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“Who told you that you were naked?”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales does not equate happiness with self-centeredness, self-absorption or self-obsession. However, Francis does equate happiness with what he calls self-possession. The Gentleman Saint writes:
“It is man’s great happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls.”
What happiness it is to know and accept yourself for who you are in the sight of God! What a delight it is to be comfortable – without being complacent – in your own skin! What joy it is to be essentially at home – to be at peace – with the person that God made you to be! Why, it’s the next best thing to Paradise.
Tragically enough, the ability to be at home with ourselves became the first – and the most fundamental – casualty of The Fall. No sooner had Adam and Eve eaten from the fruit of the tree of knowledge than their natural state – their nakedness, their transparency – became a reproach. They were embarrassed – they were ashamed – of who they were. Literally, they were no longer comfortable in their own skin. Suddenly sullied by self-alienation and self-loathing, Paradise was lost…and life became a burden.
As we know all-too-well, so much of the misery, sin and sadness that plagues the human family to this very day comes from either (1) the inability to be who we really are, or (2) the fruitless attempt to become someone we’re not.
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales exclaimed:
“God has signified to us in so many ways and by so many means that he wills all of us to be saved that no one should be ignorant of this fact. For this purpose, through Creation God made us ‘in his own image and likeness’, whereas through the Incarnation God has made himself in our image and likeness.”
The redemptive grace of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the happiness that comes from possessing our own souls. The restorative power of the Incarnation makes it possible for us to experience once again the joy of being essentially at home with who we are in the sight of God. Wounded as we are by sin, our practice of devotion – our quest to possess our own souls – no longer comes effortlessly as it originally was in Paradise. It requires perpetual practice; it demands tremendous patience That said, God not only promises us the joy and peace born of this heavenly self-acceptance; God also shows us how to achieve it on this earth in the person of his Son.
Jesus embodies the power of self-possession. Jesus exhibits the joy of self-acceptance. Jesus exudes the peace of self-direction. Who better than Jesus shows us what it looks like to be comfortable in one’s own skin? Who better than Jesus demonstrates what it looks like to invite - and to empower - others to do the same?
Not unlike what he did with our first parents, The Evil One hits us where it hurts. Sometimes Satan tempts us to believe that we can’t possibly be happy by being who we are. Other times, Satan tempts us to believe that we’d be happier if we were someone else – perhaps anybody else – other than who we are. In very deep, dark places within our minds and hearts, each and every one of us is tempted to ask this question:
Sinner as I am, weak as I am, wounded as I am and imperfect as I am, why should I believe that God wants me to be comfortable – at home - in my own skin?
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“Blessed are...”
How might we experience a blessing in our lives? How might we be a blessing in the lives of others? Some strategies for achieving both might include
- not clinging to what we have but share it willingly with others
- being willing to experience the kind of sorrow that leads to compassionate action
- being humble and gentle enough to see everything as gift
- making righteousness and justice a priority in our lives
- a willingness to be generous, especially by acts of forgiveness and reconciliation
- having hearts that are guileless, open, honest and frank
- trying to bring others together rather than drive them apart
- being able to do what is right in the face of misunderstanding, resistance and even hostility
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:
“To sum up, most holy dilection is a virtue, a gift, a fruit and a beatitude. As a virtue, it makes us obedient to the exterior inspirations that God give us by his commandments and counsels, in fulfillment of which we practice all the virtues. Hence, love is the virtue of all virtues. As gift, dilection makes us docile and amenable to God’s interior inspirations. These are God’s secret commandments and counsels as it were, and in their fulfillment the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are employed. Hence dilection is the gift of gifts. As a fruit in our practice of the devout life, it gives us great relish and pleasure, which are experienced in the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is the fruit of fruits. As beatitude, it enables us to accept the fronts, calumny, reviling and insults the world heaps upon us as the greatest favors and a unique honor. It also leads us to forsake, renounce, and reject all other glory except that which comes from the Beloved Crucified.”(TLG, Book XI, Chapter 19, pp. 252-253)
In short, how do we become Beatitudes of God? The answer - by our attempts each and every day to be a source of blessing in the lives of others.
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"You are the salt of the earth.”
Today’s Gospel makes it crystal clear the kind of people that Jesus expected his disciples to be. Jesus challenged them to be “salt of the earth”.
In the time of Christ, salt was highly prized. Salt was indispensable as a preservative for food, especially meats, foul and fish. Obviously, salt was used as a seasoning. Salt added zest and tang to food, making it more palatable and enjoyable. Sometimes, new-born babies were rubbed with salt for what was believed to be medicinal purposes. Salt was even used to seal covenants of friendship (which were also called covenants of salt), inviolable and unbreakable covenants to be preserved for life.
Salt was considered to be as valuable as a person's life – in some cases, even more valuable than a person’s life. Soldiers were often paid for their work with bags of salt. In fact, the Latin word for salt is the root for the English word salary.
