*****
“Remain faithful to the grace of God.”
Paul and Barnabas’ advice to the Church in Antioch to “remain faithful to the grace of God” was sound advice for new believers living in the midst of religious ferment. But what did that pious exhortation practically mean for those who heard it and what does it mean for us today who seek to keep these words of scripture “real” in our lives?
It is a call to Salesian humility and gentleness.
Paul reminds all of us that Christians are called to be faithful. Living in truth about who we are reminds us that we are constantly in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. No one is perfect. We make mistakes and we need to be gentle as we forgive, not excuse, ourselves for them. Perfection allows for no mistakes; faithfulness does not allow us to be conquered by them.
It assumes an ongoing relationship with God in the first place.
How consistent and honest is our prayer life? It’s hard to be faithful to those with whom we never speak.
It demands a new vision.
Remaining faithful to God’s grace calls us to see life, its things and its events, as gifts freely given by a loving, empowering God who is for us and on our side. Our God is a loving Father, a Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep, not an evil hired hand who does not have the flock’s welfare constantly in mind.
It demands flexibility.
Grace, a free gift, cannot be controlled. It can make demands on us and stretch us and lead us to places we never would have gone by ourselves. DeSales once said: “Blessed are those with flexible hearts, for they shall never be broken.” Perhaps we can add: “Blessed too are those of “flexible faithfulness,” for the grace of God will always be there.
Paul and Barnabas’s ministry described in today’s first reading showed flexibility as they turned from their unsuccessful preaching to the Jews towards the more responsive and Spirit-led Gentiles. They looked for and saw the grace of God at work even in the midst of rejection and abuse. On a humbler, but no less important scale, we are called to that same “flexible faithfulness” as we “preach” the grace of God by the way we live our lives with precision and passion. Paul and Barnabas were filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Our reward can - and will - be no less.
*****
“Whoever does not enter through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber…”
Jesus wants us to “have life, and to have life to the full,” (John 10:10) and he tells us there is a right way and a wrong way to do that. The gateway to that life is through him and through him alone - no workaround or short cut will suffice.
In the first few pages of his book Night, Ellie Wiesel reflects upon the image of heaven offered to him by his mentor Moishe the Beadle:
“‘There are a thousand and one gates allowing entry into the orchard of mystical truth. Every human being has his own gate. He must not err and wish to enter the orchard through a gate other than his own. That would present a danger not only for the one entering but also for those who are already inside. Thus began my initiation. Together we would read, over and over again, not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity. And in the course of those evenings, I became convinced that Moishe the Beadle would help me enter eternity, into that time when question and answer would become ONE.”
From a Salesian perspective, this makes absolute sense. Many people make the mistake of thinking that in order to “have life, and to have life to the full” they must become someone they’re not. Many people make the mistake of believing they must become someone else, while many people make the mistake of trying try to enter “through a gate other than” their own. What would Francis de Sales’ advise?
“Be who you are and be that perfectly well.”
In the big scheme of things, Jesus is the one and only gateway to life. Still, Jesus is big enough to accommodate the fact that no two people enter through him in exactly the same way; no two people experience that fullness of life by walking in the exact same footsteps.
Do you want to experience fullness of life on earth? Do you want to experience fullness of life in heaven? Then don’t live someone else’s life.
Today, like Jesus, try to live your own life as best you can.
*****
"He rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart...” (ACTS 11: 19 – 26)
Firmness - or strength - of heart is an invaluable asset in the pursuit of devotion, especially as we deal with the ups and downs of daily life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:
“We must try to keep our heart steadily, unshakably equal during the great variety and inequality of daily events. Even though everything turns and changes around us, our hearts must remain unchanging and ever looking, striving and aspiring toward God.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, p. 256)
A little further along in this chapter, Francis de Sales makes a distinction between tenderness of heart and firmness of heart. He continues:
“Some men think about God’s goodness and our Savior’s passion, feel great tenderness of heart, and are thus aroused to utter sighs, tears and prayers, and acts of thanksgiving so ardently that we say that their hearts have been filled with intense devotion. But when a test comes, we see how different things can get. Just as the hot summer passing showers send down drops that fall on the earth but do not sink into it and serve only to produce mushrooms, so also these tender tears may fall on a vicious heart but do not penetrate and are therefore completely useless to it.” (IDL, Book IV, Chapter 13, pp. 257-258)
With respect to tenderness of heart and firmness of heart, both have their place in the pursuit of holiness. Tenderness of heart can help us to enjoy the good times; firmness of heart can help us get through the tough times.
