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“Saul was very angry and resentful…”
“Jealousy is an emotion, and the word typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness and disgust. In its original meaning, jealousy is distinct from envy, though the two terms have popularly become synonymous in the English language, with jealousy now also taking on the definition originally used for envy alone.” (Wikipedia)
Jealousy is almost as old as the human family itself and clearly is one of the first fruits of “the Fall”. Not long after Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden of Eden, Cain murders Abel out of jealousy that God has somehow found more favor with one brother’s offering over another’s. In today’s selection from the Book of Samuel, Saul grows jealous of David. Both men are appointed by God to fulfill critically important roles in God’s plan of salvation, but Saul feels threatened by David’s growing prowess and popularity. So, not wishing to play second fiddle to anyone, Saul decides it’s time to eliminate the competition.
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Envy makes us sorry that our neighbor enjoys a greater good than ours, or a like good, even though the neighbor takes nothing away from ours. In such cases envy is unreasonable and makes us think that our neighbor’s good is our ill.” (Book X, Book 12, page 164)
Hmmm, don’t these words seem to describe Saul to a tee? Are there any ways in which the same could be used to describe you or me?
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We offer for your reflection on this feast day of Francis de Sales the forward of a fifty-four-page devotional booklet published in 2008 in the United Kingdom (written by a J. Barry Midgley) regarding the life and legacy of “The Gentleman Saint”.
"In some ways the Age in which St. Francis de Sales lived has similarities to our own. Then, as now, the world was experiencing dramatic change, and the mind of the Church was necessarily focused on spiritual, intellectual and institutional renewal: correcting aggressive heresy, reaffirming doctrine and practice, and preserving the ministerial priesthood that is at the heart of Catholic life. The Church continues to work for the revival of evangelization and the conversion of nations, withstanding secular assaults on faith, reversing the dilution of doctrine and protecting the accessibility of the sacrifice of the Mass. In every season, the 'Barque of Peter' navigates some stormy waters but, thankfully, there are saints like Francis de Sales whose eager and powerful intercession does not diminish with the passing of time."
"God - in His kindness - provides every season with holy men and women to encourage God's people, and the Holy Spirit breathes an impetus to refresh faith, doctrine, religious leadership and energy in the mission Christ delegated to His people. Francis de Sales is a luminous example of the local apostle who preserves and teaches the faith received by the twelve Apostles personally from Our Lord. As a bishop, his priorities were to preach the Gospel, to preside at Mass, to care for the clergy and to ensure that spiritual centers of liturgical and cultural excellence stimulated hope and the practice of devotion. Francis helped those entrusted to his care understand that prayer opens the mind and heart to God's word and to respond to his (Francis') belief that everyone plays a part in God's plan of salvation through a personal conception of His Son. Indeed, Francis de Sales truly was a fascinating figure, so balanced, courageous, sensible and devout: another 'man for all seasons.'"
"I am grateful...for a renewed appreciation of this wonderful man."
Through the example and intercession of St. Francis de Sales, may each of us - in ways fitting to the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves - strive to be "balanced, courageous, sensible and devout" in our efforts to "Live Jesus”.
To be - in word, in deed - people for all seasons…in every season!
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It seems that St. Francis de Sales had a special place in his heart for the person whose conversion we celebrate: Paul of Tarsus. Throughout his writings Francis not only refers to Paul by name but Francis also refers to Paul by two titles reserved solely for him: “The Apostle” and “The Great Apostle.”
