Spirituality Matters April 9th - April 15th

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(April 9, 2020: Mass of the Lord’s Supper)
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“Do you realize what I have done for you?”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:

“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 can be ignorant of this fact. For this purpose he made us ‘in his own image and likeness’ by creation, and by the Incarnation he has made himself in our image and likeness, after which he suffered death in order to ransom and save humankind. He did this with so great a love...” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

While we may not be “ignorant” of what God has done for us (beautifully ritualized in the upper room at the Last Supper and dramatically demonstrated on the hill of Calvary), how much time – on any given day, in any given hour – do we spend reminding ourselves of how “great a love” God has for us?

Even to this very moment!

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(April 10, 2020: Friday of the Passion of the Lord)
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“He learned obedience from what he suffered…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Our Savior himself has declared, ‘By our patience you will win your souls.’ It is man’s greatest happiness to possess his own soul, and the more perfect our patience the more completely do we possess our souls. We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials and discomforts we meet.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

Jesus learned obedience by what he suffered. He learned to listen to the voice of his Father by his practice of endurance, that is, through his willingness to see things through to the end. In so doing, he experienced the happiness and joy that even his suffering and death could not vanquish.

What kind of cross – be it injury, denial or discomfort – might God ask us to carry today? Are we up to the task?

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(April 11, 2014: Holy Saturday)
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"God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: “When he created things God commanded plants to bring forth their fruits, each one according to its kind. In like manner he commands Christians – the living plants of the Church – to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each according to one’s position and vocation…” (Part I, Chapter 3, p. 43)

Even before God created things – including us – God intended to underscore his love for the created order by becoming one of us in the person of his Son. Francis de Sales believed that it was the Incarnation that became the motivation for Creation. Thus, Creation made possible the ultimate expression of God’s love for the universe: the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ. Because of “The Fall” the Incarnation took on an additional purpose: to save us from our sins.

Tonight’s readings from Scripture testify to the fidelity of God’s creative, Incarnational and redeeming love. Throughout all the ups and downs of human history, one constant has remained: God’s love for us. A love to the death…a love all about life.

Today, how can we show our gratitude for so wonderful – and faithful – a love? The answer - by bringing forth the fruits of devotion! In so doing, we continue the creative, incarnational and redemptive action of the God who loved us before the creation – and redemption – of the world.

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(April 12, 2020: Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord)
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"The death and passion of our Lord is the sweetest and the most compelling motive that can animate our hearts in this mortal life…The children of the cross glory in this, their wondrous paradox which many do not understand: out of death, which devours all things, has come the food of our consolation. Out of death, strong above all things, has issued the all-sweet honey of our love." (Treatise on the Love of God, Book 12, Chapter 13)

This, indeed, is the central mystery of our faith. Jesus, allowing himself to be consumed with passion for righteousness and swallowed by death has in turn, conquered death once and for all with the power that is the promise of eternal life.

Christ's pathway of passion, death and resurrection was personal. It was unique. It had been fashioned by the Father from all eternity. Jesus was faithful to God's vision for him; Jesus embraced his vocation as the humble, gentle Messiah; Jesus suffered the pain of death; Jesus experienced the power of rising again.

From all eternity God has fashioned a personal path for each of us. Each of us has a unique role to play in the Father's never-ending revelation of divine life, divine love, divine justice, divine peace and divine reconciliation. Still, the way to resurrection is the way of the cross - the way of giving up, the way of letting go, the way of surrendering any and all things, thought, attitudes and actions that prevent us from embodying the passion of Christ - the passion for all that is righteous and true.

Francis de Sales offers this image in Book 9 of his Treatise on the Love of God:

"God commanded the prophet Isaiah to strip himself completely naked: this, the prophet did, and went about and preached in this way for three whole days (or, as some say, for three whole years). Then, when the time set for him by God had passed he put his clothes back on again. So, too, we must strip ourselves of all affections, little and great, and make a frequent examination of our heart to see if it is truly ready to divest itself of all its garments, as Isaiah did. Then, at the proper time we must take up again the affections suitable to the service of charity, so that we may die naked on the cross with our divine Savior and afterwards rise again with him as new people."

Be certain of one thing: the daily dying to self that is part of living a passionate life is not about dying, stripping and letting go for its own sake. No, it is that all of who we are may be purified to more faithfully and effectively live lives of divine passion and compassion. God does not desire that we die to self out of self-deprecation, but that we die to self in order that, paradoxically, we may actually be more of whom God calls us to be.

“Love is as strong as death to enable us to forsake all things,” wrote St. Francis de Sales. “It is as magnificent as the resurrection to adorn us with glory and honor.”

This glory and honor is not just reserved for heaven. To the extent that we die a little each day and experience the fidelity of God's love in the midst of all adversity, trials, struggles and “letting go,” we can experience something of the resurrection every day.

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(April 13, 2020: Monday within the Octave of Easter)
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“Do not be afraid...”

“Terrible thing, to live in fear. Brooks Hatlen knew it. Knew it all too well. All I want is to be back where things make sense. Where I won't have to be afraid all the time…” (Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd Redding in The Shawshank Redemption.)

In a letter he wrote to Jane de Chantal on the 6th of August 1606, Francis de Sales gave the following counsel:

“St. Peter, seeing that the storm was raging, was afraid. As soon as he was frightened, he began to sink and to drown, leading him to cry out: ‘O Lord, save me.’ Our Lord caught hold of his hand and said to him: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ Look at this holy apostle; he walks dry foot on the water, the waves and the winds could not make him sink, but fear of the wind and waves will make him perish unless his master saves him. Fear is a greater evil than the evil itself. O daughter of little faith, what do you fear? No, do not be afraid; you are walking on the sea, surrounded by wind and water, but you are with Jesus: so what is there to fear?” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 125)

What is there to fear? Great question! Perhaps that question is the first step to not being afraid. Perhaps that question is also the first step to avoid living in fear: to name what it is that you are tempted to fear.

Does that make sense?

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(April 14, 2020: Tuesday within the Octave of Easter)
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“You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…”

In today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles we hear St. Peter speaking of the gift – singular – of the Holy Spirit! Generally speaking we are used to speaking of the gifts – plural – of the Holy Spirit. Sounds strange to us, but not to St. Francis de Sales! In his Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote:

“The glorious St. Paul speaks thus, ‘But the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, constancy and chastity.’ Theotimus, see how this divine Apostle enumerates these twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit but sets them down as only one fruit. He does not say ‘The fruits of the Spirit are charity, joy’ but ‘the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy…’ The meaning of this manner of expression is this: ‘The charity of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ Charity is truly the sole fruit of the Holy Spirit, but this one fruit has an infinite number of excellent properties…” (TLG, Book XI, Chapter 19, p. 251)

In the big scheme of things, it is fair to say that the fundamental gift (singular) of the Holy Spirit is love - pure and simple. As Francis de Sales reminds us, however, this single gift has an “infinite number of excellent properties.”

As temples of the Holy Spirit – as dwelling places of the Spirit’s gift of love – how many of the excellent properties associated with this one gift will we exhibit in our relationships with other people today?

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(April 15, 2020: Wednesday within the Octave of Easter)
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“I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give to you…” This simple phrase spoken by Peter in today’s selection from the Acts of the Apostles serves as a simple shorthand for the Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” (Matthew 5: 3 – 11)

Being poor in spirit requires that we do three things. First, we need to acknowledge our poverty; we need to name that which we lack. Second, we need to acknowledge our wealth; we need to name that which we possess. Third, we need to be willing to share our possessions – be they little or great – with others. Taken together, these steps can help us to be generous people.

Peter named his poverty; he named what he lacked. However, he was just as quick to state that he willingly shared with others what he did possess. As the Acts of the Apostles clearly demonstrates, Peter was a generous person in his service to Jesus’ mission and to God’s people!

How about us? How comfortable are we with acknowledging what we don’t have? By the same token, how comfortable are we with acknowledging what we do have…and most importantly, how willing are we to share what we have with others?

Be it little, great or something in between!

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Spirituality Matters April 2nd - April 8th

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(April 2, 2020: Thursday. Fifth Week of Lent)
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“I am making you the father of a host of nations…”

In a conference (on “Hope”) he gave to the Sisters of the Visitation, St. Francis de Sales remarked:

“Among the praises which the saints give to Abraham, St. Paul places this above all the others: that Abraham believed in hope even against hope. God had promised him that his seed should be multiplied as the stars of the heaven and the sand on the seashore, and at the same time he received the command to slay his son Isaac. Abraham in his distress did not, however, lose hope, but hoped, even against hope, that if he obeyed the command and slew his son, God would not fail to keep His word. Truly, great was his hope, for he saw no possible foundation for it, except the promise which God had given him. Ah, how true and solid a foundation is the word of God, for it is infallible!” (Conference VI, pp. 88 – 89)

What does it really mean when we hope for something? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines hope as “to wish for something with the expectation of fulfillment.” It defines the theological virtue of hope as “the desire and search for a future good, difficult, but not impossible, to attain with God’s help.” From a theological point of view, there is much more to hope than mere wishful thinking.

In the opinion of St. Francis de Sales, we cannot fully understand the virtue of hope without also understanding the practice of aspiration. In Book Two of his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales distinguishes one from the other: “We hope for those things that we expect to gain through the aid of another, whereas we aspire to those things that we expect to gain through our own resources and our own efforts.” Of the relationship between these two practices, Francis wrote: “Just as those who would try to hope without aspiring are cowardly and irresponsible, so too, those who try to aspire without hoping are rash, insolent and presumptuous.” (Chapter 17)

As people of faith, we hope when we realize that the good things for which we wish ultimately depend on the grace of God. As people of faith, we aspire when we recognize that the good things for which we wish also depend on our own efforts.

Hope against hope, Abraham believed in God. But Abraham also put his belief – and his hope – into action.

Today, can the same be said of us?

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(April 3, 2020: Friday, Fifth Week of Lent)
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“I hear the whisperings of many…”

The more things change, the more they stay the same, especially when it comes to one of the most common kind of all whisperings.

Slander.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote:

“Rash judgment begets uneasiness, contempt of neighbor, pride, self-satisfaction and many other extremely bad effects. Slander, the true plague of society, holds first place among them. I wish that I had a burning coal taken from the holy altar to purify men’s lips so that their iniquities might be removed and their sins washed away, as did the seraphim who purified Isaiah’s mouth. The man who could free the world of slander would free it if a large share of its sins and iniquity.”

“Slander is a form of murder. We have three kinds of life: spiritual, which consists in God’s grace; corporeal, which depends on the body and soul, and; social, which consists in our good name. Sin deprives us of the first kind of life, death takes away the second and slander takes away the third. By the single stroke of his tongue the slanderer usually commits three murders. He kills his own soul and the soul of anyone who hears him by an act of spiritual homicide and takes away the social life of the person he slanders.”

“I earnestly exhort you, never to slander anyone either directly or indirectly. Beware of falsely imputing crime and sins to your neighbor, revealing his secret sins, exaggerating those that are obvious, putting an evil interpretation on his good works, denying the good that you know belongs to someone, 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, pp. 201-202)

What else need be said? Or, more to the point – what should no longer be said?

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(April 4, 2020: Saturday, Fifth Week of Lent)
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"They will be my people, and I will be their God."

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, I have drawn you, having pity and mercy on you. And I will build you again, and you shall be built, O Israel.’ These are God’s words, and by them he promises that when the Savior comes into the world, he will establish a new kingdom in his Church, which will be his virgin spouse and true spiritual Israelite woman. As you see ‘it was not by’ any merit of ‘works that we did ourselves, but according to his mercy that he saved us.’ It was by that ancient – rather, that eternal – charity which moved his divine providence to draw us to himself. If the Father had not drawn us, we would never have come to the Son, our Savior, nor consequently to salvation.” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 9, pp. 123-124)

God’s eternal charity – that is, God’s eternal love – makes us his people. We have done nothing to merit such an honor. It is an absolutely unearned gift. And despite our individual – and collective – sins, failings and infidelities, God demonstrates that – unlike us – he is never fickle and always faithful. God always has been, is and will be our God, and we always have been, are and will be God’s people.

What can we do – just this day – to say “thank you” to God for his fidelity to – and love for – us?

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(April 5, 2020: Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord)
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“The passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ…”

The Passion of Jesus is certainly an account of the end of his earthly life. But the Passion of Jesus is also something that was demonstrated every day of his earthly life.

· A passion for human justice.

· A passion for divine justice.

· A passion for doing what is right and good. · A passion for challenging others to promote the same.

In his Treatise on the Love of God (Book 10, Chapter 16), St. Francis de Sales identifies three levels of such passion:

First, we can have a passion for correcting, censuring and reprimanding others. This level of passion perhaps the easiest because it does not necessarily require those who are passionate about righteousness to actually perform acts of justice themselves. This form of zeal, obviously, can be very attractive because the focus is on what others are not doing. On the other hand, it can become a classic case of "do as I say, not as I do," because it does not require us to live in a just manner ourselves.

Second, we can be passionate "by doing acts of great virtue in order to give good examples by suggesting remedies for evil, encouraging others to apply them, and doing the good opposed to the evil that we wish to eradicate.” “This holds for all of us," remarks de Sales, "but few of us are anxious to do so." Surely, this second level of passion requires work and integrity on our part. We can't simply talk the talk; we must also walk the walk.

"Finally, the most excellent exercise of passion consists in suffering and enduring many things in order to prevent or avert evil. Almost no one wants to exercise this passion." This third level of passion is willing to risk everything for what is righteous and just, even life itself. "Our Lord's passion appeared principally in his death on the cross to destroy death and the sins of humanity," wrote St. Francis de Sales. To imitate Jesus' zeal for justice is "a perfection of courage and unbelievable fervor of spirit."

Jesus certainly challenged the injustice of others. Jesus was willing to promote justice through his own good example. Most important, Jesus was willing to go the distance in his passion for justice, even at the cost of his own life.

Passion Sunday - for that matter, every day - begs the question: How far are we willing to go in our passion for justice, that is, for what is right and good?

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(April 6, 2020: Monday of Holy Week)
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“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit…”

Obviously, Jesus is the servant whom God upholds. Obviously, Jesus is God’s servant. Obviously, Jesus is one upon whom God has put his Spirit.

Not so obvious? You, too, are the servant that God upholds. You, too, are God’s chosen one. You, too, are one upon whom God has put his Spirit.

How might you be pleasing – not only to God, but also to other people – today?

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(April 7, 2020: Tuesday of Holy Week)
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"The Lord called me from birth; from my mother’s womb he gave me my name...”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Consider that a certain number of years ago you were not yet in the world and that your present being was truly nothing. My soul, where were you at that time? The world had already existed for a long time, but of us there was yet nothing. God has drawn you out of that nothingness to make you what you now are and he has done so solely out of his own goodness and without need of you. Consider the nature 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.” (Part I, Chapter 9, p. 53)

From all eternity God chose to create us out of nothing and to make us something…to make us someone. What return can we make other than to stand in awe of God’s generosity towards us?

And to live accordingly!