Ironic, isn’t it, that something so small is so powerful. Salt makes a huge difference even in very small quantities. A mere pinch has an effect out of all proportion to its weight. Yet, salt is inconspicuous, ordinary and often mixed with a variety of other common things. Take it away and you can tell immediately that it is missing. (Just ask anyone who has been on a salt-free diet.)
Like Jesus’ first disciples, we, too, must be salt of the earth. Jesus challenges us to preserve all that is good, loving and life-giving in life. Jesus commissions us to add zest to life with ingredients such as joy, laughter, enthusiasm, truth, peace, and justice. Jesus calls us to be a healing remedy for anxiety, alienation, marginalization and isolation. Jesus encourages us to immerse ourselves into the thick of things, to enrich and enliven the stew that is our lives. Jesus urges to use all of our God-given abilities, skills, time and talent for the benefit of others. In short, Jesus expects us to be worth our salt.
Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth.” In our day and age, salt might be an everyday thing, but from Jesus’ perspective, being salt of the earth is everything. Just this day, how can we be salt of the earth in the lives of others?
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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets...”
Throughout the Gospels Jesus was repeatedly criticized by the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes for not “doing it by the book”. That is, he was accused of abolishing the Law and the prophets by not living by the letter of the Law. In today’s Gospel Jesus responds to that charge by saying not only does He have no intention of abolishing the Law, but also, he plans to go one step further – to fulfill the Law.
And how does Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? He does so by being himself, that is, by performing the works of God in accordance with the will of God, and not by the whims of man – a life described by St. Paul as a life lived in “the Spirit”.
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:
“The Holy Spirit dwells in us if we are living members of Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples, ‘He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit.’ This is because one who abides in him partakes of his divine Spirit, who is the midst of a person’s heart as a living fountain springs up and flashes its waters into everlasting life...Thus, like a little grain of mustard seed, our works are in now ay comparable in greatness to the tree of glory they produce. Still, they have the vigor and virtue to produce it because they proceed from the Holy Spirit. By a wondrous infusion of his grace into our hearts he makes our works become his and yet at the same time they remain our own, since we are members of a head of which he is the Spirit…” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 7, pp. 211-212)
So, it turns out that the reason that Jesus did not abolish the Law – even the smallest parts of it – is that he embodied the Law, that is, the Law of the Spirit which supersedes (“fulfills”) the letter of the Law. While we, the followers of Jesus, may need to know how to do it “by the book”, the life of Jesus clearly suggests that there is something much more important than the letter of the law and that something is the law of the Spirit, which leads to life.
Today, how can we do our part in fulfilling Jesus’ law of love through our love for one another?
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“Go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift…”
There is no question that Jesus raises the bar in today’s Gospel. Essentially, he says: Don’t even think about offering something to God without first offering the opportunity to be reconciled with another. However, Jesus isn’t exactly blazing a trail with this admonition. After all, in the Book of the Prophet Hosea we read, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (6:6) Indeed, Jesus references this quote four chapters later in Matthew’s Gospel when He states: “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’”. (9: 9-13)
The single biggest obstacle to our complying with Jesus’ command is making the mistake of waiting for the “right” time or the “perfect” moment to be reconciled with another person. The longer we wait, the more difficult it may be to muster the strength to give/grant forgiveness. Likewise, the longer we wait the more time our injuries have to fester or deepen, making it all the more difficult to “bury the hatchet.” Francis de Sales’ advice when it comes to forgiveness and reconciliation? “Fresh wounds are quickest healed”.
There is no better way to avoid remembering you have something against someone else than to not allow much time to pass between the injury and the remedy. As sinners, what better way is there to become righteous than through our commitment to give and grant forgiveness? For those called by Jesus, what better offering could we possibly make to God than to be reconciled with one another as quickly – and as deeply - as possible?
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“Be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord…” (Responsorial Psalm)
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:
“God has drawn you out of nothingness to make you what you are now and has done so solely out of his goodness. Consider the nature that God has given you. It is the highest in this visible world. It is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty”. (IDL, Part I, Chapter 9, p. 95)
We know that we don’t always live up to our God-given goodness. We know we fall short. We know we fall down. We know that we even drag others down with us.
Francis de Sales tells us not to give up. Francis de Sales tells us to keep trying. Francis de Sales tells us to keep moving. Be stouthearted (that is, be courageous and determined) and wait for the Lord. In the meantime, try your level best to be the good person that God created you – and redeemed you – to be!
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“Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the Evil One.”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales counseled:
“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity and dissimulation: such things are dangerous…As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or tricky soul. No artifice is nearly as good or desirable as honest, plain dealing. While worldly prudence and carnal artifice belong to the children of this world, the children of God walk a straight path and their hearts are without guile. ” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)
We are children of God. May our efforts - just this day - to both speak the truth and to also walk in the truth enable us to talk the talk – and to and walk the walk - of Jesus Christ!
