the smallest amounts of each go a very, very long way.
*****
“They begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.”
People continued to bring the sick – and themselves – to be healed by Jesus. The account in today’s selection from the Gospel of Mark provides an interesting detail: folks coming to Jesus for help believed that if they merely touched his clothing they would experience healing power.
It would seem that just a little bit of Jesus – even the smallest touch of Jesus – went a very long way.
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote: “Among sacred lovers there are some who so completely devote themselves to exercises of divine love that its holy fire devours and consumes their life…” (Book VII, Chapter 10, p. 41) Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this love. His love for others was so intense that even the smallest sampling of it changed forever the lives of those he touched.
Today, will the same be said of our love?
*****
“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed: In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed: “Remember that God is not only in the place where you are: God is present in a most particular manner in your heart and in the very center of your spirit.” (Part II, Chapter 2, p. 85)
Clearly, this truth was completely lost on many of the Pharisees and scribes. If they had realized that God dwells less in temples, laws, precepts and traditions and more within and among human beings, then they would had put their priorities in order. However, they were more concerned about protecting their own ways of doing things at the expense of promoting the ways of God, The result? The Pharisees and scribes became stumbling blocks for themselves and others when it came to recognizing that God’s preferred and most personal dwelling place is with and among God’s people.
Each of us is a dwelling place of the Lord. God dwells in us and we in God.
Will the ways that we relate to others just this day give witness to this truth?
*****
“When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, she was breathless…”
In today’s reading from the First Book of Kings, when the Queen of Sheba experiences first-hand the depth and breadth of Solomon’s wisdom, we are told that it took her breath away.
The Judea-Christian tradition includes wisdom as one of a total of seven gifts associated with the Holy Spirit. In a sermon on this topic, Francis de Sales preached:
“Let us take a closer look at these seven gifts. The prophet lists them in order of dignity. Since the gift of wisdom is the highest and most perfect, it is placed first; the less perfect come at the end of the list. For ourselves – talking about the gifts in order to learn from them – let us begin at the lower end and work our way up…”These gifts are:
• Fear/Temperance
• Piety/Justice
• Knowledge
• Fortitude
• Counsel
• Understanding
• Wisdom
For Francis de Sales “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 11: 10) This gift of fear has two faces: (1) Fear of being punished, and (2) fear of losing heaven. And so, “fear of the Lord” is the first step in turning away from evil.
Francis de Sales said that almost immediately the “spirit of fear gives way to the spirit of adoption.” (St. Paul) To serve God and others without fear of punishment or hope of reward is the heart of justice: it is about giving people their due.
Francis believed that mere human knowledge merely enables us to know the difference between good and evil. However, the Spirit’s gift of knowledge helps us to actually turn away from evil but also to do what is good.
Francis preached: “Nothing is so common than to find people who know what is right but who lack the courage to do it.” Fortitude gives us the courage we need to persevere in our decision to turn away from sin and to practice virtue, especially when doing so is difficult, challenging and/or discouraging.
“The strength of an army needs the counsel of a commander,” observed Francis de Sales. “Just as fear causes us to break away from sinful habits and knowledge helps us to see what is wrong, counsel helps us to tackle what knowledge has taught us.” The gift of counsel helps us to determine how to do what is good. How about the gift of understanding? Francis taught that it “allows us to penetrate, to see or appreciate more deeply Our Lord’s principles.” Understanding enables us to love the ways in which God wants us to ‘have life, and have life to the full.’ (John 10:10) Finally (and hopefully) we reach the gift of wisdom. Wisdom “gratifies the soul with every blessing.” It helps us to know what’s really important and to know what really matters. This gift enables us “to see deeply into the excellence of God’s ways: not to talk or preach about them, but to live them.”Let us imitate the example of Solomon. May our acquisition – and daily practice – of the virtues that will help us to grow in wisdom be less about taking others’ breathe away and more about our breathing life into others!