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(April 8, 2020: Wednesday of Holy Week)
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“The Lord GOD is my help…”

Today’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah paints the picture of a God who lifts up those who are weighed down. He is a God who clears a path for those burdened by the journey. He is a God who gives comfort in times of adversity. In short, our God goes out of His way to help those who are down and out. In a world with its share of challenges, trials and difficulty, our God is a God who lightens the load.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“We must take the greatest consolation from seeing how God exercises His mercy by the many diverse favors he distributes among angels and men – in heaven, and on earth – and how He exercises His justice by an infinite variety of trials and difficulties. Hence, death, affliction sweat and toil with which life abounds are by God’s justice the consequences of sin, but they are also by God’s sweet mercy ladders upon which to ascend to heaven, means by which to increase and grace and merits whereby to obtain glory. Indeed, blessed are poverty, hunger, thirst, sorrow sickness death and persecution: they are consequences of our humanity which nevertheless are so steeped and aromatized in God’s love, goodness and mercy that theirs is a most sweet bitterness.” (TLG Bk IX, Chapter 1, p.98)

Trials and difficulties are a part of life. Fortunately for us, God sees these same trials and difficulties as opportunities to console us, support us, nourish us and sustain us.

How – in the name of this merciful, generous God – do we do the same for one another?

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Spirituality Matters March 26th - April 1st

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(March 26, 2020: Thursday. Fourth Week of Lent)
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“Moses, his chosen one, withstood him in the breach…”

Moses and Jesus have at least one thing in common: they were willing to go the wall for the people they cared about.

In Moses’ case, he dissuades God from punishing the Israelites out of anger for their infidelity. Moses puts his own life on the line in order to convince God to exercise mercy rather than justice. Moses is an advocate for his people.

In Jesus’ case, he continues to reach out to the poor and marginalized despite the growing hostility of the Scribes and Pharisees. Jesus puts His own life on the line in order to convince His religious peers to seek mercy rather than justice. Jesus is an advocate for His people.

How about us? Today, how far are we willing to go to be an advocate for others, especially for those most in need?

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(March 27, 2020: Friday. Fourth Week of Lent)
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“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted…”

Even a cursory reading of both the Old Testament and the New Testament demonstrates that Yahweh has a special place in His heart for the weak, the poor, the lonely, the disadvantaged, the marginalized, the exploited, the vanquished and the down-and-out. But there’s more to Yahweh than this. God also has plenty of room in His heart for the strong, the wealthy, the powerful, the streamlined, the victorious and the up-and-comers.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales remarked: “The Apostle (St. Paul) says, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Part III, Chapter 1, p. 121) God finds room in his heart for all kinds of people and for all kinds of occasions. God’s heart knows that it takes all kinds, all types and all times to promote His kingdom on this earth.

How much room do we have in our hearts? Are all welcomed?

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(March 28, 2020: Saturday. Fourth Week of Lent)
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"Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing…”

It’s very tempting to judge others by their appearance. It’s very tempting to judge others by what others say about them. It’s very tempting to judge others by first impressions.

Not only is it very tempting, but it is also very wrong. At least, in the eyes of God it is!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“How offensive to God are rash judgments. When the children of men pass judgment on others they usurp the office of our Lord. They are rash because every man has enough on which to judge himself without taking it upon himself to judge his neighbor. By judging our neighbor on every occasion, we never stop doing what is forbidden and we never do what is expected of us, that is, the challenge to judge ourselves.”

In another place, Scripture tells us this about God: “Not by appearance does He judge.”

As people made in God’s image and likeness, can the same be said about us?

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(March 29, 2020: Fifth Sunday of Lent)
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“I will put my spirit in you that you may live.” “You are in the spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

Rather than talk about what Francis de Sales has to say about living in the Spirit of God, we shall allow him to speak – or, in this case – to write for himself.

“To live according to the spirit means to think, speak and act according to the virtues which reside in the spirit and not according to the senses and feelings which reside in the flesh. We must use and master the latter and not live according to them; but the spiritual virtues must be nurtured and all the rest made subject to them.”

“What are the virtues of the spirit? There is faith, which shows us the truths that are not accessible to the senses; hope, which makes us strive for things unseen; charity, which makes us love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves, not with a sensual, natural or selfish love but with a love that is pure, firm and changeless, being grounded in God.”

“The spirit, which relies on faith, grows in courage when it is hemmed in by difficulties, for it knows well that God loves supports and helps those who are needy, provided they fix their hope in God. Human reason, by contrast, wants to know everything that is going on because it imagines that nothing in which it cannot have its say is any good; the spirit, on the other hand, cleaves to God and often says that whatever is not of God does not really matter…”

“Living according to the spirit means doing the actions which the spirit of God asks of us, saying the words and thinking the thoughts that God wants. And when I say saying the words and thinking the thoughts that God wants, I am referring to your willed thoughts. I am miserable and so I don’t feel like talking: parrots do as much. I feel miserable, but since charity demands that I should talk I will do it. That is what people who live in the spirit do. I have been slighted so I grow cross: peacocks and monkeys do as much. I have been slighted and rejoice: that what the apostles did. So to live according to the spirit is to do what faith, hope and charity teach us to do, whether in things temporal or things spiritual.”

“Live wholly to the Spirit; live gently and in peace. Be quite confident that God will help you, and in all that happens, rest in the arms of God’s mercy and goodness. May God be your all forever.”

The Spirit is alive and well in us, active in our lives, shaping our attitudes, impacting our actions. This activity is obvious to those people we encounter every day.

Well, isn’t it? And if not, why not?

(These quotes are taken entirely from a letter written in April or May 1616, to Sister Marie-Aimee de Bloney, Mistress of Novices at the Visitation at Lyons, France. It is found in Selected Letters of St. Francis de Sales. Translated with an Introduction by Elisabeth Stopp. Published in 1960 by Harper & Brothers)

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(March 30, 2020: Monday, Fifth Week of Lent)
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“It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up.”

“After the Watergate break-in, ‘quick action, resolution on the spot,’ could have saved President Nixon, said Prof. Michael Useem, an expert in business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

‘It was the inaction, the cover-up, that absolutely ruined his reputation in history forever,’ he said. Since the Nixon administration, a mantra repeated during many scandals has been, ‘It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.’”

(http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/01/business/choosing-whether-to-cover-up-or-come-clean.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm)

In today’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel, we are presented with what might be considered as the Watergate scandal of the Old Testament: the story of Susanna. In short, two elders of the people attempted to have their way with her – the crime. When she resisted, they accused her of adultery – the cover-up. In effect, they sinned against Susanna twice by (1) attempting to physically assault her, and (2) by falsely assaulting her reputation. In the end, their crime – and perhaps even more so, the cover-up – results in their paying the ultimate price – death.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote:

“A soul that has consented to sin must have horror for itself and be washed clean as soon as possible out of the respect it must have for the eyes of God’s Divine Majesty who sees it. Why should we die a spiritual death when we have this sovereign remedy at hand?” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 19, p. 111)

Anyone can make a mistake. Why make it worse for yourself or others by covering it up?

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(March 31, 2020: Tuesday. Fifth Week of Lent)
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“We have sinned in complaining against the Lord…”

How quickly we forget.

In the first reading today from the Book of Numbers, we witness the complaining, whining and moaning of the Israelites as they continued their journey toward the Promised Land. Sure, the trek had been laborious; sure, the conditions were challenging; sure, the food and drink was less than desirable. But despite the fact that God had liberated them from the yolk of Egyptian slavery and oppression, the Israelites’ gratitude had clearly waned. Not only had they forgotten what God had done for them, but they also appear to have presumed that the pathway to freedom would be easy.

Dr. M. Scott Peck will probably be best remembered for the opening statement in his book The Road Less Travelled. The first chapter begins with these words: “Life is difficult.” Throughout much of his book the author maintains that a significant amount of human pain and grief is not the result of difficulties, but rather, much of the suffering and frustration that we experience is the direct result of our tendency to complain about life’s difficulties and our attempts to avoid them altogether. Such complaining and avoidance can lead to – among other maladies – a case of chronic ingratitude.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote:

“Complain as little as possible about the wrongs you suffer. Undoubtedly a person who complains commits a sin by doing so, since self-love always feels that injuries are worse than they really are…In the opinion of many – and it is true – constant complaining is a clear proof of lack of strength and generosity." (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 130)

On some level, we can all relate to the Israelites. We’ve all experienced tough times. We’ve all gotten bad breaks. We’ve all had our share of difficulties and disappointments. We’ve all had moments when we felt that the road to happiness shouldn’t take so much time, effort and energy. But we also know from our own experience that chronic complaining is toxic. It poisons our perceptions and perspectives, and it ultimately does nothing to address or reduce whatever difficulties we may be facing, be they real and/or imagined. In fact, chronic complaining simply makes things worse – for us, as well as for those around us.

Do you suffer from chronic complaining? Try applying the surest remedy of all: Gratitude.

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(April 1, 2020: Wednesday. Fifth Week of Lent)
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“The truth will set you free…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Our free will is never as free as when it is a slave to God’s will, just as it is never as servile as when it serves our own will. It never has so much life as when it dies to self, and never so much death as when it lives to itself. We have the liberty to do good and evil, but to choose evil is not to use but to abuse this liberty. Let us renounce such wretched liberty and subject forever our free will to the rule of heavenly love. Let us become slaves to dilection, whose serfs are happier than kings. If our souls should ever will to use their liberty against our resolutions to serve God eternally and without reserve, Oh, then, for love of God, let us sacrifice our free will and make it die to itself so that it may live in God! A man who out of self-love wishes to keep his freedom in this world shall lose it in the next world, and he who shall lose it in this world for the love of God shall keep it for that same love in the next world. He who keeps his liberty in this world shall find it a serf and a slave in the other world, whereas he who makes it serve the cross in this world shall have it free in the other world. For there, when he is absorbed in enjoyment of God’s goodness, his liberty will be converted into love and love into liberty, a liberty infinitely sweet. Without effort, without pain, and without any struggle we shall unchangingly and forever love the Creator and Savior of our souls. (Treatise 12: 10, pp- 277-278)

The Salesian tradition holds this truth about human freedom: it is not about being able to do whatever we want – that isn’t freedom, that’s license. True human freedom is about being able to do whatever it is that God wants us to do.

How might this truth set you free today?

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Spirituality Matters March 19th - March 25th

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(March 19, 2020: Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
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“Joseph her husband was a righteous man…”

In a conference (The Virtues of St. Joseph) he gave to the Sisters of the Visitation, St. Francis de Sales remarked:

“Now, our glorious St. Joseph was endowed with four great virtues (constancy, perseverance, strength and valor) and practiced them marvelously well. As regards his constancy, did he not display it wonderfully when seeing Our Lady with child, and, not knowing how that could be, his mind was tossed with distress, perplexity and trouble? Yet, in spite of all, he never complained, he was never harsh or ungracious towards his holy Spouse, but remained just as gentle and respectful in his demeanor as he had ever been…” (Living Jesus, p.184)

Joseph experienced more than a little turmoil in his role as husband and father of the Holy Family. However, being the just and righteous man that he was, Joseph never took out his frustrations on his wife or on his son. Rather, he accepted life’s ups and downs as expressions of God’s will for him.

And so we pray: God grant us the grace to imitate the example of St. Joseph. Help us to take whatever comes in life without taking it out on others – especially on those we love the most.

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(March 20, 2020: Friday. Third Week of Lent)
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“You shall love your neighbor as yourself…”

In today’s selection from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cites what He considered to be the greatest or “first” commandment: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Without being asked, He cites a “second” commandment as well: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The order of the “loves” listed between the two “commandments” is noteworthy: love of God comes first, love of neighbor comes second and love of self comes last. Many people quietly confide to their most trusted friends that over the span of their lives, the person that that they discovered it took the longest to love was themselves.

Are you having problems loving God? Are you having problems loving others? Maybe it’s because you’re having trouble loving yourself. “There is no commandment greater than these.” In the case of the last, perhaps there is no commandment more difficult.

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(March 21, 2020: Saturday. Third Week of Lent)
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"O God, be merciful to me, a sinner..."

We are told in today’s Gospel that the man who identified himself as a sinner – and who asked for the mercy of God – is the one who “went home justified”, unlike the Pharisee who in his smug self-absorption thanked God for making him better than most other people. While the latter puffed himself up, the former wasn’t necessarily putting himself down, but rather, he was simply speaking the truth.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Nothing can so effectively humble us before the mercy of God as the multitude of his benefits. Nor can anything so much humble us before the justice of God as the enormity of our innumerable offenses. Let us consider what God has done for us and what we have done against Him; and as we reflect upon our sins – one by one – so let us consider his greater graces in the same order. What good do we have which we have not received from God? And if we have received it, why should we glory in it? On the contrary, the lively consideration of graces received makes us humble, insofar as knowledge of these graces should excite gratitude within us.” (Select Salesian Subjects, 0048, p. 12)

The Pharisee and the tax collector are a study in contrast: one’s accounting of God’s graces in his life left him arrogant and aloof, whereas another’s accounting of God’s graces in his life left him humble and grateful.

Who would you rather be today?

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(March 22, 2020: Fourth Sunday of Lent)
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“Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

Blindness is cured by the touch of Jesus. Expressing our faith - being sources of the touch of Jesus in the lives of others - allows others to see and experience the healing power of Jesus, too.

Jesus took the initiative in curing the blindness of the young man born blind. This miracle provided others the occasion to come to a better understanding of Jesus and his mission.

The young man dialogued with the authorities concerning his cure. In doing so, he came to a better understanding of Jesus for himself and, he consequently challenged the authorities concerning their beliefs.

Francis de Sales wrote in the Introduction to the Devout Life (3,26)

“If then you are in love with God, you will often speak of him in your familiar conversations with those of your household, your friends and your neighbors…But speak always of God, as of God: reverently and devoutly; not with ostentation or affectation, but with a spirit of meekness, charity and humility…Pray secretly to God in your soul that it would please Him to make this holy dew sink deep into the heart of those who hear you.”

As the young man spoke more and more about Jesus, he broke open the mystery of what had happened to him and how much Jesus meant to him. He went from seeing Jesus as a miracle worker, to recognizing him as/believing him to be the Son of God (“He worshipped him”). He gradually came to know Jesus in his fullness, encountering and making that truth his own and doubtlessly changing his life forever.

During this season of Lent, the Sacrament of Reconciliation provides us with the touch of Jesus that cures our own blindness, weakness and sinfulness. Prayer and meditation provide a means to break open for ourselves the mystery of our own redemption. Reading and listening to the Word of God in Scripture and sharing it with others in Bible groups and in less formal ways gives us further insight into how we can participate in the mission of Jesus and his Church.

Openness to the gift of faith permits us to see others as God sees them, and as Samuel saw in David God's anointed one.

St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians says, “Live as children of the light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

If our life style as a Christian challenges others, then we can express our beliefs with meekness and humility. We need to accept the gift of grace which we received not only as a gift but also as a responsibility. In other words, we need to help others be open to grace and be cured of their own blindness, and to come to see and experience the light that we find only in the life, death, resurrection and love of Jesus Christ.

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(March 23, 2020: Monday. Fourth Week of Lent)
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“The man believed what Jesus said to him...”

