*****
“Well done. You are an industrious and reliable servant. Since you were dependable in a small matter, I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come, share your master’s joy.”
“Judgment Day”. The term has as a sense of finality to it, doesn’t it? Well, it should!
St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Consider the majesty with which the sovereign Judge will appear, surrounded by all the angels and saints. Before him will be borne his cross, shining more brilliantly than the sun, the standard of mercy to the good and of punishment to the wicked. By his awful command, which will be swiftly carried out, this sovereign Judge will separate the good from the bad, placing the one at his right hand and the other at his left. It will be an everlasting separation and after it these two groups will never again be together. When this separation has been made and all consciences laid bare we will clearly see the malice of the wicked and the contempt they have shown for God, and we will also see the repentance of the good and the effect of the graces they received from God. Nothing will lie hidden.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter 14)
In the next life, nothing will be hidden. In this life, one thing should never be hidden: our God-given gifts, abilities, talents, skills and graces.
Today's Gospel issues a stern and stark warning: we must not return unused the gifts (no matter how great or small) that God gives us.
To be sure, to invest these gifts in the lives of others requires our willingness to take risks. There are few guarantees in life. We cannot be certain on any given day how well we will use our gifts, to say nothing of whether or not our gifts will be appreciated, honored, accepted or welcomed by others. Still, we must endeavor to take prudent care of and make good use of our God-given time, talents and treasure in this effort, but the risks that we take in generously sharing ourselves with others should not be rash or reckless.
But as risky as naming, embracing and investing our gifts might be, we must never allow the anxieties of an uncertain world to tempt us to do the unthinkable - to bury our talents. To act as if we possessed nothing with which to give honor to God or to meet the needs of others is far worse than any mistake we might generally make on any given day in using our abilities.
Of course, we will make mistakes in our attempts to make good use of our God-given graces. But there is no greater mistake than to live our lives as if we had no gifts to use in the service of God or others by burying them: obscuring them from the light of day.
When in doubt, keep those gifts out: for you, for God and for others – to see and to share. And, in the process, share your Master’s joy…today!
*****
“I know your works, your labor and your endurance…and that you have not grown weary.”
In his day, some of Francis de Sales’ contemporaries criticized his approach to living the Gospel. They claimed that Francis was suggesting that following Jesus was somehow easy. For his part, the Bishop of Geneva countered by saying that he was not trying to convince people that Gospel living was easy at all. Quite the contrary, what he was trying to do was to convince people that Gospel living was available – and possible – for everyone, but specifically in ways that fit the state and stage of life in which they found themselves.
When it comes to living the Gospel – when it comes to “Living + Jesus” – Salesian spirituality starts from within. Salesian spirituality focuses on the ordinary. Salesian spirituality focuses on the everyday. Salesian spirituality focuses on how to make the hard work relative to living the Gospel doable. Thus, living the Gospel is not meant to be hard. However, as with anything worthwhile, living the Gospel is hard work and it is a life-long work. And again, as with anything worthwhile, living the Gospel is not a sprint. On the contrary, it is a marathon.
Fr. Brisson understood both issues. He was all-too-aware of the hard – but doable – work associated with living a God-like life being a life-long enterprise. Likewise, he was more than conscious of some people’s skepticism of the Salesian method of living a God-like life. In a conference he gave on the topic of “Teaching Religion”, Fr. Brisson remarked:
“The regions converted or formed by this method are those that have remained the most fervently Christian; one can see that the faith is deeply rooted there and that it is a living faith. The bishop of Orleans used to say that if one wanted to find real exactitude, refinement of manners and consolations of the faith, one had to go to Savoy. He said all these magnificent things about Savoy, and who is it that has made Savoy what it is? Isn’t it partly St. Francis de Sales? It is sometimes said that the doctrine of St. Francis de Sales is a rose-scented spirituality: yes, but it is a rose-scented spirituality which produces soldiers, lions, people who endure and you overcome every trial…Never has the world had such a need for the Gospel today. This is the task we must accomplish.” (The Oblate Preacher, translated by James P. Finnegan, OSFS, pp. 73-74)
Do you want to make progress in living the Gospel? Do you want to have the endurance required to follow Christ? Do you want to work at “Living + Jesus” in ways that do not claim to be easy but that will not leave you weary?
Then, follow the example of the Gentle-man-Saint, beginning today!
*****
“Because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth…”
In the fall of 1992, an all-day symposium on the Holocaust was held in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. During a Q&A that followed a program that morning, an attendee asked the presenter if he would agree that the epitome of evil was “hatred”. Without skipping a beat, the presenter responded by saying that, in his experience, the epitome of evil was not hatred; rather, the epitome of evil was ‘indifference’.
The Holocaust did not need an entire nation – or all its citizens – to be consumed with hatred for the Jews and/or other groups of so-called Untermensch to be successful. As it turned out, the only thing that was required was for enough good people to be indifferent; that is, all it took was enough folks who were neither hot nor cold about the plight of other human beings.
Perhaps this illustration from one of the darkest periods in recent human history helps us to understand why “The Lord” declares in today’s selection from the Book of Revelation that he reserves his greatest distaste for people who are lukewarm: who are indifferent.
Look at the example of Zacchaeus in today’s Gospel. His reaction to hearing that Jesus was approaching was anything but lukewarm! Zacchaeus goes out of his way – being short, he climbs a tree – hoping to catch even a glimpse of him. To his surprise, not only does Jesus see Zacchaeus, but he invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house…and, by extension, into his life. Delighted “with joy”, Zacchaeus acknowledged that there were times in his past when he was cold to the needs of others when he defrauded them. Subsequently, he declared that he will now become hot regarding others’ needs by repaying fourfold anyone whom he might have defrauded.