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:
“The glorious St. Paul speaks thus. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, constancy and chastity.’ See how this divine Apostle enumerates these twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit but sets them down as only one fruit. He does not say, ‘The fruits of the Spirit are…,’ but rather ‘the fruit of the Spirit is…’ Charity is truly the sole fruit of the Holy Spirit, but this one fruit has an infinite number of excellent properties….He means that divine love gives us inward joy and consolation together with great peace of heart, which is preserved in adversity by patience. It makes us kind and gracious in helping our neighbor with a heartfelt goodness toward him. Such goodness is not whimsical; it is constant and persevering and gives us enduring courage by which we are rendered mild, pleasant and considerate to all others. We put up with their moods and imperfections. We keep perfect faith with them, as we thus testify to a simplicity accompanied with trust both in our words and in our actions. We live modestly and humbly, leaving aside all that is luxurious and in excess regarding food and drink, clothing, sleep, play, recreation and other such desires and pleasures. Above all, we discipline the inclinations and rebellions of the flesh by vigilant chastity. All this so to the end that our entire being may be given over to divine dilection both interiorly by joy, patience, long-suffering goodness and fidelity, but also exteriorly by kindness, mildness, modesty, constancy and chastity.” (Book 11, Chapter 19)
From what we see in the life of St. Paul, he obviously did more than merely speak of the fruit of the Spirit. He lived it. His life was transformed by it. He shared it as a gift with all those whose lives he touched. Like Francis de Sales, may we, too, not only admire the example of “the glorious St. Paul,” but also let us imitate his example in our own lives. Let us do our level best to embody and share the gift of the Spirit which indeed has so many excellent properties.
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“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”
In her book entitled The Bond of Perfection, Wendy Wright makes the following observation about St. Francis de Sales:
“It is difficult to accurately characterize any person’s spiritual state over the course of a lifetime, but it is possible to make a few broad generalizations. The geography of Francis de Sales’ ongoing relationship with the divine and the vistas of self that he experienced in pursuing that relationship were, on the whole, like broad plateaus and open prairies. There is a certain sense of freedom and spaciousness, a view of wide horizons and the feel of light about him.” (p. 141)
In his own way, St. Francis de Sales was indeed a light to the people of his time. Through his writing, preaching and human touch, he was a light that widened peoples’ horizons, lightened their burdens and helped them to pursue of life of devotion precisely in the state and stage of life in which they lived each day. He was a light who scattered the gloom of ignorance, anxiety, fatalism and fear. He was a light who gave people the heart they needed to embrace life as it was…and to dream about life as it could be.
We recognize this man as a saint precisely because his own light reflects so clearly the light of Jesus Christ. Christ is the light who casts out darkness. Christ is the light who forgives sins. Christ is the light who strengthens drooping knees and sagging hearts. Christ is the light that scatters the gloom of sin and sadness. Christ is the light who ushers in a new era of happiness and joy, purpose and promise.
The selection from Matthew’s Gospel - as well as the life of St. Francis de Sales - give powerful testimony to the nature of this divine light of Christ: it is meant to be shared. Just as Christ called his apostles to share his light, just as Christ called Francis to share his light, so, too, Christ calls each and every one of us to be sources of that same light for one another. Each of us is called to scatter the gloom of discouragement and despair in the hearts of others. Each of us is called to relieve the burdens of others. Each of us is called to be a source of hope for others.
Make no mistake. There are burdens that come with being sources of Christ’s light in the lives of others. Our light must face the darker side of life: evil, sin, cynicism, hostility, suspicion, prejudice and fear, just to name a few. Our light must not only shine out on others, but it must also illuminate and purify our own minds, hearts, attitudes and actions. Our light requires that we really come to know ourselves…and truly come to know one another.
Jesus claims that this burden of being his light is, paradoxically, lighter than any other burden that we might choose to carry through life. (Matthew 11: 29 – 30) How is this so? Christ’s light raises us up! How blessed, how happy, how “light-hearted” are we when we seize opportunities each day to raise up - to lift up - one another!
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“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”
In a sermon given on February 8, 1614, Francis de Sales remarked:
“We have two selves, called by St. Paul the earth-born man and the heaven-born man. The latter is the source of our good deeds, the instinct by which we love God and look forward to the joys of heaven. There is no need to change that. It is the other self, the earth-born man, which we must renounce. This is the source of our instability, our preference for evil, our sinful desires – in a word, self-love. So, the earth-born self is what we are to renounce, in order to encourage the heaven-born self. In proportion as the lower side of our nature is disarmed, the life of the spirit is strengthened from day to day.”