In today’s Gospel, a royal official – whose name we never learn – asked Jesus to save his son, who was apparently near death. Obviously, this was going to involve some travelling on Jesus’ part (upwards to a full day, as it turned out!), insofar as the official asked Jesus to “come down” – presumably, to their home – and heal his son. Much to the surprise of the official, Jesus simply tells him – without making the trip to actually visit the boy – that his son has already been saved.

And the official “believed what Jesus said to him.” In other words, he took Jesus at his word…and headed home.

You don’t think that his heading home immediately is a big deal? Then put yourself in the official’s position. Can you imagine what was going through his mind, minutes - then hours - after beginning his long walk back home? He had lots of time to second-guess his decision to simply believe Jesus’ statement. “What was I thinking about?” “Am I crazy?” “Should I have insisted that he come with me?” “Was I stupid to believe him?” “What if my son has died by the time I get home?” “Did I let my son – and my family – down?” “Have I failed?”

Talk about faith! A faith, as it turns out, for which he and his entire family were richly rewarded.

St. Francis de Sales once wrote:

“Believe me, God who has led you up until now will continue to hold you in His blessed hand, but you must throw yourself into the arms of His providence with complete trust and forgetfulness of self. Now is the right time. Almost everyone can manage to trust God in the sweetness and peace of prosperity, but only his children can put their trust in Him when storms and tempests rage: I mean to put their trust in Him with complete self-abandonment.” (Select Salesian Subjects, 0130, p. 28)

When it comes to “complete trust and forgetfulness of self”, the standard doesn’t get much higher than the one set by the royal official in today’s Gospel.

How does our trust in God today – especially in the midst of our own “storms and tempests” – measure up?

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(March 24, 2020: Tuesday. Fourth Week of Lent)
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"Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”

A touching story in today’s Gospel from John. Jesus encounters a man who has been disabled virtually all his life. The man hopes to be healed by being immersed in the waters of a pool believed to hold miraculous power, but insofar as somebody else always manages to get to the pool ahead of him, his hopes for healing remain unfulfilled.

It’s remarkable what Jesus does for him. He doesn’t offer to carry the man over to the pool. He doesn’t offer to immerse the man into the pool. Jesus heals the disabled man on the very spot on which he had been marooned for nearly four decades.

Simply put, Jesus didn’t make the man work for His healing. Jesus didn’t make the man work for His love. Jesus administered his healing touch freely and without condition.

How often do we make someone work for our love before we decide to share it? How often do we make someone work for our healing touch before we choose to grant it? How often do we make someone crawl before we decide to help them to walk? That’s certainly not how God acts.

Why should we?

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(March 25, 2020: Annunciation of the Lord)
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“Ask for a sign from the Lord your God…”

Who wouldn’t jump at the chance of making such a request of God? Who wouldn’t say “yes” to the opportunity for God to display His power for us and/or for someone whom we love? Yet, in today’s selection from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Ahaz balks when given the opportunity of a lifetime and he takes a pass. He backs away, saying, “I will not tempt the Lord.”

What’s up with that? Perhaps Ahaz’s reluctance is rooted in his intuition that signs from the Lord often require changes in the one who asks for the sign in the first place! Under those circumstances, his circumspection makes a whole lot more sense. Remember the admonition? “Be careful what you pray for…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Devout discussions and arguments, miracles and other helps in Christ’s religion do indeed make it supremely credible and knowable, but faith alone makes it believed and known. It brings us to love the beauty of its truth and to believe the truth of its beauty by the sweetness it diffuses throughout our will and the certitude it gives to our intellect. The Jews saw our Lord’s miracles (signs) and heard his marvelous doctrines, but since they were not disposed to accept the faith, that is, since their wills were not susceptible to the sweet and gentle faith because of the bitterness and malice with which they were filled, they remained in their infidelity. They saw the force of the proof but they did not relish its sweet conclusion…” (TLG, II, Chapter 14, pp. 139 – 140)

Of course, God has been giving us signs of his love for us - regardless of whether we have asked for them or not - from the very beginning of time. Creation, itself – through which we were made in God’s image and likeness - is the first and fundamental sign of God’s love for us. As today’s Gospel reminds us, Jesus is the great reaffirmation of that first and fundamental sign of divine love, because Jesus not only redeems us, but through Jesus God also made himself in our image and likeness.

If you are so moved, feel free to ask God for a sign of his love and care. However, perhaps it is better that we be more moved to be signs of God’s love and care in the lives of one another.

Just like Jesus!

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Spirituality Matters March 12th - March 18th

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(March 12, 2020: Thursday. Second Week of Lent)
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“Remember that you received what was good during your lifetime…”

The parable in today’s Gospel does not require a great deal of explanation. Not to put too fine a point on it, but it is a warning - a stern warning. Acts have consequences; choices have ramifications; decisions have results. What goes around comes around and in a very big way.

However, take note of one detail in the story: the rich man who “dressed in purple and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day” is not condemned because of his good fortune – he is condemned because of his failure to share his good fortune with someone less fortunate.

Lent is not only a good time for us to reflect upon all the good – all the blessings – that God continues to shower upon us, but Lent is also a good time to consider how good we are – or aren’t – at sharing our goods with others.

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(March 13, 2020: Friday. Second Week of Lent)
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“When his brothers saw that their father loved him best…they hated him…”

This is a famous story from the Book of Genesis. It is a story of family feud. It is a story of internecine jealousy. It is a story of unspeakable betrayal.

And in the end, it is a story of God’s unpredictable providence!

Joseph is his father’s favorite; his older brothers hate him for it. Blinded by their resentment and envy, they plot to murder Joseph. At the last moment, however, Reuben has second thoughts. He proposes that they essentially leave their brother to die in the desert (hoping that he might subsequently rescue his brother). At first blush, it seemed that Reuben’s plan might have worked until a caravan of foreigners appeared. Then, plan changed again: the brothers – even Rueben, by all accounts – decided to sell Joseph into slavery. This provided the brothers with an out: they didn’t actually take Joseph’s life, but they could get Joseph out of their lives nonetheless.

Twenty years later Israel finds itself in the grip of a devastating famine. At the end of their respective ropes, Joseph’s brothers travel to Egypt with the hope of finding food and shelter. Imagine their surprise – and their shame - when they find themselves face-to-face with the brother whom they had sold into slavery, presumably unto death.

There is a great mystery here to be considered. Absent his brothers’ treachery, Joseph’s kin – and presumably, Joseph himself – might have all been consumed by the famine that swept through Israel twenty years after selling their brother into slavery. How could anyone have anticipated that an act of betrayal could turn into a tale of salvation, forgiveness and reconciliation?

What’s the moral to the story? Sometimes in life good things happen for all the wrong reasons. Sometimes in life even the most loathsome of intentions can produce an inspired turn-of-events. Simply put, God can make miracles out of the worst of circumstances.

Today reflect on this question: are there any examples of inspired turnoff-events in your own life in which something that you experienced as bad eventually helped to bring about something good?

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(March 14, 2020: Saturday. Second Week of Lent)
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"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them..."

This statement is the resentment leveled against Jesus in today’s selection from the Gospel of Luke. In response, Jesus proceeds to tell the Pharisees and scribes a parable: the parable of the prodigal son.

The word “prodigal” is defined as “rashly or wastefully extravagant.” Well, that certainly describes the younger son to a tee. After all, he demands an inheritance (to which, as the younger son, he was not entitled) and promptly blows his entire fortune on irresponsible living.

The word “prodigal” is also defined as “lavish in giving”. Well, that certainly describes the father. After all, not only does he not rub the failure in his younger son’s face – or treat him like a slave - but he welcomes him back, forgives him, and restores his place and position in the family.

The word “prodigal” is also defined as “lavish in yielding”. Well, that certainly relates to the older son, or more to the point, to the older son’s struggle. The story ends with the father begging the older brother to let go of his resentment – to set aside his anger – toward his younger brother’s return as well as toward his father’s lavish celebration of the younger brother’s return.

Is there anything in that story to which you can really relate at this point in your life? Is there anyone in the parable with whom you can most closely empathize?

What is your answer? Why?

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(March 15, 2020: Third Sunday of Lent)
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"Is the Lord in our midst or not?"

From generation to generation, this is a timely (even a perennial) question, more often than not raised in moments of crisis and confusion or in the experience of suffering, tragedy, injustice or loss. Angry, frustrated and disillusioned, the Israelites - our spiritual ancestors - posed the question to Moses in the midst of the seemingly aimless desert trek on which they had been led. Like them, we ask the same question in our own ways every day, whether due to global events like terrorism, war, famine and disease or our own personal struggles, including unemployment, illness, death and relational issues.

Moreover, it is the perfect question to reflect upon as we progress in our Lenten journey.

At least intellectually, we do believe that God is truly in our midst. Francis de Sales certainly did, but for him, this was no mere intellectual assent - this was a core belief:

“There is no place or thing in this world in which God is not truly present. Just as wherever birds fly they always encounter the air, so also wherever we go or wherever we are God is truly present.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 2.)

However, in our eagerness for God to spring water from the rock in times of doubt or adversity, we often forget the fact that God has been with us all along the way. In moments of crisis, those who encourage us with a kind word, a good turn, or attentive an ear can reflect to us the immediacy of God's faithful, ongoing presence - a presence likewise experienced in Scripture heard, Eucharist shared and prayer raised up.

Still, despite our best intentions and attention, we sometimes panic and miss the obvious in our frantic search for the Lord, especially in times of great need. God is, as it were, “hidden in plain sight”. We forget that God is as near to us as the very air we breathe, a mistake that the Samaritan woman almost makes in her own encounter with Jesus at the well. The Lord is in her midst – in fact, he is right in front of her – but this spontaneous request for a drink from a Jewish male is so astonishing that she almost fails to recognize who is speaking with her. Happily, she realizes that it could “possibly be the Christ” and gratitude stirs her to abandon her water jar, run to town and announce to the people the Good News of her encounter with Jesus.

Whether in the desert or at the well, signs of God's presence are always in our midst and, like the woman in the Gospel, these signs are something for which we should be grateful. The gratitude we feel and express for these signs produces trust: trust in God and trust in those who are signs of God's love for us. “Just trust in the Lord,” St. Francis de Sales writes, “and He will continue to lead you safely through all things. Where you cannot walk, God will carry you in His arms.”

In gratitude for those times when we have been carried in the Lord's arms, today may we be signs of God's presence for others.

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(March 16, 2020: Monday. Third Week of Lent)
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“If the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it?”

Naaman – a great general and a foreigner – travels to far-off Samaria in the hope of being cured of his leprosy. This powerful man – a force with whom to be reckoned - is prepared to do whatever it takes, regardless of how superhuman or heroic, in order to curry favor with the God of Israel. When he finally reaches the home of Elisha, Naaman is told to simply wash seven times in the River Jordan. Period!

Naaman is furious! Such a remedy seems useless at best, insulting at worst. But then, someone in his retinue challenges his presumption that God can only work through extraordinary events and actions or that God is only interested in extraordinary events and actions. In effect, a servant says to Naaman, “You know, if the prophet had asked you to do something absolutely impossible, you would have done it in a heartbeat. When he asked you to do something incredibly ordinary instead, you can’t believe it. Get over yourself and wash! Other than your pride, what do you have to lose?”

And the rest – as they say – is history.

There’s something of Naaman the Syrian inside each and every one of us. After all, don’t most of us – if not all of us – believe that if you really want something big – if you love somebody big-time – that you need to do something big in order to achieve something big – and that you have do something big in order to express your big-time love? Francis de Sales reminds us:

“Great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves, but little ones are frequent.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 35, p. 215)

Are you looking to do something good for God today? Rather than waste your time waiting around for an opportunity to do something bigger than life, how about turning your attention to everyday life?

With big – that is, great – love!

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(March 17, 2020: Patrick, missionary and bishop)
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“Patrick was born in Britain of a Romanized family. At age 16 he was torn by Irish raiders from the villa of his father, Calpurnius, a deacon and minor local official, and carried into slavery in Ireland, where, during six bleak years spent as a herdsman, he turned with fervor to his faith. Hearing at last in a dream that the ship in which he was to escape was ready, he fled his master and found passage to Britain. There he came near to starvation and suffered a second brief captivity before he was reunited with his family. Thereafter, he may have paid a short visit to the Continent.”

“The best known passage in the Confessio, his spiritual autobiography, tells of a dream, after his return to Britain, in which one Victoricus delivered him a letter headed, “The Voice of the Irish.” As he read it, he seemed to hear a certain company of Irish beseeching him to walk once more among them. “Deeply moved,” he says, “I could read no more.” Nevertheless, because of the shortcomings of his education, he was reluctant for a long time to respond to the call. Even on the eve of embarkation for Ireland he was beset by doubts of his fitness for the task. Once in the field, however, his hesitations vanished. Utterly confident in the Lord, he journeyed far and wide, baptizing and confirming with untiring zeal. In diplomatic fashion he brought gifts to a kinglet here and a lawgiver there but accepted none from any. On at least one occasion, he was cast into chains. On another, he addressed with lyrical pathos a last farewell to his converts who had been slain or kidnapped by the soldiers of Coroticus.”

“The phenomenal success of Patrick's mission is not, however, the full measure of his personality. Since his writings have come to be better understood, it is increasingly recognized that, despite their occasional incoherence, they mirror a truth and simplicity of the rarest quality. Not since St. Augustine of Hippo had any religious diarist bared his inmost soul as Patrick did in his writings. As D.A. Binchy, the most austerely critical of Patrician (i.e., of Patrick) scholars, has put it, “The moral and spiritual greatness of the man shines through every stumbling sentence of his rustic Latin.” (http://www.biography.com/people/st-patrick-9434729?page=1)

We stand in awe of the level of Patrick’s generosity in answering God’s call for him to evangelize the people of a land in which he himself was once imprisoned! The measure with which Patrick measured was clearly measured back to him thirty, sixty and a hundredfold if you consider the impact that his missionary efforts had on both the people of the Ireland in his day and throughout all of continental Europe long after his death.

Isn’t it amazing the difference that one person can make by measuring generously to others? How might we imitate Patrick’s generosity through our willingness to be generous to all those we meet today? How can our lives make a positive impact in the lives of others today?

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(March 18, 2020: Wednesday. Third Week of Lent)
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“Observe them carefully…”

What is it that we should be observing carefully? As we hear in the words on the lips of Moses from the Book of Deuteronomy today, it is God’s statutes and decrees that we are to observe carefully.

When we fail to observe God’s laws carefully – regardless of how large or how little God’s laws may be, as Jesus points out in today’s Gospel from Matthew – often times it is not because we are intentionally choosing to break them as much as – once again – we have managed to forget them, and in forgetting them we manage to lose sight of them altogether.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Blind men do not see a prince who is present among them, and therefore do not show him the respect they do after being told or reminded of 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 II, Chapter 2, p. 84) And in the effort to underscore the importance of doing carefully any worthwhile endeavor, recall Francis de Sales’ very definition of devotion, that is, holiness:

“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet it is not always love as such. Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to God. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also to do good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion.” (Ibid, Part I, Chapter 1)

Today, do you want to make progress in observing carefully God’s statutes and decrees? You can start - as the Book of Deuteronomy reminds us – by not allowing them to slip from your memory! As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.”