Our reflection provides a framework within which to meditate upon two statements: one from Martin Luther and the other from St. Francis de Sales. Luther once wrote, “If God’s mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary, sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world.” For his part, Francis de Sales described devotion as not merely doing what is good, but doing what is good “carefully, readily and frequently.”
For good or for ill, how will you live your life today: in a hot, a cold or a lukewarm manner? What kind of taste will you leave in the mouths of others, to say nothing of the taste you will leave in the mouth of God?
*****
“To everyone who has, more will be given.”
Everyone who has…what? Perhaps it is the courage to say ‘yes.’ Perhaps it is the courage to take the risks that come with that ‘yes’.
In today’s Gospel two of the three servants took a risk when they invested that which their master had entrusted to them. As a result, they were able to make a return on their master’s investment with salutatory results. By contrast, the third servant – afraid that he might lose what his master had entrusted to him – played it safe by simply sitting on what he had received - with dire results.
We are confronted with God’s impatience regarding inaction brought about by fear - fear of failure and perhaps sometimes even fear of success. Better to have risked everything and lost than to have never risked whatever it is your received. Better to love and have lost rather than never having loved at all.
Consider what God has entrusted to you. Consider what God has invested in you. How can you make a return to God today for his generosity to you?
Trust in God. Take a risk. Learn to love.
*****
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
Have you ever noticed throughout many of the stories in Scripture how often people recognized God-given opportunities to do something good only after the fact? While hindsight it better than having no sight at all, there are certain limitations that come with recognizing how God has been active in one’s life only after subsequent reflection. This pattern gets played out time and time again in numerous accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. People frequently did not recognize what Jesus had done for them – or who Jesus had been with them – until after the fact.
It is safe to say that this occurrence is a pretty common human experience. In a scene from the movie Field of Dreams (1989), Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham (played by Burt Lancaster) observes:
“You know, we just don't recognize life's most significant moments while they're happening. Back then I thought, ‘Well, there'll be other days.’ I didn't realize that that was the only day.”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:
“Blind men do not see a prince who is present among them, and therefore they do not show him the respect they owe him until only after being informed oh his presence. However, because they do not actually see him, they easily forget his presence, and having forgotten it, they still more easily lose the respect and reverence owed to him.” (IDL, Part Two, Chapter 2, p. 84)
The aim of the Spiritual Directory – the goal of the Direction of Intention – is to help us to acquire foresight when it comes to recognizing the activity and presence of God in our lives. Through our efforts to anticipate the variety of ways in which God may choose to reveal himself, may we recognize God’s divine activity and presence as it actually occurs in each and every present moment – whether significant or insignificant – and not only after the fact.
And so, be on the lookout for how God may invite you to be instruments of His peace today!
*****
“My house shall be a house of prayer…”
This quote from today’s Gospel goes much deeper than talking about a building. This quote has little or nothing to do with why we should be quiet in church. From a Salesian point of view, this quote goes to the heart of what it means to be human.
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:
“God is not only in the place where you are, but God is also present in a most particular manner in your heart and in the very center of your spirit. He enlivens and animates it by his divine presence, for he is there as the heart of your heart and the spirit of your spirit. Just as the soul is diffused throughout the entire body and is therefore present in every part of the body but resides in a special manner in the heart, so also God is present in all things but always resides in a special manner in our spirit.”(IDL, Part II, Chapter 2, p. 85)
God dwells in a very particular way within the heart – within the spirit and soul – of every one of us. In effect, then, as we hear in the First Letter of Peter, we are called to live “like living stones, letting ourselves be built into a spiritual house … acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”. (2:4-5) Using the words from the New Roman Missal, notwithstanding that we may be unworthy to have God enter “under our roof”, God is very much alive and at work in the very core of our being, enlivening us and animating us to meet the demands, challenges and invitations that come our way each and every day.
Each us, then, is a house of prayer. Each of us is a manifestation and expression of the God in whose image and likeness we are created. And insofar as prayer is a dialogue, our fundamental vocation is to be engaged in conversation with God as we try our level best to bring out the best in our little corners of the world.
How can we be that house of God today in the lives of one another?
*****
“He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
In his commentary on this passage from the Gospel of Luke, William Barclay makes the following observations:
“The Sadducees came with this question about who would be the husband of the woman in heaven who was married to seven different men. They regarded such a question as the kind of thing that made belief in the resurrection of the body ridiculous. Jesus gave them an answer which has a permanent valid truth in it. He said that we must not think of heaven in terms of earth. Life there will be quite different because we will be quite different. It would save a mass of misdirected ingenuity – and not a little heartbreak – if we ceased to speculate on what heaven is like and left such things to the love of God.” (pp. 250-251)
But Barclay’s commentary is not limited only to the message of Jesus. He also draws attention to the method of Jesus, using arguments to which ordinary people could relate. “Jesus used arguments that the people with whom he was speaking could understand. He talked to them in their own language. He met them on their own ground, and that is precisely why the common person heard him gladly.”
Fr. Brisson believed that the first step in any worthwhile endeavor – be it preaching, teaching or evangelizing – is to meet people where they are, just as Jesus did.
How might we imitate the message – and method – of Jesus in our own interactions with others just this day?
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