“This demands two ongoing resolutions on our part. First, we must be prepared all our life long to find that we are never without some weaknesses which demand self-mastery and mortification: after all, the elimination of evil is a lifetime’s work. Second, we must also have the courage never to be surprised at the magnitude of our task, but continually work to perfect ourselves as faithfully as we can.” (Pulpit and Pew, pp. 209, 211)
To the extent that we cannot choose (so to speak) between the “earth-born” person within us or the “heaven-born” person within us, the households of our lives remain divided. By contrast, to the extent that we choose to devote ourselves to living on this earth as “heaven-born” people, then – in broad strokes – we can keep our spiritual house together and in good order.
Today – just today – how will you choose to live your life: earthbound or bound for heaven? Will your spiritual house be divided - or deepened - as a result?
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In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation (“On Private Judgment”), Francis de Sales made reference to Saint Thomas Aquinas whose feast day we celebrate.
“The great St. Thomas, who had one of the loftiest minds possible, when he formed any opinion supported it with the weightiest arguments that he could bring forward. Nevertheless, if he encountered anyone who did not approve of what he had decided to be right, or had contradicted it, he neither disputed with them nor was offended by their action but took all in good part. He thereby showed that he had no love for his own opinion, even though he could not abandon it. He left the matter alone to be approved or disapproved by others as they pleased. Having done his duty, he troubled himself no more about the subject.” (Conference XIV, p. 259)
Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the brightest intellectual lights of his age (AD 1225 – 1274). But perhaps his greatest genius, to which St. Francis de Sales alludes, was his recognition that being bright doesn’t always mean being right. While there is little doubt that he could make an argument for his position on any particular topic, Thomas was grounded enough not to have to win every argument. His brilliance was only matched by his humility in allowing others to draw their own conclusions after having done his level best to state his case. As the saying goes, after giving it his best shot, Thomas would allow the chips to fall where they may.
Each of us is entitled to our opinion, which is a part of our humanity. However, we are all familiar with another part of our humanity that is the source of much conflict and distress - the need to always be right and the need for others to always agree with us.
Let’s do our level best this day to avoid the temptation to force other people to make our opinions their own. In the Salesian tradition it is better to devote our efforts to trying to win people over rather than trying to knock people down.
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“Do you not understand this parable?”
Notwithstanding Jesus’ explanation of the parable to his disciples in today’s Gospel (which, according to most Scripture scholars, is actually a reflection on the part of the early Church placed on the lips of Jesus), it is easy to misunderstand the parable if we see it as a classification of different types of people in whom the seeds of God’s life and love do and/or do not grow. We are mistaken if we believe that the parable offers us some kind of spiritual template with which we can – as it were – pick classes of people out of a lineup.
To understand the parable we need to recognize that all of the scenarios that Jesus describes are at work within each and every one of us.
Consider this: on any given day, how deeply do we allow the seeds of God’s life and love to take root in us? On any given day, how many of those seeds get choked off by our worries, fears and anxieties? On any given day, how many of those seeds become overwhelmed by our selfish or self-serving pursuits? On any given day, how many of those seeds perish due to our inability and/or unwillingness to accept the adversity that sometimes comes with living a Gospel life? On any given, day how many of those seeds fail to germinate due to our shallowness?
In a sermon he preached on Palm Sunday, 1622 in Annecy, Francis de Sales observed:
“In all creatures, no matter who they are, some imperfections can be found. The person who denies he has any imperfections is just as much a liar as the person who claims that he has no perfections at all. Every person, however holy, has some imperfections; every person, however wicked, has some good points. Made in God’s image and likeness, each person reflects something of God’s goodness; made from nothing, each person always carries with him some imperfection.” (Pulpit and Pew, p. 258)
There’s nothing to be ashamed of in this situation – after all, it is simply the truth. Some of the seeds of God’s life and love are doing rather well within each of us, whereas other seeds of God’s life and love need some real attention and lots of tender loving care. Just because we have difficulty in making good use of all the seeds of God’s life and love within us on any given day doesn’t make us bad seeds!
Today, how can we become God’s “good soil” in our own lives and in the lives of others? What steps can we take to get a better yield from all the good seeds of divine life and love that God has planted so generously within and among us?