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Spirituality Matters March 5th - March 11th

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(March 5, 2020: Thursday. First Week of Lent)
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“Ask and it will be given…”

In today’s Gospel Jesus continues to give instruction on prayer. He tells us “everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks, finds; to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

In a sermon given on April 5, 1615, Francis de Sales made the following observation regarding asking for things in prayer:

“We have said that there are two kinds of goods for which we may ask in prayer: spiritual goods and corporal goods. There are two kinds of spiritual goods. One kind is necessary for our salvation: for these (faith, hope and charity) we ought to ask God simply and without condition, for he wants to give them to us. The other kind (ecstasies, raptures, spiritual comforts and consolations) – although also spiritual – we ought to ask for under the same rubric as corporal goods, namely, only if it is God’s will and if it is for His greater glory. Under these conditions we may ask for anything.” (Fiorelli, OSFS, Sermons on Prayer, p. 15)

Of course, when Jesus assures us that we will receive when we ask, we cannot assume that He means we will always receive precisely that for which we ask. Insofar as God does hear us, God will always answer our petitions, albeit not necessarily in accordance with our wishes. When God’s response does not appear to match our request, Francis encourages us to not become discouraged, since “perfection does not consist in having these goods, but rather in having our will united to that of God. It is this that we may and ought to ask from the Divine Majesty continually and unconditionally.” (Ibid, p. 16)

Referring to the order in which the petitions are ranked in the Lord’s Prayer, Francis notes:

“We ought to ask first that His Name be hallowed, that is to say, that He may be acknowledged and adored by all. Next, we must ask for what is most necessary for us, namely, that His Kingdom come for us, so that we may be inhabitants of Heaven. Third, we ask that His will be done. After these three requests we add, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Jesus Christ makes us say, ‘Give us our daily bread,’ because under this word ‘bread’ are included all temporal goods." (Ibid, pp. 16-17)

We’ve all heard the dictum, “Be careful what you pray for.” Jesus tells us something altogether different. He says: ask for anything, but be careful about the reasons for which you ask. Is it for your comfort and consolation or is it for God’s honor and glory?

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(March 6, 2020: Friday. First Week of Lent)
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“If the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, St. Francis de Sales observed:

“Our Savior’s redemption touches our miseries and makes them more beneficial and worthy of love than original innocence could ever have been. The angels, says our Savior, have ‘more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just that have no need for repentance.’ So, too, the state of redemption is a hundred times better than that of innocence. Truly, by the watering of our Savior’s blood, made with the hyssop of the cross, we have been restored to a white incomparably better than that possessed by the snows of innocence. Like Naaman, we come out of the stream of salvation more pure and clean that if we had never had leprosy. This is to the end that God’s majesty, as he has ordained for us as well, should not be ‘overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good’…" (TLG, Book II, Chapter 5, pp. 115 – 116)

This display of God’s generosity is nothing if not breathtaking. God loves us so much that not only does God not hold our sins against us if we should repent from our evil ways - God goes even further by applying his grace to our repentance in ways that can transform us into something more beautiful than if we had never committed sin in the first place! How generous is God? God can even turn our sins into a means of our salvation if we but trust in his unconditional and abiding love for us. But should this really surprise us? After all, have you ever noticed that some of the greatest of saints started out by being the greatest of sinners?

Are there any ways in which you are disfigured by the leprosy of sin? Don’t be ashamed; rather, be assured that God can transform your spiritual disfigurement into something – actually, someone – far more beautiful than you could ever have believed possible.

And God will effect this transformation even today!

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(March 7, 2020: Saturday. First Week of Lent)
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"Be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul..."

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet it is not always love as such. Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to the Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also do this carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

Indeed, “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

Carefully, frequently and promptly!

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(March 8, 2020: Second Sunday of Lent)
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“He was transfigured before their eyes…”

Jesus takes Peter, James and James’ brother John to a high mountain. There, before their eyes, Jesus is transfigured. They see his dazzling and radiant glory. They clearly see Jesus’ relationship with all that had come before in the divine history of salvation in the persons of Moses and Elijah. They hear a voice that confirms Jesus’ union with God, Abba…Father.

Sometimes I find myself wondering: was it Jesus who changed, or was there something in the three followers of Jesus that changed? 

In other words, did Jesus show them something new and different about himself, or did his followers, for the first time, see without difficulty or obstacle the dazzling glory that was always a part of Jesus’ ministry to the poor, the disadvantaged, the needy, and the neglected? Was the voice that spoke of Jesus as a beloved son a new revelation, or did these three men hear for the first time a voice that had always been present and active from the very beginning of Jesus’ conception?

What about us? Do we see in ourselves our own God-given glory as clearly as the three disciples saw in Jesus? Do we see how God’s divine plan of salvation has brought us to where we are in life? Do we recognize the role in that same plan of divine salvation that each of us is called to play? Do we hear the voice of a God who created us, redeemed us and inspires us to be his beloved children, his very dear daughters and sons?

The message could not be any clearer than the Word of God we hear from the book of Genesis. The same God who spoke to our ancestor Abram is the same God who speaks of us when he says:

“I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you
will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you…all the communities of the earth will
find blessing in you.”

To the extent that we are a blessing in the lives of others (as distinct from a curse) then God’s dazzling glory shines in us; God’s will is revealed through us; God’s loving voice is embodied in us…for the entire world to see. Not just on the mountaintop of life, by the way, but in the valleys and plains of everyday life.

As we journey through this season of Lent, let us ask for the grace to see not only the brilliant glory of Jesus who is always with us, but also the God-given glory that shines inside of us and inside all those whose lives we touch. Let us hear not only the voice of God that speaks of Jesus as a son, but also the voice of the same God who calls us his sons and daughters in the everyday circumstances, relationships and experiences in which we find ourselves.

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(March 9, 2020: Monday of the Second Week of Lent)
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“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful…”

What does it mean to be merciful as the Father is merciful? As the reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel suggests, it is about being generous and loyal. Daniel wrote: “Lord, great and awesome, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those people who love you and observe your commandments!” Daniel then proceeds to remind his audience that the Lord also keeps his merciful covenant with those people who rebel against God’s commandments and laws through sin, evil and wickedness. Of course – as we know from our own experience - there is something of both within each one of us, because each one obeys and disobeys God’s commandments. And still, for all that, God remains loyal to us in good times, in bad times and in all the times in between. God stands by us in all things. God loves us no matter what. God is, after all, “compassion and forgiveness”.

Of course, God’s mercy, generosity and fidelity come with some very high expectations. God’s forgiveness should lead us to practice compassion, not complacence. As God doesn’t judge us, so we should not judge others! As God doesn’t condemn us, so we should not condemn others! As God forgives us, so we should forgive others! As God gives to us, so we should give to others! The measure with which we measure to others should measure up to how generously God measures to us…in all kinds of times, places and situations!

Would you like to be “great and awesome” in the eyes of God? Then try to do your level best to be merciful to others today as God is clearly merciful to you!

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(March 10, 2020: Tuesday. Second Week of Lent)
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“Let us set things right…”

In the selection from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah offers us some particularly appropriate and timely advice as we continue to journey through Lent. We are challenged to:

• Wash ourselves clean

• To put aside our misdeeds

• To cease doing evil

• To learn to do good

• To be willing to obey

In short, we are called to do the right thing.

Of course, we know from our own lived experience that as hard as we try to do the right thing, we don’t always get it right. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales offers us a practical example,

“I constantly advise you that prayers directed against and pressing anger must always be said calmly and peaceably, and not violently. Thus rule must be observed in all steps taken against evil. However, as soon as you see that you are guilty of a wrathful deed, correct the fault right away by an act of meekness toward the person with whom you were anger. It is a sovereign remedy against lying to contradict the untruth upon the spot as soon as we realize that we have told one. So also we must repair our anger instantly by a contrary act of meekness. Fresh wounds are quickest healed, as the saying goes…” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 8, pp. 148-149.

What is the moral? When it comes to doing good, we can always try our level best to make things right at a later time in the event that we don’t always get them right the first time. Lent might be a perfect time to do just that!

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(March 11, 2020: Wednesday of the Second Week of lent)
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What do you wish…?”

“What’s in it for me?” On some level that’s essentially what the mother of James and John is asking Jesus in today’s Gospel story. Whether her sons put her up to it or she came up with it all by herself, she is basically asking, “Why should my sons follow you? What’s the pay-off?” On the face of it, her request is perhaps reasonable, given Jesus’ prediction of his own falling out with the chief priests and the scribes that will lead to his being condemned, mocked, scourged and crucified. She wants some guarantee that her boys will have something to show for their trouble that she intuits will invariably come.

Really – what mother wouldn’t be concerned?

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

"We must often recall that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials and discomforts we meet.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

There is no way around it – the experience of enduring injuries, denials and discomforts is part-and-parcel of the life that comes with drinking the chalice from which Jesus drinks. Following Jesus – who is the Way, the Truth and the Life – isn’t all smiles and sunshine. And somewhere down deep inside us, the mother of James and John also whispers variations of her question to Jesus: “Why are you following Him? What’s in it for you? What do you hope to get out of this?”

“Must good be repaid with evil?” Some days it sure feels that way! Be that as it may, why do we continue to follow Jesus? Why do we drink from the chalice from which He drank?

Today, ask yourself the question: “What’s in it for me?”

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Spirituality Matters February 27th - March 4th

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(February 27, 2020: Thursday after Ash Wednesday)
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“Blessed are they who hope in the Lord…."

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Hope is simply looking towards – and striving for – our supreme good, who is God. We hope for such things as we expect to gain by another’s aid, whereas we aspire to such things as we strive after by our own resources and by ourselves. Just as men who would hope without aspiring would be rejected as cowardly and irresponsible, so too, those who aspire without hope would be considered rash, insolent and presumptuous.”

From a Salesian perspective the virtue of hope must be used in tandem with the virtue of aspiration. Hoping without aspiring - that is, without doing our part to make God’s dreams come true - is nothing other than wishful thinking, or as Francis de Sales calls it, cowardice. On the other hand, aspiring without hoping - that is, believing that we can do this all by ourselves without God’s help - is arrogance.

Look at Lent as a kind of Christian parallel to making New Year’s resolutions, but instead of waking up one day a year with some strategies for becoming better versions of ourselves – that is, growing in holiness – Lent offers us forty days during which to do some serious soul searching and life changing. The virtue of hope is a critical companion for us during our Lenten journeys, precisely because it helps us to be clear about how much of our growth depends on us, and how much of our growth depends on God.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord. Happy are those who remind themselves that God’s dreams for us are far too big to be accomplished all by ourselves. At the same time, blessed too, are those who aspire in the Lord, and happy are those who recognize – and do – their part in making God’s dreams for us a reality.

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(February 28, 2020: Friday after Ash Wednesday)
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“This is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own…”

The prophecy of Isaiah in today’s first reading could not be clearer - effective fasting needs to have tangible results. While doing without something in private may help us to make personal advances in the spiritual life, God prefers fasting that enables us to help others to advance in the spiritual life. God would much rather have us engaged in the fasting that enables us to “do”, rather than engaging in the fasting that simply stops at “doing without”.

It’s no accident that Jesus’ most scathing criticism of the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes focused on how their ways of fasting were of little – or no – help to others. In fact, the devotional practices of Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes actually laid heavy burdens on other people, burdens which these religious leaders were totally unwilling to help other people to carry. How can a person possibly hope to advance in his/her relationship with God while turning a blind eye to the plights of others – to say nothing of making others’ plights even worse?

Daniel adds: “Fast so as to make your voice heard on high.” How can our fasting make our voices heard on high? It can when our ways of fasting – our ways of doing– enable us to feed, nourish, free and empower others around us here below.

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(February 29, 2020: Saturday after Ash Wednesday)
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“If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“‘If a man does not offend in word, he is a perfect man,’ says St. James. Be careful never to let an indecent word leave your lips, for even if you do not speak with an evil intention those who hear it may take it in a different way. An evil word falling into a weak heart grows and spreads like a drop of oil on a piece of linen cloth. Sometimes it seizes the heart in such a way as to fill it with a thousand unclean thoughts and temptations. Just as bodily poison enters through the mouth, so what poisons the heart gets in through the ear and the tongue that utters it is a murderer…No man can tell me that he speaks without thinking…” (Part III, Chapter 27, pp. 194-195)

We are responsible for what comes out of our mouths. Words are not just words. They are powerful. They have an impact on other people. St. James states: “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”

Would you like to be light in other peoples’ darkness? Would you like to be a remedy to others’ sadness and gloom? A good place to start is to simply – and consistently – watch the words that come out of your mouth.

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(March 1, 2020: First Sunday of Lent)
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“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert where he was tempted by the devil.”

While Jesus was preparing to begin his public ministry – to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God – to be the kind of Messiah envisioned by His Father – to open up his mind and heart to the power and promise of the Holy Spirit – he was tempted.

Tempted to turn stone into bread and to use his saving power for his own convenience. Tempted to settle for earthly kingdoms and to be satisfied with passing glory and majesty. Tempted to throw himself from the temple and presumably, to convince people of his identity and authority through a single, dramatic, headline-grabbing event.

Fundamentally, Jesus was tempted to be someone other than who God wanted him to be. Jesus was tempted to be a different kind of savior. Jesus was tempted to believe that there was an easier way to redeem, to save and to sanctify. Jesus was tempted to believe that there was a short cut to salvation, a “one-size-fits-all” road to redemption.

We can relate to this temptation. How often do we tell ourselves that we would be happier, healthier and holier if we were someone else? How often do we say that there must be another way (read, an easier way, a less inconvenient way) to be a good wife, a good husband, a good son or daughter, a good sister or brother, a good friend or neighbor? The tragedy is that if we spend our lives believing that we’d be better off if we were someone or somewhere else, we would never live the one life – the only life – that God gives us.

Francis de Sales wrote:

“Don’t sow your desires in some else’s garden; just cultivate your own as best you can. Don’t long to be someone other than what you are; rather, desire to thoroughly be who you are. Direct your thoughts to being very good at that and to bear the crosses, little or great, that you find there. Believe me, this is the most important point– and least understood – in the spiritual life.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 112)

Jesus was tempted to be someone other than the one whom the Father wanted him to be. Jesus was tempted to forsake the authentic pathway of love for the hollow, devilish promise of a shortcut: Jesus was tempted to take the (seemingly) easy way out. However, his belief in God’s plan for him allowed Jesus to disavow the empty promise of a quick fix for the path that leads to true happiness, health and holiness. To use Matthew Kelly’s image, Jesus was tempted to settle for something less than “being the best version of himself”.

As we journey through this season of Lent, let us ask for the courage we need to recognize the voice of the tempter within us. Let us ask for the insight to see the ways in which we are tempted to spend our lives wishing we were someone else. Let us ask for the grace and the strength to follow the example of Christ, the one who shows us that love is not about quick fixes or short cuts, but that love is about being willing to go the distance…faithfully, one day, one person at a time.

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(March 2, 2020: Monday. First Week of Lent)
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“You shall not…You shall.”

Today’s readings remind us that being children of God comes with its share of “do’s” and “don’ts”.

The “don’ts” include: You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely. You shall not defraud or rob. You shall not withhold. You shall not curse. You shall not spread slander. You shall not hate. The “do’s” include: You shall feed the hungry. You shall satisfy the thirsty. You shall clothe the naked. You shall welcome the stranger. You shall care for the sick. You shall visit the imprisoned.

