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“You have been called to live in freedom...out of love, to place yourselves at the service of one another.”
The American Heritage Dictionary defines freedom as “the condition of being free of restraints, the liberty of the person from slavery, detention or oppression - the capacity to exercise choice: free will.”
God created us with free will. God created us to live in freedom.
The Salesian tradition - for that matter, Christianity - makes a distinction between free will and freedom. In his Treatise on the Love of God, St. Francis de Sales wrote:
“Our free will can stop or obstruct the course of God's inspiration. When the favorable wind of God's grace fills the sails of our soul, it is within our power to refuse consent, thereby impeding the effect of that favoring wind. But when our spirit sails along and makes a prosperous voyage, it is not we who cause the wind of inspiration to come to us. We neither fill our sails with it, nor do we give movement to the ship that is our heart: we consent to its movement. It is God's inspiration, then, which impresses on our free will the gentle, blessed influence whereby it not only causes the will to see the beauty of the good, but also warms it, helps it, reinforces it and moves it so gently that by its agency, the will turns and glides freely toward the good.” (TLG, Book 4, Chapter 6)
We have the power to make choices. We can use our free will to do what is right and good in the eyes of God. By contrast, we can also use our free will to do what is sinful and shameful in the eyes of God. Our free will makes us truly free only when we use it to cooperate with God's grace and inspiration, by placing ourselves at the service of others out of love. When we use our free will to obstruct or turn away from God's grace and inspiration, we are not living in freedom at all. By contrast, we make ourselves (and sometimes, by extension, others) slaves of sin.
What’s the bottom line? Our “free will” isn't freedom at all, unless we use it to pursue a life of truth, a life of righteousness, a life of justice, a life of reconciliation and a life of service. Our “free will,” as it turns out, isn't really free at all; rather, it brings with it an awesome responsibility: to feed, to nourish, to heal, to challenge and to raise up one another in imitation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the model of what it truly means to live in freedom. He always - always - made choices that were consistent with the Father's dream and destiny for him. His free will was truly freeing because Jesus faithfully placed his ability to choose at the disposal of his Father, at the disposal of the Kingdom of God and at the service of his brothers and sisters.
We indeed have free will. Today, consider this question: are we using it - like Jesus - in ways that make us - and others - truly free?
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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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"Why are you terrified?”
Given the fact that the disciples were caught out in 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 very 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 isn’t asking us to never be fearful or even terrified; rather, Jesus asks us to trust him precisely in times of timidity and terror.
No matter how daunting the storms of life may be, don’t 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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“I have completed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saints 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.” (>u>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!
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“Why do you harbor evil thoughts?”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales claimed that impugning the motives of others is a primary source of much of the sin and iniquity with which our world is plagued.
We witness slander when someone falsely imputes crimes and sins toward another person. We see slander when someone reveals others’ secret faults or exaggerates faults that are already obvious to everyone. We hear slander when someone ascribes evil motives to the good deeds that another does or attempts to minimize - or deny them - all together.
In today’s Gospel we see such slander in action. Perhaps slander in thought only, but slander, nonetheless.
After forgiving the sins of a paralyzed man, Jesus is palpably aware of what was going through the minds of the scribes – they secretly assumed that such action made Jesus guilty of blasphemy, that is, of usurping the power and authority of God. They were determined to turn any good that Jesus did into something bad. Jesus’ response is swift and twofold – he calls them out for their secret, distorted thinking and then powerfully proves by what power and authority he forgives sins by healing the same man of his physical paralysis.
Would that Jesus could have healed the attitudinal paralysis of the scribes so easily, a paralysis stemming from the slanderous manner with which they viewed Jesus because when they weren’t falsely accusing him of assorted crimes and sins, they attempted to minimize – or discredit entirely – the good that he accomplished and the healings that he performed. What is the moral of this Gospel? When it comes to our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and actions there are far worse ways of being incurably paralyzed than being physically unable to walk.
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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. Actually, 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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“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).
Which way will you pursue today?
