*****
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Saint Francis de Sales tells us in the Introduction to the Devout Life:
“Consider the eternal love that God has borne you. Before Our Lord Jesus Christ as man suffered on the Cross for you, His Divine Majesty by His Sovereign Goodness already foresaw your existence and loved you exceedingly” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part V, Chapter 14).
Tempted as he was by the voices around him to use his kingly power for his own relief or benefit, Jesus spent his last moments –– his few remaining breaths –– for the good of others. It was with love that he promised Paradise to the Good Thief who spoke words of humility and contrition.
On this Feast of the Kingship of Christ, the Church presents us with two images: David, the shepherd-warrior, anointed by his people to be their king, and Jesus, the only true king, rejected by the people, crucified and ridiculed. In David, the kingship of Israel was established so that from it could come the Redeemer of all people. But how did Jesus live out his call to be king? According to Saint Francis de Sales, it was by “the perfect abandonment into the hands of the heavenly Father and this perfect indifference in whatever is His divine will” (Saint Francis de Sales Sermons for Lent, Good Friday, 1622).
To Jesus, being king meant being one with his Father. He lived in perfect union with God. As Saint Paul tells us in the letter to the Colossians, “He is the image of the invisible God.” To Jesus, being king meant giving all for others. He gave his all to each person at every moment. We see this giving in his words to the repentant criminal on the Cross: Jesus spoke only of mercy and acceptance.
We are called to do the same. As Christians, our first care must be union with our God, “Lord, it is good for me to be with you, whether you be upon the Cross or in your glory” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part IV, Chapter XIII). Saint Francis de Sales tells us in the Treatise on the Love of God, “Mount Calvary is the mount of lovers” (Book XII, Chapter XIII). After the example of our King, we must speak words of mercy and acceptance. Like Jesus, we are not called to condemn or reject but only to love.
Saint Leonie Aviat, OSFS, lived the humble, self-giving life portrayed in today’s Scriptures. She recognized and experienced the meaning of authentic royalty and of royal power: spending one’s life with God for others. As a young founder of a religious community, the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales, Mother Aviat pledged to “forget myself entirely” and to “work for the happiness of others.” This call to follow Christ resounded in her every word and act, as she worked to give people here on earth a foretaste of the Paradise that Christ promises to all those who remember him.
Perhaps that’s the point. What better way to ask God to remember us when He comes into His kingdom than by reminding ourselves of the presence of God in each day, hour and moment here and now? What better way to join Christ in Paradise than by remembering to reach out to others here on Earth?
*****
“She has offered her whole livelihood…”
In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation, Saint Francis de Sales observed:
“The esteem in which humility holds all good gifts, namely, faith, hope and charity, is the foundation of the generosity of spirit. Take notice that the first gifts of which we spoke belong to the exercise of humility and the others to generosity. Humility believes that it can do nothing, considering its poverty and weakness as far as depending on ourselves. On the contrary, generosity makes us say with Saint Paul, ‘I can do all things in Him who strengthens me.’ Humility makes us distrust ourselves, whereas generosity makes us trust in God. You see, then that humility and generosity are so closely joined and united to one another that they are and never can be separated.” (Conferences, “On Generosity" pp. 75-76)
We see this humility and generosity on display in today’s Gospel. Whereas some wealthy people who contributed to the temple treasury were relying more on themselves for their welfare (they made sure that they had plenty for themselves in reserve) before giving to others, the poor widow – we are told – gave to the treasury without squirreling something away for herself first, suggesting that she was relying more on God for her welfare. The wealthy contributed with conditions; the widow contributed without conditions.
Today, whether we have a lot or a little, what steps can we take to store up riches less for ourselves and more for others?
*****
“When you hear of wars and insurrections do not be terrified…”
In this age of 24-7 news cycles, one could be forgiven for being “terrified” from time to time. After all, we never seem to get a break. Whether around the corner or around the world, we are constantly exposed to a never-ending dose of unsettling news reports: stories of violence, accounts of revenge and descriptions of disasters. One could make the argument that you would have to be crazy to be unconcerned or unaffected by reports of economic, social, political and/or military turmoil!
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Saint Francis de Sales observed:
“With the single exception of sin, anxiety is the greatest evil than can happen to a soul. Just as sedition and internal disorders bring total ruin to a state and leave it helpless to resist a foreign invader, so also if our hearts are inwardly troubled and disturbed they lose both the strength necessary to maintain the virtues they had acquired and the means to resist the temptations of the enemy. He then uses his utmost to fish – as they say – in troubled waters.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part IV, Chapter 11, pp. 251-252)
Saint Francis de Sales believed that people should be informed. We should be aware – and where applicable, concerned – about the things that are happening around us. More importantly, however, is the need to know what is happening inside of us. We need to know the state of our minds and hearts. After all, sometimes the effects of the “wars and insurrections” that may surround us are nothing in comparison with the “wars and insurrections” that rage within us! Trouble is a part of life. Don’t make it worse by allowing it to trouble you on the inside to the point where you can’t manage it on the outside - for your own sake, as well as for the sake of those who depend on you.
*****
“They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.”
Today the church celebrates the life, legacy and ultimate sacrifice made by Blessed Miguel Pro.
“Born on January 13, 1891, in Guadalupe, Mexico, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez was, from an early age, both remarkably spiritual and equally mischievous, frequently exasperating his family with humor and practical jokes. Miguel was particularly close to his older sister and after she entered a cloistered convent, he eventually recognized his own vocation to the priesthood. Although he was popular with the senoritas and had prospects of a lucrative career managing his father's thriving business concerns, Miguel the Jesuit novitiate in El Llano, Michoacan in 1911.