Many people experience the commandment to follow both the letter and the spirit of God’s Law to be burdensome. In today’s Gospel, Jesus insists that living by God’s Law is not only not burdensome, but in fact is the way to Beatitude – it is the way of experiencing blessing by being blessing in the lives of others.

Be it through “do’s” or “don’ts”, how might God be asking you to be a source of divine Beatitude – that is, a blessing – in the lives of others today?

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(March 3, 2020: Tuesday. First Week of Lent)
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“Do not babble like the pagans…”

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives instruction on the proper way to pray. He cautions us to “not babble like the pagans”, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

In a sermon given on April 5, 1615, Francis de Sales made the following observation regarding prayer in general, and vocal prayer in particular:

“To mutter something with the lips is not praying if one’s heart is not joined to it. To speak it is necessary first to have conceived interiorly what we wish to say. There is first the interior word, and then the spoken word, which causes what the interior has first pronounced to be understood. Prayer is nothing other than speaking to God. Now it is certain that to speak to God without being attentive to Him and to what we say to Him is something that is most displeasing to Him…God tests more the heart of the one who prays rather than the words pronounced by one who prays.” (Fiorelli, OSFS, Sermons on Prayer, p. 18)

Authentic prayer is not a matter of words. Authentic prayer is a matter of the heart, a heart whose stirrings must ultimately be displayed in actions.

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(March 4, 2020: Wednesday. First Week of Lent)
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“When God saw how they turned from their evil way, He repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them…”

Today’s reading from the Book of Jonah illustrates two things about God. First, God is just. God expects us to turn away from evil. God expects us to turn toward the good. Our failure to do so can result in clear and unambiguous consequences. Second, God’s justice toward us is outdone only by His mercy toward us. There appears to be no doubt that God is always prepared to give us the benefit of the doubt even if we are making only a modicum of progress in the love of God and neighbor.

Indeed, God is love, a love that tempers – that is, strengthens – justice with mercy.

It’s always tempting to get tough on other people who don’t measure up to our expectations. Ironically enough, this seems especially true in our relations with those we love. Perhaps their lack of progress isn’t because we aren’t being tough enough; perhaps it’s because we aren’t being merciful enough.

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Spirituality Matters February 20th - February 26th

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(February 20, 2020: Thursday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Show no partiality…”

We all have favorites. We all know people whose company we seek. We all know people whose company we shun. There are people we like for no particular reason. There are people we do not like, no matter how hard we try. That said, St. James challenges us to meet people where they are. St. James challenges us to treat them with respect and reverence, regardless of their likability and/or their status in life.

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“If we like certain people, we despise everyone else and oppose everyone that is not to our taste. If someone is poor-looking or if we develop a dislike for him, we find fault with everything he does: we never stop plaguing him and are always ready to run him down. By contrast, if we like someone because of his appearance, he can do nothing that we won’t excuse. There are some virtuous children whom their own parents can scarcely look at because of some physical defect, whereas other children notorious but remain their parents’ favorite because of some bodily grace…In general we prefer the rich to the poor, even though the rich are neither of better condition nor as virtuous. We even prefer those who are better dressed…” (Part III, Chapter 36) Of course, Francis de Sales is describing the practice of living by a “double standard,” something that is “an abominable thing before the Lord.”

Where does that leave us? “Be just and equitable in all your actions,” Francis continued. “Always put yourself in your neighbor’s place and put your neighbor in yours, then you will judge rightly…Resolve to examine your heart often to see if it is such toward your neighbor as you would like your neighbors to be toward you were you in your neighbor’s place.” In other words, Francis insists that we live by one standard and that we treat others by a single standard.

God’s standard.

By what – by whose – standard will we treat our neighbor today?

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(February 21, 2020: Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
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“Faith – if it does not have works – is dead.”

The debate over the roles that (1) “faith” and (2) “works” play in Salvation has been around since the days of St. Paul and St. James. Of course, it was Martin Luther who popularized the debate - a discourse that played no small role in what would become the Protestant Reformation some fifteen hundred years later.

Being followers of Jesus requires both “faith” and “works”. For Francis de Sales (who lived and worked in the Age when this debate was raging), combining “faith” and “works” results in what he called “vigilant faith”. In a sermon he gave during Lent, the Bishop of Geneva observed:

“There is a vigilant faith, which depends upon its union with charity. Vigilant faith not only performs good works like living faith, but it also penetrates and understands revealed truths quickly and with great depth and subtlety of perception. It is active and diligent in seeking and embracing those things which can increase and strengthening it. It is always on the alert to do good and to avoid evil…” (Living Jesus, pp. 108 – 109)

Faith coupled with works produces a “vigilant faith.” This vigilant faith is one that produces good works and these are the good works that produce deep faith.

Today, consider how vigilant is your faith? How vigilant are your good works?

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(February 22, 2020: Chair of St. Peter the Apostle)
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“Who do you say that I am?”

On the web site of the Catholic News Agency, we find the following entry for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter:

“The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter celebrates the papacy and St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome. St. Peter's original name was Simon. He was married with children and was living and working in Capernaum as a fisherman when Jesus called him to be one of the Twelve Apostles. Jesus bestowed to Peter a special place among the Apostles. He was one of the three who were with Christ on special occasions, such as the Transfiguration of Christ and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemani. He was the only Apostle to whom Christ appeared on the first day after the Resurrection. Peter, in turn, often spoke on behalf of the Apostles.”

“When Jesus asked the Apostles: ‘Who do men say that the Son of Man is?’ Simon replied: ‘Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ And Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood have not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: That you are Peter [Cephas, a rock], and upon this rock [Cephas] I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven’. (Mt 16:13-20) In saying this Jesus made St. Peter the head of the entire community of believers and placed the spiritual guidance of the faithful in St. Peter’s hands.”

The post on the web site continues:

“However, St. Peter was not without faults…”

Now there’s an understatement. No sooner does Jesus give Peter a big ‘shout out’ for correctly identifying him as the Christ than Jesus publically – and severely – reprimands Peter for disputing Jesus’ description of Himself as a suffering Messiah. Later, Peter rather lamely suggests erecting three tents while Jesus is transfigured on Mt. Tabor. Still later, Peter impetuously severs the ear of a slave belonging to one of the people who came to arrest Jesus at Gethsemani. After protesting his love of Jesus at the Last Supper, Peter denied Jesus not once, not twice but three times. And, of course, while Jesus spent the last hours of his life hanging on the cross, Peter was nowhere to be found.

Jesus may have called Peter “rock”, but the Savior knew he had cracks. While “Chair of Peter” speaks of stability, even Peter might be described as being “off his rocker” from time to time.

However, as imperfect as Peter was, God entrusted the keys of the kingdom to him. And as imperfect as we are, Jesus continues to entrust those same keys – however obvious or innocuous – to each and every one of us.

As we celebrate the “Chair of Peter,” don’t forget that Jesus has likewise prepared a chair – a place, a role – for each and every one of us in continuing the work of God’s Kingdom.

Like Peter, today do we have the courage to take our place?

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(February 23, 2020: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“You have heard it said…but I say to you…”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus picks up where he left off last Sunday by adding yet more verses to his version of the song “Higher Love.” Jesus proclaims that it isn’t enough to practice retribution that is balanced; you should not practice retribution at all. It isn’t enough to love your neighbor while hating your enemy; you must also love your enemies; you must pray for those who persecute you. When asked to travel a certain distance, you must go the extra mile. When asked for help, do what you can without expecting any return for your generosity. If someone strikes you on one side of your face, offer them the other side.

However, it would be a mistake to hear in Jesus’ words the invitation to be a wimp, a wall flower or a door mat. There comes a time in a person’s life (just as there were many times in Jesus’ life) when – despite all attempts to roll with the punches – you must simply – and strongly – stand up for what is right. This challenge is rooted in knowing how to take a stand against another without allowing hatred toward others to grow in our hearts. As the Book of Leviticus reminds us: “Though you may have to reprove your fellow citizen, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“Nothing so quickly calms down an angry elephant as the sight of a little lamb (writer’s note: you go first!); nothing so easily breaks the force of a cannon ball as wool. We do not set much value on correction that comes from anger – even when accompanied by reason – as to that which comes from reason alone. When princes visit their people with a peaceable retinue they honor them and cause them great joy, but when they come at the head of armies – even though for the common good – their visits are always disagreeable and harmful. In like manner, as long as reason rules and peaceably chastises, corrects and warns – even though severely and exactly – everyone loves and approves it.” (Part III, Ch. 8)

When we must stand up for ourselves, we must avoid knocking others down. When we must correct, chastise or reprove others, it must be done without suborning resentment. When we must work for peace, it most be pursued without employing unjust means. As we know from our own experience, however, this is much easier said than done. When justice actually requires that we prevent someone from striking us (or others) on the other cheek, we might unintentionally strike them first! Francis de Sales offers the following advice when we do the right thing in the wrong way:

“As soon as you see that you are guilty of a wrathful deed, correct the fault right away by an act of meekness toward the person with whom you grew angry. Just as it is a sovereign remedy against lying to contradict the untruth upon the spot as soon as we see we have told one, so, too, we must repair our anger instantly by a contrary act of meekness. As the saying goers, fresh wounds are quickest healed.” (Ibid)

As we see so clearly in the life of Jesus, living a “higher love” often has less to do with what we do – or don’t do – to others; it has much more to do with how we do – or don’t do – with others.

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(February 24, 2020: Monday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Show your works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom...”

Works…good life…humility…wisdom. These are attributes that St. James associates with the fruits of righteousness, fruits cultivated in the pursuit of peace.

In the Salesian tradition, humility is not about putting ourselves down. Humility is the root of wisdom, a wisdom that enables us to live in the truth of our littleness and in the truth of God’s greatness. Francis de Sales wrote:

“We must indeed keep ourselves humble because of our imperfections, but this same humility must be the foundation of a great generosity. Humility without generosity is only a deception and cowardice of heart that makes us think that we are good for nothing and that other people should never think of using us in anything great. By contrast, generosity in the absence of humility is mere presumption. Indeed, we may truthfully say, ‘It is true I have no virtue, still less the necessary gifts to be used in any undertaking,’ but after this humble acknowledgement we must put our confidence in God, believing that He will not fail to give us what we need when we need it. Let us forget ourselves and be occupied in faithfully praising God’s Divine Majesty and helping our neighbor to do the same so as to increase His glory as much as lies in our power.” (Living Jesus, p. 152)

“True humility says, ‘I can do nothing. I am only absolute nothingness.’ Then, it suddenly gives way to the spirit of generosity that says, ‘There is nothing and there can be nothing that I am unable to do, so long as I put all my confidence in God who can do all things.’ Buoyed up by this confidence, we courageously do all that is commanded…” (Living Jesus, pp. 152-153)

Do you want to cultivate peace? Do you want to produce the fruits of righteousness? Do you want to accomplish good things for God and neighbor? Then, ask for the gift of wisdom. Then, live in the truth of your littleness in order to have access to God’s greatness.

Working in and through you.

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(February 25, 2020: Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?”

Self-love is the source of many conflicts. I make myself the center of the universe. I put my own interests first. I expect everybody else to accept my way of seeing things and doing things. This self-centeredness and self-absorption is at the heart of all kinds of things that cause conflict, injury and division.

Look at today’s Gospel! Jesus is teaching his disciples about the ultimate price he will pay for putting himself at the service of others, only to discover that his disciples are arguing among themselves about who among them is the greatest. Talk about self-absorbed!

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“We are human solely because we possess reason, yet it is a rare thing to find human beings who are truly reasonable. Usually self-love leads us away from reason and directs us imperceptibly into countless small yet dangerous acts of injustice and iniquity…We condemn every little thing in our neighbor and excuse ourselves of important things. We want to sell high but will only buy at bargain prices. We desire that justice be done in others’ homes but presume that mercy and generosity be granted to our own. We like to have what we say about others taken in good part but we are tender and touchy about what others say about us…” (Part III, Chapter 36)

What is the remedy for self-love and its disastrous results? Putting others’ needs ahead of our own! Jesus teaches: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Self-love creates chaos. Love-of-others creates communion. Which love will you practice today?

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(February 26, 2020: Ash Wednesday)
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Lent is a time when each of us is challenged to recognize our need for conversion. We are invited to closely examine our relationship with God, ourselves and one another. Simply put, Lent asks us to name those sins, vices, weaknesses -- anything -- that prevent us from making real in thought, word and deeds our God-given dignity.

A popular way of ritualizing this inner journey is to "give up" something for Lent. Some refrain from tobacco; others eschew alcohol; still others pass up all desserts. Some of us may give up something good during Lent; some of us may give up something bad during Lent, and still others may give up a combination of both.

Using traditional language, Lent is a time for fasting. Fasting, however, is only half of the story. Lent, in its fullest expression is also a season for feasting!

In their book A Sense of Sexuality, (Doubleday 1989) Drs. Evelyn and James Whitehead remind us that "fasting, at its finest, is neither solely punishment nor denial. We fast not only to avoid evils but to recapture forgotten goods." Put another way, “the 'no' of fasting is fruitful only if we have some deeply valued 'yes' in our life." The arduous discipline of feasting complements our fasting; we need something for which to fast.

That's right. Feasting requires no less discipline than fasting. The discipline of feasting celebrates well and heartily the God-given blessings that we enjoy without engaging in selfishness and excess.

Lent, then, is as much a matter of "doing" as it is "doing without". St. Francis de Sales wrote in his Introduction to the Devout Life:

“Both fasting and working mortify and discipline us. If the work you undertake contributes to the glory of God and to your own welfare, I much prefer that you should endure the discipline of working than that of fasting.”

He continued:

“One person may find it painful to fast, another to serve the sick, to visit prisoners, to hear confessions, to preach, to assist the needy, to pray, and to perform similar exercised. These latter pains have as much value as the former.”

Whether through fasting or feasting, turning away from sin or turning toward virtue, these forty days of Lent are about out ‘insides’: our heart, mind, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, hopes and fears. It is the journey of the soul and spirit. “As for myself,” says Francis de Sales, “it seems to me that we ought to begin with the interior.”

And so we pray: God give us the grace to make a new beginning with the first of these forty days....and with every day that will follow hereafter.

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Spirituality Matters February 13th - February 19th

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(February 13, 2020: Thursday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time)
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"Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps."

We see a test of wills in today’s Gospel. A local woman is determined to wrest a miracle for her daughter from Jesus, but Jesus seems equally determined to deny her request. While Jesus appears committed to saying “no” to this woman’s plea, the woman appears equally determined to refuse to take “no” for an answer. Clearly, this scene has all the makings of a “Syrophoenician stand-off”.

In both cases, Jesus and the woman are persistent. They are both determined to persevere.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Our Savior attaches to the great gift of perseverance the supreme gift of eternal glory, as He has said, ‘The one who shall persevere to the end shall be saved.’ This gift is simply the sum total and sequence by which we continue in God’s love up to the end, just as the education, raising and training of a child are simply the acts of care, help and assistance…Perseverance is the most desirable gift we can hope for in this life. It is in our power to persevere. Of course, I do not mean that our perseverance takes its origin from our power. On the contrary, I know that it springs from God’s mercy, whose most precious gift it is.” (Book 3, Chapter 4, p. 174)

Jesus credits the Syrophoenician woman’s persistence – her perseverance – for granting her request to heal her daughter.