What kind of heart might you need to have today?
*****
“His commandment is eternal life…”
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Many men keep the commandments in the same way that sick men take medicine – more from fear of dying in damnation than for the joy of living according to our Savior’s will. Just as some people dislike taking medicine – no matter how pleasant it may be – simply because it is called medicine, so there are some souls who hold in horror things commanded simply because they are commanded. On the contrary, a loving heart loves the commandments. The more difficult they are the sweeter and more agreeable it finds them since this more perfectly pleases the beloved and gives him greater honor. It pours forth and sings hymns of joy when God teaches it his commandments. The pilgrim who goes on his way joyously singing adds the labor of singing to that of walking, and yet by this increase of labor he actually lessens his weariness and lightens the hardship of the journey. In like manner the devout lover finds such sweetness in the commandments that nothing in this mortal life comforts and refreshes him so much as the precious burdens of God’s precepts.” (TLG, Book XIII, Chapter 5, pp. 67-68)
Perhaps in this observation from Francis de Sales we can hear the echo of Jesus’ words from Matthew 11: 29 – 30: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” Seeing the commandments of God as strong medicine that cures our sickness can surely weigh us down but seeing the commandments of God as that which keep us healthy can surely lift us up.
How will you see – and experience – God’s commandments today - as burden or bounty?
*****
“Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.”
In his Conference on Three Spiritual Laws, Francis de Sales remarked:
“Never was there a time when people studied as they do now. Those great Saints (Augustine, Gregory and Hilary whose feast we are keeping today!) and many others did not study much. They could not have done so, writing as many books as they did, preaching and discharging all the other duties of their office. They had, however, such great confidence in God and in God’s grace that they neither placed their dependence nor their trust in their own skill or labor, so that all the great works which they did were done purely by means of their reliance on God’s grace and almighty power. ‘It is You, O Lord,’ they said, ‘who gives us the work and is for you that we work. It is You who will bless our labors and give us a rich harvest.’ Therefore, their books and their sermons bore marvelous fruit. By contrast, we who trust in our fine words, in our eloquent language and in our knowledge, labor for that which ends up in smoke. We yield no fruit other than vanity.” (Conference VII, pages 116-117)
It is healthy to remind ourselves that however much good we may manage to accomplish today, it is God “who gives us the work.” It is God who helps us to work. It is God who will bring his work in us to completion. In so doing, what we do is to give witness to the goodness of the Lord at work in us and at work among us.
Together, let us sing of the goodness of the Lord! But don’t stop there! Together, let us do – and be – the goodness of the Lord in the lives of one another!
*****
“Do not let your hearts be troubled…”
We all have a deep-seated fear. Using the image of musical chairs, we fear that when the music stops, there won’t be a chair for us. Jesus promises that this situation won’t happen because he has prepared a place for each and every one of us. This promise from Jesus is a great remedy for our fear of being left out.
From a Salesian perspective, however, the “place” that Jesus promises to create for us is not found exclusively in heaven; Jesus has also created a unique place, role or niche for each of us here on this earth: a place in which we are called to be sources of his life and his love in the lives of other people.
How will that place – and the people in it – be better for the way we attempt to live our lives today?
*****
“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete…”
In a sermon entitled “Dedicated Hearts,” Francis de Sales stated:
“We might possibly reach a saturation point when it comes to our quest for wealth and honors, but when it comes to loving God, how can we ever say, “I have enough?” No limits can ever be set to our hunger and thirst for Him...’” (Pulpit and Pew, p. 223)
In other words, no matter how happy and joyful we might be, our happiness and joy will always be incomplete unless it includes the love of God. And in what will we find complete joy? In the opinion of St. Francis de Sales, it is experienced through our willingness to be what he describes as a “servant of God.” He wrote:
“To be a servant of God means to be charitable towards one’s neighbors, to have an unshakeable determination in the superior part of your soul to obey the will of God, to trust in God with a very humble humility and simplicity, and to lift oneself up as often as one falls, to endure with all your abjections and to quietly put up with others in their imperfections.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 140)
Jesus embodies the fullness of joy. Jesus shows us what a joyful and joy-filled life looks like.
Today, how can we imitate his example today and share His joy – as well as ours – with others?