“He studied in Mexico until 1914, when the tsunami of anti-Catholicism swept through Mexico, forcing the novitiate to disband. Miguel and his brother seminarians trekked through Texas and New Mexico before arriving at the Jesuit house in Los Gatos, California. In 1915, Miguel was sent to a seminary in Spain; in 1924, he went to Belgium where he was ordained a priest in 1925. Miguel suffered from a severe stomach problem and after three operations, when his health did not improve, his superiors, in 1926, allowed him to return to Mexico in spite of the grave religious persecution in that country.
“Back in his native land, churches were closed and priests went into hiding. Miguel spent the rest of his life in an attempt to sturdy and strengthen Mexican Catholics. In addition to fulfilling their spiritual needs, he also carried out works of mercy by trying to meet the temporal needs of the poor in Mexico City. To protect his real identity he used a number of disguises while carrying out his clandestine ministry. He would arrive in the middle of the night dressed as a beggar to baptize infants, bless marriages and celebrate Mass. He would appear in jail dressed as a police officer to bring Holy Viaticum to condemned Catholics. When going to fashionable neighborhoods to procure money food and other resources for the poor, he would show up at the doorstep dressed as a fashionable businessman with a fresh flower on his lapel. Falsely accused in the attempted assassination of a former Mexican president, Miguel became a hunted man. Betrayed to the police by an informer, he was sentenced to death without the benefit of any legal process. On the day of his execution (which the Mexican president personally ordered to have photographed and filmed), Father Pro forgave his executioners, prayed, refused the blindfold and died proclaiming, ‘Viva Cristo Rey.’” (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=86)
Miguel Pro was courageous in the face of persecution, arrest, imprisonment and execution.
How might we imitate his courage just this day by serving the needs of others…in the name of Christ the King?
*****
“He fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him…”
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Saint Francis de Sales observed:
“Consider that a certain number of years ago you did not yet exist. God has drawn you out of nothingness so as to make you what you are now and has done so solely out of his own goodness. Consider the nature God has given you. It is the highest in this visible world, is capable of eternal life, and able to be perfectly united with God’s Divine Majesty…God has placed you in this world not because God has any need of you but because God wishes to exercise His goodness in you by giving you His grace and glory. For this purpose God has given you intelligence to know Him, memory to be mindful of Him, will to love Him, imagination to picture His benefits to yourself, eyes to see His wonderful works, and tongues to praise Him, just to mention a few…Consider the corporeal benefits that God has bestowed on you: the body itself, all goods provided for its maintenance, health, comforts friend, supporters and other helps… By noting each and every particular blessing you will perceive how gentle and gracious God has been to you.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapters 9- 11, pp. 53 -57)
How can we possibly even begin to give thanks for everything that God has given – and continues to give – to us? Francis de Sales offers a suggestion: just as God has been gentle and gracious to us, may we strive to be equally – or at least, approximately – as gentle and gracious to others on this Thanksgiving Day…and every day!
*****
“Consider the fig tree and all other trees…”
In his Treatise on the Love of God, Saint Francis de Sales observed:
“The cross is the root of every grace received by us who are spiritual grafts attached to our Savior’s body. Having been so engrafted if we abide in him, then by means of the life of grace he communicates to us we shall certainly bear the fruit of glory prepared for us. But if we are mere inert sprigs or grafts on that tree - that is, if by resistance we break the progress and effects of His mercy - it will be no wonder if in the end we are wholly cut off and thrown into the everlasting fire as useless branches.”
“God undoubtedly prepared paradise only for such as He foresaw would be His. Therefore, let us be his both by faith and by our works, and He will be ours by glory. It is in our power to be His, for although to belong to God is a gift from God, it is a gift that God denies to no one. God offers it to all people so as to give it to such as will sincerely consent to receive it. He gives us both His death and His life: His life so that we may be freed from eternal death, His life so that we can enjoy eternal life. Let us live in peace, then, and serve God so as to be His in this mortal life and still more so in life eternal.” (Treatise on the Love of God, Part III, Book 5, pp. 178-179)
Francis de Sales insists that our future depends heavily upon our present. At any given moment we can think, feel and act in ways that bring us closer to either redemption or damnation. It all comes down to how deeply grafted we are onto the heart – and the cross – of Christ.
*****
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy and that the day catch you by surprise like a trap...”
The readings selected for these remaining days of the waning liturgical year emphasize the “end times,” the final judgment and the importance of being on the lookout for when that climactic moment will occur.
In a letter to the Duc de Bellegarde, Saint Francis de Sales wrote:
“Persevere in this great courage and determination which keeps you lifted high above temporal things, making you pass over them like a happy halcyon bird lifted safely above the waves of the world which flood this age. Keep your eyes steadfastly fixed on that blissful day of eternity towards which the course of years bears us on; and as they pass, they themselves pass us stage by stage until we reach the end of the road. But meanwhile – in these passing moments – there lies enclosed as in a tiny kernel the seed of all eternity. In our humble little works of devotion there lies hidden the prize of everlasting glory; the little pains we take to serve God lead to the repose of bliss that can never end.” (Selected Letters, Stopp, p. 236)
Be watchful! Be alert! Be on the lookout! However, don’t limit your vigilance to the last moment of your life; rather, expand your vigilance to include every moment of your life! In so doing, you might not only avoid having your last day catch you like a trap but rather, you will be able to transform every day into an opportunity!
Grow in your knowledge and love of God, your neighbor and yourself now – and forever.