Today, how determined are we in our attempts to bring our needs – and the needs of those we love – to the Lord?

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(February 14, 2020: Cyril, Monk and Methodius, Bishop)
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“People brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.”

Jesus was only too happy to grant their request to heal a deaf man with a speech impediment. As we see in the Gospel account today, however, Jesus did much more than simply lay his hand on him. He took him apart from the crowd. Jesus placed his finger in the man’s ears And then spitting, Jesus placed his finger on the man’s tongue.

Jesus healed people in a variety of ways. Sometimes he simply said a word. Sometimes he gave a direct command. Sometimes he followed someone to their home. Sometimes he healed from far away. Sometimes he healed in public. And sometimes – as seen in today’s account from Mark’s Gospel – Jesus’ healing is private: intimately up-close and personal.

Ask yourself this question: how might you need Jesus to heal you today? Then, ask yourself another question: how might Jesus need you to heal someone else today?

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(February 15, 2020: Saturday, Fifth Week of Ordinary Time)
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“My heart is moved with pity…”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Compassion, sympathy, commiseration or pity is simply an affection that makes us share the sufferings and sorrows of ones we love and draws the misery that they endure into our own hearts…” (Book V, Chapter 4, p. 243)

As we see clearly in today’s Gospel, Jesus’ compassion is more than affection; it is more than a feeling. While he clearly makes the neediness of others his own, Jesus does more than that - he does something about the neediness. Jesus satisfies the hunger. Jesus heals the pain. Jesus breaks the chains. Jesus confronts the injustice.

Every time Jesus’ compassionate heart is moved, something good happens to others.

Today, will the same be said for our hearts?

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(February 16, 2020: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“You have heard it said…but I say to you.”

Think about it, there must be higher love

Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above

Without it life is wasted time

Look inside your heart, I’ll look inside mine.

Things look so bad everywhere

In this whole world what is fair?

We walk blind and we try to see

Falling behind in what could be.

Bring me a higher love, bring me a higher love

Bring me a higher love, where’s that higher love I keep thinking of?

• sung by Steve Winwood

In today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to a “higher” love. Jesus urges us to avoid practicing or pursuing spiritual minimalism, i.e., looking to do only the bare minimum of what is required or living life by the “good enough” method. Jesus clearly raises the bar when he tells his listeners that it isn’t just enough to avoid killing your neighbor, but you must also avoid growing angry with – or holding a grudge against – your neighbor. Indeed, you must be reconciled with your neighbor. It isn’t enough to just avoid committing adultery, but we must also avoid looking at others in ways that objectify or discount them for our own gratification or advantage. Indeed, rather than waste your time by looking at others your time would be better spent by examining yourself. It isn’t enough to just avoid making a false oath, but you should also avoid putting yourself in any situation in which you would feel obliged to swear to anything. Simply say what you mean, and mean what you say.

Jesus’ “higher love” is really at the heart of Francis’ notion of “devotion.” He wrote:

“Genuine, living devotion presupposes love of God, and hence it is simply true love of God. Yet it is not always love as such. Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to God’s Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only make us do good but also do the good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion…In addition, it arouses us to do quickly and lovingly as many good works as possible, both those commanded and those merely counseled or inspired.” (IDL, Part 1, Ch. 1)

For his part, St. Francis de Sales also challenges us to avoid spiritual minimalism. It isn’t good enough to avoid lying; we must be truthful. It isn’t good enough to avoid gluttony; we must be disciplined. It isn’t good enough to avoid being parsimonious; we must be generous. It isn’t good enough to avoid injuring others; we must heal others.

Let us pray…

God, help us to live this higher love. Help us to avoid trying to simply ‘get by’ in life; help us to understand what it means to truly live…by fully loving.

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(February 17, 2020: Seven Founders of the Servite Order)
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“Consider it all joy when you encounter trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: “We must recall that Our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials and discomforts we meet.” (Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

Jesus had his share of success during his public ministry. He healed the sick. He freed the possessed. He fed the hungry. He satisfied the thirsty. He welcomed the marginalized. He consoled the sorrowing. He found the lost. He raised the dead. Of course, Jesus also had his share of trials and tribulations during his public ministry. He was subjected to criticism. He was subjected to misunderstanding. He was subjected to ridicule. He was subjected to rejection. He was subjected to abandonment, arrest and crucifixion. He was subjected to death.

In short, Jesus took the bad with the good in his attempt to preach – and practice – the Good News. While Jesus didn’t go looking for trouble, he wouldn’t it trouble either, especially when it came to promoting the justice and peace of the Kingdom of God.

In our day-to-day attempts at living a devout life we, too, need to take the bad with the good. While we shouldn’t go looking for trouble, we shouldn’t be all that surprised when trouble finds us. Like Jesus, when trouble comes our way, let’s do our level best to not allow it to dissuade us from doing good – and being good – in the lives of other people.

We may not consider it “all joy” when we encounter trials, but it’s not a bad idea to remind ourselves – by looking at the life of Jesus himself – that trials often go hand-in-hand with triumph.

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(February 18, 2020: Tuesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation…”

Some trials that we encounter in life come from without. Some trials that we encounter in life come from within. Many – if not most – of the latter we know as “temptations.” In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales counseled:

“Temptation to a certain sin – to any sin, for that matter – might last throughout our whole life, yet it can never make us displeasing to God’s Majesty provided we do not take pleasure in it or give consent to it…You must have great courage in the midst of temptation. Never think yourself overcome so long as temptations are displeasing to you, keeping clearly in mind the difference between experiencing temptation and consenting to it. Let the enemies of our salvation put as many baits and enticements in our path as they please. Let them stand continually at our heart’s door in order to gain entrance. Let them make all the proposals they wish. As long as we remain steadfast in our resolutions not to take pleasure in the temptation, it is utterly impossible for us to offend God…As long as this act of refusal remains within our heart we may rest assured that charity – the life of the soul – remains within us, and that Jesus Christ our Savior – though hidden and covered over – is present in our soul. Hence by means of the continued practice of prayer, the Sacraments and confidence in God, our strength will return and we will live a healthful and happy life.” (Part III, Chapters 3/5)

Temptations are a part of life. Of course, inspirations are part of life, too. Living a healthful and happy life consists in saying “no” to the former and “yes” to the latter.

Today, what part will you pursue?

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(February 19, 2020: Wednesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“Be quick to hear; slow to speak, slow to anger for anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“‘It is better,’ says St. Augustine,’ to deny entrance to just and reasonable anger than to admit it, no matter how small it may be. Once admitted, it is driven out again only with difficulty. It enters as a little twig and in less than no time it grows big and becomes a beam.’ If anger can only gain the night on us and if the sun sets on it (which the Apostle forbids) it turns into hatred, from which we have hardly any way of ridding ourselves. It is nourished by a thousand false pretexts; there never was an angry man who thought his anger unjust.”

“It is better to attempt to find a way to live without anger than to pretend to make a moderate, discreet use of it. When we find ourselves surprised into anger through our own imperfections and frailty, it is better to drive it away quickly than to start a discussion with it. If we give anger even the smallest of opportunities it will become the mistress of the house, like a serpent that easily draws in his whole body where it can first get in its head.” (Part II, Chapter 8)

We know from our own experience that anger can get out of hand in the blink of an eye. How many conversations, interactions and negotiations have come undone because someone allowed anger to get the upper hand? Even in cases where our anger may be justified, in the long run anger often does far more damage than good.

Francis de Sales’ advice?

“When your mind is tranquil and without any cause for anger, build up a stock of meekness and mildness. Speak all your words and do all your actions – whether little or great – in the mildest way you can…Moreover, in the unfortunate case that you realize that you are guilty of a wrathful deed, correct the fault right away by an act of meekness toward the person with whom you are angry. We must repair our anger instantly by a contrary act of meekness. Fresh wounds are quickest healed, as the saying goes.” (Ibid)

Today, do you want to accomplish the righteousness of God? Then, do your level best to listen. Think twice before you speak. Above all, avoid so-called ‘righteous’ anger in your interactions with others, since - most days - ‘righteous’ anger isn’t ‘righteous’ at all.

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Spirituality Matters February 6th - February 12th

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(February 6, 2020: Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs)
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“He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two…”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Do you seriously wish to travel the road to devotion? ‘A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality, and those who fear the Lord find him.’ As you see, these divine words refer chiefly to immortality, and for this we above all else have this faithful friend who by advice and counsel guides our actions and thus protects us from the snares and deceits of the wicked one. For us such a friend will be a treasure of wisdom in affliction, sorrow and failure. He will serve as a medicine to ease and comfort our hearts. He will guard us from evil and make our good still better. You must have a guide (or companion) on this holy road to devotion.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 4, p. 46)

When Jesus sent his followers out to preach the Good News he did not send them out alone. Jesus used the “buddy system,” sending them out together, in pairs. In the mind of God being a disciple of Jesus has nothing to do with being a lone wolf. Clearly, Paul Miki understood that there is strength in numbers, because he had no fewer than twenty-five companions with him while attempting to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Japan. As his martyrdom – as well as that of his fellow missionaries – strength in numbers doesn’t necessarily guarantee ultimate success.

Today, what is the lesson for us? The road of life is sometimes lonely enough without trying to travel it alone. Just as in the case of the first disciples and the martyrs whose lives we honor today we, too, – disciples of Jesus – need to stick together.

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(February 7, 2020: Friday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time)
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"Ask of me whatever you wish, and I will grant it to you."

There’s an old Irish expression that goes something like this: “Be careful what you pray for.” Today’s Gospel offers a variant of this wisdom: “Be prudent about what you promise.”

Herod is so captivated – one might say even star-struck – by the dance performed by his daughter that he impulsively promises her whatever she desires, even “up to half of his kingdom.” Of course, the daughter dutifully asks her mother what she should request. Herodias seizes the opportunity to settle the score with John the Baptizer and instructs her daughter to ask Herod for the head of the prophet.

And we know how this story ends for Herod…and for John.

Perhaps a pithy – but a no-less-powerful – point to ponder today is this. Think twice before you say something. Words once spoken cannot be retrieved. Don’t lose your head – or someone else’s for that matter – over an impulsive proposition or promise.

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(February 8, 2020: Saturday, Fourth Week of Ordinary Time)
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"His heart was moved…for they were like sheep without a shepherd..."

In today’s Gospel we hear that Jesus’ heart was moved by the sight of the crowd who “were like sheep without a shepherd.” In other words, the people were lost.

“Lost” is defined as:

·   not made use of, won, or claimed
·   no longer possessed or no longer known
·   ruined or destroyed physically or morally
·   taken away or beyond reach or attainment
·   unable to find the way
·   no longer visible
·  lacking assurance or self-confidence
·  helpless
·   not appreciated or understood
·  obscured or overlooked during a process or activity
·   hopelessly unattainable

It’s safe to say that we all have the experience of being “lost” from time-to-time. Sometimes, we might experience being “lost” in any number of ways for long periods of time. Fortunately for us, one of the reasons that Jesus became one of us was to find the lost.

Consider yourself found!

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(February 9, 2020: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“You are salt of the earth. You are light of the world.”

Jesus proclaims to all who wish to follow him that they are to be light to the world, and salt of the earth. These are powerful images, as powerful today as they were when Christ first proclaimed them. For disciples of every time and place, these images are not mere ego boosters. No, they are a constant challenge to dare to become for God and others what Jesus was so clearly.

To be a light to the world is to illumine others with God’s truth and mercy. Likewise, that same light must expose the sins of pride, envy, meanness, indifference, injustice and anything else that blinds us from the divine truth and mercy that Christ has gained for us. Insofar as sin is anything that makes it more difficult to see in ourselves and one another the light and love of Jesus Christ, exposing such sin not only frees us from darkness but also better enables us to do all that is good and life-giving.

In Jesus’ light, we see the source of all light. We see the Father’s creative love; we receive Jesus’ redeeming love; we experience the Spirit’s inspiring love. Still, it is not enough to let this light shine out upon others: we must also allow that light to penetrate and permeate every fiber of our being. The greatest encouragement that our God-given light can give to others is to show to others how that light is, in fact and at first, transforming us.

To be salt is to accept that fact that our efforts – or lack thereof – to follow Christ do have an impact upon others, regardless of whether we are always aware of that impact or not. There are times in our lives when we lose our taste for God and/or the things of God. More frequently than not this is displayed by our own feelings of inadequacy and/or indifference when it comes to practicing virtue. We all have our moments when we are tempted to believe that our day- to-day efforts at following Christ simply don’t make a positive difference in the lives of others, let alone in God’s overall plan for salvation. Unlike salt, however, we can regain that taste for doing what is righteous and good through prayer, the sacraments and, perhaps most practically, by doubling – even tripling – our efforts at practicing those very virtues that we are tempted to cease pursuing.

When we are tempted to wonder about our own efficacy in witnessing to the power and promise of God’s creative, redeeming, inspiring, healing and challenging love in our everyday, imperfect lives we should take consolation and encouragement about something which is true about both light and salt: even the smallest amounts of each go a very, very long way.

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(February 10, 2020: Scholastica, Virgin)
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“They begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.”

People continued to bring the sick – and themselves – to be healed by Jesus. The account in today’s selection from the Gospel of Mark provides an interesting detail: folks coming to Jesus for help believed that if they merely touched his clothing they would experience healing power.

It would seem that just a little bit of Jesus – even the smallest touch of Jesus – went a very long way.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote: “Among sacred lovers there are some who so completely devote themselves to exercises of divine love that its holy fire devours and consumes their life…” (Book VII, Chapter 10, p. 41) Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this love. His love for others was so intense that even the smallest sampling of it changed forever the lives of those he touched.

Today, will the same be said of our love?

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(February 11, 2020: Our Lady of Lourdes)
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“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed: In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed: “Remember that God is not only in the place where you are: God is present in a most particular manner in your heart and in the very center of your spirit.” (Part II, Chapter 2, p. 85)

Clearly, this truth was completely lost on many of the Pharisees and scribes. If they had realized that God dwells less in temples, laws, precepts and traditions and more within and among human beings, then they would had put their priorities in order. However, they were more concerned about protecting their own ways of doing things at the expense of promoting the ways of God, The result? The Pharisees and scribes became stumbling blocks for themselves and others when it came to recognizing that God’s preferred and most personal dwelling place is with and among God’s people.

Each of us is a dwelling place of the Lord. God dwells in us and we in God.

Will the ways that we relate to others just this day give witness to this truth?

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(February 12, 2020: Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time)
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“When the queen of Sheba witnessed Solomon’s great wisdom, she was breathless…”

In today’s reading from the First Book of Kings, when the Queen of Sheba experiences first-hand the depth and breadth of Solomon’s wisdom, we are told that it took her breath away.

The Judea-Christian tradition includes wisdom as one of a total of seven gifts associated with the Holy Spirit. In a sermon on this topic, Francis de Sales preached:

“Let us take a closer look at these seven gifts. The prophet lists them in order of dignity. Since the gift of wisdom is the highest and most perfect, it is placed first; the less perfect come at the end of the list. For ourselves – talking about the gifts in order to learn from them – let us begin at the lower end and work our way up…”

These gifts are:

• Fear/Temperance

• Piety/Justice

• Knowledge

• Fortitude

• Counsel

• Understanding

• Wisdom

For Francis de Sales “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 11: 10) This gift of fear has two faces: (1) Fear of being punished, and (2) fear of losing heaven. And so, “fear of the Lord” is the first step in turning away from evil.

Francis de Sales said that almost immediately the “spirit of fear gives way to the spirit of adoption.” (St. Paul) To serve God and others without fear of punishment or hope of reward is the heart of justice: it is about giving people their due.

Francis believed that mere human knowledge merely enables us to know the difference between good and evil. However, the Spirit’s gift of knowledge helps us to actually turn away from evil but also to do what is good.

Francis preached: “Nothing is so common than to find people who know what is right but who lack the courage to do it.” Fortitude gives us the courage we need to persevere in our decision to turn away from sin and to practice virtue, especially when doing so is difficult, challenging and/or discouraging.

“The strength of an army needs the counsel of a commander,” observed Francis de Sales. “Just as fear causes us to break away from sinful habits and knowledge helps us to see what is wrong, counsel helps us to tackle what knowledge has taught us.” The gift of counsel helps us to determine how to do what is good. How about the gift of understanding? Francis taught that it “allows us to penetrate, to see or appreciate more deeply Our Lord’s principles.” Understanding enables us to love the ways in which God wants us to ‘have life, and have life to the full.’ (John 10:10) Finally (and hopefully) we reach the gift of wisdom. Wisdom “gratifies the soul with every blessing.” It helps us to know what’s really important and to know what really matters. This gift enables us “to see deeply into the excellence of God’s ways: not to talk or preach about them, but to live them.”

Let us imitate the example of Solomon. May our acquisition – and daily practice – of the virtues that will help us to grow in wisdom be less about taking others’ breathe away and more about our breathing life into others!

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Spirituality Matters January 30th - February 5th

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(January 30, 2020: Thursday, Third Week of Ordinary Time)

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“The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”

In his book The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholics, Matthew Kelly writes:’

“All the great figures that emerge in the Gospels are generous. Sure, you have the widow’s mite, an obvious act of generosity. But in every great Gospel figure you find generosity. Mary’s response to God when the angel appeared to her was an incredible act if faith, surrender and generosity. The Magi, traveling from afar with gifts for the infant Jesus, were generous. The centurion begging Jesus to cure his servant was generous. The first twelve’s leaving everything to follow Jesus was incredibly generous. And then there is Jesus himself. His first miracle at Cana was not a miracle of need; it was a miracle of abundance and generosity. Throughout his life he served people by teaching them, feeding them, healing them, providing spiritual leadership and comforting them. Finally, in his suffering and death of the cross, he laid down his life for us in the ultimate act of generosity. The Gospels are a story about the triumph of generosity.”

“Generosity is at the heart of the Christian life, just as it is at the heart of the Gospel. For it is often through our generosity that we are able to bring the love of God to life in others in very real and tangible ways. God is by his very nature generous. God wants to convince us of his generosity, and in turn wants us to live generous lives.” (pp. 110 – 111)

It isn’t high theology, but what Jesus is basically saying is, “What goes around comes around.” If we are generous to others, it will come back to us not later in heaven, but already here and now on earth, and not merely tit-for-tat. Jesus told us in yesterday’s Gospel that our generosity will come back to us thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Likewise, if we are stingy toward others, that, too, will come back to us thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Whether we realize it or not, how we choose to live our lives each and every day builds up over a lifetime a kind of spiritual compound interest.

How generously will you measure unto others today?

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 (January 31, 2020: John Bosco, religious, priest and founder)

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In his pamphlet about the life of St. Francis de Sales entitled A True Nobleman, Philip J. Pascucci, SDB wrote:

“One of Don Bosco’s nine resolutions when he was ordained to the priesthood was: ‘The sweetness and charity of St. Francis de Sales will guide me in everything.’ Francis de Sales was by nature (his biographers tell us) sensitive, somewhat irritable and hot-tempered, but, by dint of patient striving, day after day from his early years, Francis succeeded in mastering his disposition to such an extent that he became known as the gentle, kind and meek saint. Don Bosco knew from his own experience and the experience of others that his followers would need an outstanding model of these virtues in the difficult work which they would have to accomplish among (troubled and troublesome) youth. The model he chose for his followers had to be Francis de Sales.” (Page 32)

Today, how might we follow the example of John Bosco in following the example of St. Francis de Sales? How might God be calling us this day to allow the “sweetness and charity” of St. Francis de Sales to guide us in what we think, how we feel, what we say and how we relate with, for and about one another, especially with those people whom we experience as troubled or troublesome?

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(February 1, 2020: Saturday, Third Week of Ordinary Time)

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“Why are you terrified?”

It’s a great question that Jesus proposes to his disciples in today’s Gospel. For our part, we could probably list any number of things in our own lives that have scared, frightened or even terrified us in the past, that could scare, frighten or terrify us in the future or perhaps are scaring, frightening or terrifying us at this very moment. The fact of the matter is that every life comes with its share of things, situations and events that actually should terrify us!

In a letter to Angelique Arnauld, the Abbess of Port Royal, Francis de sales wrote:

“‘Oh, unhappy man that I am,’ said the great apostle, ‘who will deliver me from the body of this death?’ St. Paul felt as if an army, made up of his moods, aversions, habits and natural inclinations had conspired to bring about his spiritual death. Because they terrified him, he showed that he despised them. Because he despised them, he could not endure them without pain. His pain made him cry out this way and then answer his own cry by asserting that the grace of God through Jesus Christ will indeed defend him, but not from fear, or terror, or alarm nor from the fight; rather, from defeat and from being overcome.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, pp. 172-173)

There are things in life that scare, frighten and terrify us for good reason. Jesus is not asking us to never experience these (or other) emotions when they come upon us with good reason; rather, Jesus is asking us to remember (as was the case with the disciples in today’s Gospel) that in the midst of whatever storms and surges that we may experience in life, we are never alone.

Jesus is always – and forever – with us.

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(February 2, 2020: Presentation of the Lord)

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"Since the children are people of blood and flesh, Jesus likewise has a full share in these..."

“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 can be ignorant of this fact.  For this purpose, God made us ‘in his own image and likeness’ by creation, and by the Incarnation God has made himself in our image and likeness, after which he suffered death in order to ransom and save all mankind.” (Treatise on the Love of God, Book 8, Chapter 4)

We are probably pretty familiar with the notion that through creation we are made in God’s image and likeness. In contrast, we are probably far less familiar with the notion that God, through the Incarnation, made Himself in our image and likeness. Familiar or not, both are true.

St. Francis de Sales was captivated by the notion that God loved us so much that He not only came among us, but he also became one of us! God took on our very nature! In the person of Jesus, God gained and experienced first-hand knowledge of what it means to sleep, to wake, to work, to rest, to dance, to cry, to mourn, to struggle, to succeed and to dream. In this Jesus not only redeems what it means to be human, but Jesus also celebrates what it means to be human - to be human as God dreams.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews likewise believed this truth. He writes that “Jesus had a full share” in blood and flesh...and “had to become like his brothers (and sisters) in every way.” In this way, Jesus could not only redeem us but also he could truly understand us.

This truth is indeed a great mystery and a supreme expression of intimacy. God so loved us that he took on our nature…He made himself into our image and likeness – the truest and best nature as God intended from the beginning of time. In a manner of speaking, through the Incarnation God shows us how to be comfortable in our own skin. How? By showing us that God is comfortable in our skin in the person of his son, Jesus Christ!

Put simply, it is in God’s nature to meet us where – and how – we are. How can we imitate God’s example through our willingness to meet others where and how they are today?

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(February 3, 2020: Blaise, bishop and martyr)

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“The man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with Him, but Jesus would not permit him…”

The story in today’s Gospel is but one of many occasions in which people – after having encountering Jesus – expressed their desire to follow Him, only to have their request denied. Whether in the case of the man possessed by many demons or in the cases of so many other people whose lives were forever changed by an encounter with Jesus, his directive to “go home” must have been a real let-down.

Especially in the case of John the Baptist!

In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal (14 October, 1604), Francis de Sales wrote:

“I have often wondered who is the most mortified of the saints I know, and after some reflection I have come to the conclusion that is was John the Baptist. He knew that our Savior came to earth in a place quite close by, perhaps only one or two days’ journey away. How his heart, touched with love of his Savior from the time he was in his mother’s womb must have longed to enjoy his presence. Yet he spends twenty-five years in the desert without coming to see Our Lord even once; and leaving the desert he stays to catechize without visiting him but waiting until Our Lord comes to seek him out. Then when he has baptized him he does not follow him but remains behind to do his appointed task…The example of this great saint overwhelms me with its grandeur.” (Conference XIV, p. 259)

It is easy to forget that after their encounter in the River Jordan during which John baptized Jesus, John remained behind while Jesus moved on. Yet, who would deny that John was, nevertheless, a follower – a disciple – of the Lord? As it turns out, there is more than one way to follow Jesus. While some announce what the Lord has done for them in unfamiliar or faraway places, others announce what the Lord has done for them right in their own homes and neighborhoods.

Just this day, whether it is in a place half-a-world away or right in your own back yard, how can you “follow” Jesus by giving witness to others for all that the Lord has done for you?

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(February 4, 2020: Tuesday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time)

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“Please come and lay your hands on her…If I but touch his clothes I will be cured.”

People continued to approach Jesus on behalf of the sick – and on behalf of themselves – to be healed by Jesus. The account in today’s selection from the Gospel of Mark provides an interesting detail: folks coming to Jesus for help believed that if Jesus merely touched them or, if they merely touched Jesus, they would experience healing power.

It would seem that just a little bit of Jesus – even the smallest touch of Jesus – went a very, very long way.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote: “Among sacred lovers there are some who so completely devote themselves to exercises of divine love that its holy fire devours and consumes their life…” (Book VII, Chapter 10, p. 41) Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this love. His love for others was so intense and intentional that even the smallest sampling of it changed forever the lives of those he touched – or, as in the case of the woman burdened with a hemorrhage – those who touched him.

How might the same be said of our love today? How can we – even in small ways – be sources of God’s healing power for others?

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(February 5, 2020: Agatha, virgin and martyr)

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In Saints & Angels: Catholic Online, we read:

“Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr. In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men who wanted to marry. One of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge, who happened to be himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by praying: ‘Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart. You know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep; make me worthy to overcome these sufferings.’”

“Legend tells us that Quintian then imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her to change her mind. He brought her back before him after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation, but Agatha had never wavered. Quintian then sent her to prison - a move intended to make her more afraid, but which ironically enough may have been a great relief to her. When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured a final time, she died after saying: ‘Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul.’” (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=14)

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“We must often remember that our Lord has saved us by his suffering and endurance and that we must work out our salvation by sufferings and afflictions, enduring with all possible meekness the injuries, denials and discomforts that we meet.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, p. 128)

Following Jesus doesn’t guarantee a trouble-free life. However, Jesus invites us to follow his example of how to deal with the trouble that we may face in this life.

Saint Agatha certainly did. Today, how might we follow her example in our attempts to follow Christ?

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Spirituality Matters January 23rd - January 29th

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(January 23, 2020: Vincent, Deacon and Martyr)
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“Saul was very angry and resentful…”

“Jealousy is an emotion, and the word typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something of great personal value, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness and disgust. In its original meaning, jealousy is distinct from envy, though the two terms have popularly become synonymous in the English language, with jealousy now also taking on the definition originally used for envy alone.” (Wikipedia)

Jealousy is almost as old as the human family itself and clearly is one of the first fruits of “the Fall”. Not long after Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden of Eden, Cain murders Abel out of jealousy that God has somehow found more favor with one brother’s offering over another’s. In today’s selection from the Book of Samuel, Saul grows jealous of David. Both men are appointed by God to fulfill critically important roles in God’s plan of salvation, but Saul feels threatened by David’s growing prowess and popularity. So, not wishing to play second fiddle to anyone, Saul decides it’s time to eliminate the competition.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Envy makes us sorry that our neighbor enjoys a greater good than ours, or a like good, even though the neighbor takes nothing away from ours. In such cases envy is unreasonable and makes us think that our neighbor’s good is our ill.” (Book X, Book 12, page 164)

Hmmm, don’t these words seem to describe Saul to a tee? Are there any ways in which the same could be used to describe you or me?

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(January 24, 2020: Francis de Sales, Bishop, Found and Doctor of the Church)
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We offer for your reflection on this feast day of Francis de Sales the forward of a fifty-four-page devotional booklet published in 2008 in the United Kingdom (written by a J. Barry Midgley) regarding the life and legacy of “The Gentleman Saint”.

"In some ways the Age in which St. Francis de Sales lived has similarities to our own. Then, as now, the world was experiencing dramatic change, and the mind of the Church was necessarily focused on spiritual, intellectual and institutional renewal: correcting aggressive heresy, reaffirming doctrine and practice, and preserving the ministerial priesthood that is at the heart of Catholic life. The Church continues to work for the revival of evangelization and the conversion of nations, withstanding secular assaults on faith, reversing the dilution of doctrine and protecting the accessibility of the sacrifice of the Mass. In every season, the 'Barque of Peter' navigates some stormy waters but, thankfully, there are saints like Francis de Sales whose eager and powerful intercession does not diminish with the passing of time."

"God - in His kindness - provides every season with holy men and women to encourage God's people, and the Holy Spirit breathes an impetus to refresh faith, doctrine, religious leadership and energy in the mission Christ delegated to His people. Francis de Sales is a luminous example of the local apostle who preserves and teaches the faith received by the twelve Apostles personally from Our Lord. As a bishop, his priorities were to preach the Gospel, to preside at Mass, to care for the clergy and to ensure that spiritual centers of liturgical and cultural excellence stimulated hope and the practice of devotion. Francis helped those entrusted to his care understand that prayer opens the mind and heart to God's word and to respond to his (Francis') belief that everyone plays a part in God's plan of salvation through a personal conception of His Son. Indeed, Francis de Sales truly was a fascinating figure, so balanced, courageous, sensible and devout: another 'man for all seasons.'"

"I am grateful...for a renewed appreciation of this wonderful man."

Through the example and intercession of St. Francis de Sales, may each of us - in ways fitting to the state and stage of life in which we find ourselves - strive to be "balanced, courageous, sensible and devout" in our efforts to "Live Jesus”.

To be - in word, in deed - people for all seasons…in every season!

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(January 25, 2020: Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle)
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It seems that St. Francis de Sales had a special place in his heart for the person whose conversion we celebrate: Paul of Tarsus. Throughout his writings Francis not only refers to Paul by name but Francis also refers to Paul by two titles reserved solely for him: “The Apostle” and “The Great Apostle.”

In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales observed:

“The glorious St. Paul speaks thus. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, constancy and chastity.’ See how this divine Apostle enumerates these twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit but sets them down as only one fruit. He does not say, ‘The fruits of the Spirit are…,’ but rather ‘the fruit of the Spirit is…’ Charity is truly the sole fruit of the Holy Spirit, but this one fruit has an infinite number of excellent properties….He means that divine love gives us inward joy and consolation together with great peace of heart, which is preserved in adversity by patience. It makes us kind and gracious in helping our neighbor with a heartfelt goodness toward him. Such goodness is not whimsical; it is constant and persevering and gives us enduring courage by which we are rendered mild, pleasant and considerate to all others. We put up with their moods and imperfections. We keep perfect faith with them, as we thus testify to a simplicity accompanied with trust both in our words and in our actions. We live modestly and humbly, leaving aside all that is luxurious and in excess regarding food and drink, clothing, sleep, play, recreation and other such desires and pleasures. Above all, we discipline the inclinations and rebellions of the flesh by vigilant chastity. All this so to the end that our entire being may be given over to divine dilection both interiorly by joy, patience, long-suffering goodness and fidelity, but also exteriorly by kindness, mildness, modesty, constancy and chastity.” (Book 11, Chapter 19)

From what we see in the life of St. Paul, he obviously did more than merely speak of the fruit of the Spirit. He lived it. His life was transformed by it. He shared it as a gift with all those whose lives he touched. Like Francis de Sales, may we, too, not only admire the example of “the glorious St. Paul,” but also let us imitate his example in our own lives. Let us do our level best to embody and share the gift of the Spirit which indeed has so many excellent properties.

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(January 26, 2020: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”

In her book entitled The Bond of Perfection, Wendy Wright makes the following observation about St. Francis de Sales:

“It is difficult to accurately characterize any person’s spiritual state over the course of a lifetime, but it is possible to make a few broad generalizations. The geography of Francis de Sales’ ongoing relationship with the divine and the vistas of self that he experienced in pursuing that relationship were, on the whole, like broad plateaus and open prairies. There is a certain sense of freedom and spaciousness, a view of wide horizons and the feel of light about him.” (p. 141)

In his own way, St. Francis de Sales was indeed a light to the people of his time. Through his writing, preaching and human touch, he was a light that widened peoples’ horizons, lightened their burdens and helped them to pursue of life of devotion precisely in the state and stage of life in which they lived each day. He was a light who scattered the gloom of ignorance, anxiety, fatalism and fear. He was a light who gave people the heart they needed to embrace life as it was…and to dream about life as it could be.

We recognize this man as a saint precisely because his own light reflects so clearly the light of Jesus Christ. Christ is the light who casts out darkness. Christ is the light who forgives sins. Christ is the light who strengthens drooping knees and sagging hearts. Christ is the light that scatters the gloom of sin and sadness. Christ is the light who ushers in a new era of happiness and joy, purpose and promise.

The selection from Matthew’s Gospel - as well as the life of St. Francis de Sales - give powerful testimony to the nature of this divine light of Christ: it is meant to be shared. Just as Christ called his apostles to share his light, just as Christ called Francis to share his light, so, too, Christ calls each and every one of us to be sources of that same light for one another. Each of us is called to scatter the gloom of discouragement and despair in the hearts of others. Each of us is called to relieve the burdens of others. Each of us is called to be a source of hope for others.

Make no mistake. There are burdens that come with being sources of Christ’s light in the lives of others. Our light must face the darker side of life: evil, sin, cynicism, hostility, suspicion, prejudice and fear, just to name a few. Our light must not only shine out on others, but it must also illuminate and purify our own minds, hearts, attitudes and actions. Our light requires that we really come to know ourselves…and truly come to know one another.

Jesus claims that this burden of being his light is, paradoxically, lighter than any other burden that we might choose to carry through life. (Matthew 11: 29 – 30) How is this so? Christ’s light raises us up! How blessed, how happy, how “light-hearted” are we when we seize opportunities each day to raise up - to lift up - one another!

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(January 27, 2020: Angela Merici, religious and founder)
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“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

In a sermon given on February 8, 1614, Francis de Sales remarked:

“We have two selves, called by St. Paul the earth-born man and the heaven-born man. The latter is the source of our good deeds, the instinct by which we love God and look forward to the joys of heaven. There is no need to change that. It is the other self, the earth-born man, which we must renounce. This is the source of our instability, our preference for evil, our sinful desires – in a word, self-love. So, the earth-born self is what we are to renounce, in order to encourage the heaven-born self. In proportion as the lower side of our nature is disarmed, the life of the spirit is strengthened from day to day.”

“This demands two ongoing resolutions on our part. First, we must be prepared all our life long to find that we are never without some weaknesses which demand self-mastery and mortification: after all, the elimination of evil is a lifetime’s work. Second, we must also have the courage never to be surprised at the magnitude of our task, but continually work to perfect ourselves as faithfully as we can.” (Pulpit and Pew, pp. 209, 211)

To the extent that we cannot choose (so to speak) between the “earth-born” person within us or the “heaven-born” person within us, the households of our lives remain divided. By contrast, to the extent that we choose to devote ourselves to living on this earth as “heaven-born” people, then – in broad strokes – we can keep our spiritual house together and in good order.

Today – just today – how will you choose to live your life: earthbound or bound for heaven? Will your spiritual house be divided - or deepened - as a result?

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(January 28, 2020: Thomas Aquinas Religious, priest and Doctor of the Church)
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In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation (“On Private Judgment”), Francis de Sales made reference to Saint Thomas Aquinas whose feast day we celebrate.

“The great St. Thomas, who had one of the loftiest minds possible, when he formed any opinion supported it with the weightiest arguments that he could bring forward. Nevertheless, if he encountered anyone who did not approve of what he had decided to be right, or had contradicted it, he neither disputed with them nor was offended by their action but took all in good part. He thereby showed that he had no love for his own opinion, even though he could not abandon it. He left the matter alone to be approved or disapproved by others as they pleased. Having done his duty, he troubled himself no more about the subject.” (Conference XIV, p. 259)

Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the brightest intellectual lights of his age (AD 1225 – 1274). But perhaps his greatest genius, to which St. Francis de Sales alludes, was his recognition that being bright doesn’t always mean being right. While there is little doubt that he could make an argument for his position on any particular topic, Thomas was grounded enough not to have to win every argument. His brilliance was only matched by his humility in allowing others to draw their own conclusions after having done his level best to state his case. As the saying goes, after giving it his best shot, Thomas would allow the chips to fall where they may.

Each of us is entitled to our opinion, which is a part of our humanity. However, we are all familiar with another part of our humanity that is the source of much conflict and distress - the need to always be right and the need for others to always agree with us.

Let’s do our level best this day to avoid the temptation to force other people to make our opinions their own. In the Salesian tradition it is better to devote our efforts to trying to win people over rather than trying to knock people down.

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(January 29, 2020: Wednesday, Third Week of Ordinary Time)
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“Do you not understand this parable?”

Notwithstanding Jesus’ explanation of the parable to his disciples in today’s Gospel (which, according to most Scripture scholars, is actually a reflection on the part of the early Church placed on the lips of Jesus), it is easy to misunderstand the parable if we see it as a classification of different types of people in whom the seeds of God’s life and love do and/or do not grow. We are mistaken if we believe that the parable offers us some kind of spiritual template with which we can – as it were – pick classes of people out of a lineup.

To understand the parable we need to recognize that all of the scenarios that Jesus describes are at work within each and every one of us.

Consider this: on any given day, how deeply do we allow the seeds of God’s life and love to take root in us? On any given day, how many of those seeds get choked off by our worries, fears and anxieties? On any given day, how many of those seeds become overwhelmed by our selfish or self-serving pursuits? On any given day, how many of those seeds perish due to our inability and/or unwillingness to accept the adversity that sometimes comes with living a Gospel life? On any given, day how many of those seeds fail to germinate due to our shallowness?

In a sermon he preached on Palm Sunday, 1622 in Annecy, Francis de Sales observed:

“In all creatures, no matter who they are, some imperfections can be found. The person who denies he has any imperfections is just as much a liar as the person who claims that he has no perfections at all. Every person, however holy, has some imperfections; every person, however wicked, has some good points. Made in God’s image and likeness, each person reflects something of God’s goodness; made from nothing, each person always carries with him some imperfection.” (Pulpit and Pew, p. 258)

There’s nothing to be ashamed of in this situation – after all, it is simply the truth. Some of the seeds of God’s life and love are doing rather well within each of us, whereas other seeds of God’s life and love need some real attention and lots of tender loving care. Just because we have difficulty in making good use of all the seeds of God’s life and love within us on any given day doesn’t make us bad seeds!

Today, how can we become God’s “good soil” in our own lives and in the lives of others? What steps can we take to get a better yield from all the good seeds of divine life and love that God has planted so generously within and among us?

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Spirituality Matters January 16th - January 22nd

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(January 16, 2020: Thursday, First Week of Ordinary Time)
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“The leprosy left him immediately...”

Time and time again throughout the four Gospels, we witness how Jesus cured people on the spot – their infirmity was healed, removed or eradicated immediately. In the case of today’s Gospel selection from Mark, Jesus immediately healed a person afflicted with leprosy.

But not all miracles happen in an instant. Some require several steps. Others require more time.

In Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John, Jesus cures a man born blind by first mixing spittle and mud before applying the mixture to the man’s eyes. In Chapter 8 of Mark’s Gospel, the healing of another blind man requires two satges. In Chapter 2 of John’s Gospel Jesus turns water into wine seemingly as a last resort. And in the Gospels of Mark (7:25-30) and Matthew (15:21-28) Jesus agreed to heal the possessed daughter of the Syrophoenician woman only after what sometimes appears to have been a protracted negotiation. For that matter, in the Old Testament (2 Kings 5) Naaman the Syrian was cured of his leprosy only after bathing seven times in the River Jordan.

Whether in an instant, over several stages or the course of a lifetime, all miracles share one thing in common – they begin by asking God for help. If even only as a first step, from what might we need to be healed, freed or liberated by God today?

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(January 17, 2020: Anthony, Abbot)
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“Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord...”

In his book This Saint’s for You, Thomas Craughwell writes:

“Anthony was the son of a wealthy Egyptian family. When his parents died, he inherited a fortune, which he gave away to the poor and then moved to the desert west of Alexandria to live as a hermit. St. Athanasius – Anthony’s contemporary and the author of his biography – says that the devil tried to break Anthony’s resolve by tempting him with the pleasures of indolence, fine food and wine and beautiful women. Through intense prayer, Anthony resisted all these temptations, at which point the devil attacked him, beating him into unconsciousness.”

“On rare occasions Anthony returned to civilization - once to encourage martyrs during a period of anti-Christian persecution, and on another occasion to publicly refute the heresy of Arius. In the last decades of his life, Anthony accepted disciples and organized them into a religious community over which he eventually presided as abbot. He remained with his monks until the day he died at the age of 105.” (This Saint’s for You, p. 325)

Be it in the business of society or the solitude of the desert, St. Anthony appears to have developed a knack for discerning which voices he might have been hearing at any given moment in time. He eschewed the suggestions of the devil and he embraced the promptings of God. In doing so, Anthony demonstrated that the only way to sing forever of the goodness of the Lord – that is, to follow the promptings of the Lord – is to by doing so one day at a time.

How can we sing of the goodness of the Lord just this day?

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(January 18, 2020: Saturday, First Week of Ordinary Time)
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“For there were many who followed him…”

As word of Jesus’ reputation for helping those in need spread, we are told in today’s Gospel that lots of folks (including Levi, a customs official) from lots of places travelled lots of distances to see him, to behold his face, to hear his voice to experience his healing power and to know his love.

In one of his Conferences to the Sisters of the Visitation, Francis de Sales remarked:

“It is very good for us to know and feel our misery and imperfection, but we must not allow that to discourage us; rather, our awareness of our miseries should make us raise our hearts to God by a holy confidence, the foundation of which ought to be in Him…The throne of God’s mercy is our misery; therefore, the greater our misery the greater should be our confidence in God.” (Living Jesus, page 45)

Today’s Gospel challenges people in need not to avoid God but to pursue God. Awareness of our sinfulness should not drive us away from God but should draw us closer to God. Have confidence that God will help us. Have confidence that God will heal you. Have confidence that God will empower us.

Why? Because God loves us! How? In the person of his Son, Jesus.

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(January 19, 2020: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time)
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“You have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy…”

St. Francis de Sales believed that all people are called to be saints. In other words, all people are called to be holy. We have read or heard it many times before, but some things - most especially, important things - bear repeating: “When he created things God commanded plants to bring forth their fruits, each one according to its kind. In like manner, God commands Christians, the living plants of the Church, to bring forth the fruits of holiness, each according to one’s position and vocation.” (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter 2)

Striving for perfection - growing in holiness - “living Jesus” - is a formidable challenge. Embracing a life of virtue requires strength and courage. Renouncing sin requires strength and courage. Turning a deaf ear to temptation requires strength and courage. On any given day, our progress in devotion is marked by both success and setback.

However, this striving to be holy is made even more difficult when we attempt to be holy in a way that doesn’t fit our state or stage of life - a way of living that doesn’t fit who we are. While we are all indeed called to be holy, we are not called to be holy in the in exactly the same way as others. Francis reminds us:

“Devotion (holiness) must be exercised in different ways by the gentleman, the worker, the servant, the prince the widow the young girl and the married woman. I ask you, is it fitting for a bishop to want to live a solitary life like a monk? Or for a married man to want to own no more property than a monk, for a skilled workman to spend his whole day in a church, for a religious to be constantly subject to every sort of call in service to one’s neighbor, which is more suited to the bishop? Would not such holiness be laughable, confused and impossible to live?” (Ibid)

Francis de Sales put it another way in a Conference (On the Virtues of St. Joseph) to the early Visitation community: “Some of the saints excelled in one virtue, some in another, and although all have saved their souls, they have done so in very different ways, there being as many different kinds of sanctity as there are saints.” (Conference XIX, p. 365)

A more contemporary reflection on this issue comes from Nobel prize-winning author and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: “There are a thousand and one gates leading into the orchard of mystical truth. Every human being has his or her own gate. We make a mistake of wanting to enter the orchard by any gate other than our own.” (Night, Page 3)

To be sure, if there is indeed one model of Christian holiness, we find it in Jesus Christ, the one in whom all of us are consecrated. But to be holy - like Jesus is holy - is not about trying to be like someone else. Rather, being holy is about having the strength, integrity and courage to be who and how God wants each one of us to be, precisely in the places, circumstances and relationships in which we find ourselves each day.

Be who you are and be that well.

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(January 20, 2020: Fabian, Pope and Martyr; Sebastian, Martyr)
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“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, and your disciples do not fast?”

What distinguishes your run-of-the-mill comedian from a truly great comedian? Well, aside from having good material, the almost-universal answer is: “Timing”. Successful comedians are gifted with – or learned to develop – an incredible sense of timing.

The point that Jesus is trying to make in today’s Gospel is no laughing matter. In many cases, timing is everything. Fasting and feasting (among other things) are both good things. The challenge is to develop the sense to know the proper time to do one or the other. Recall the words found in the Book of Ecclesiastes 3, verse 1: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven…”

In the Salesian tradition, developing this sense of timing goes hand-in-hand with the practice of virtue. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales observed:

“A great fault in many who undertake the exercise of some particular virtue is thinking they must practice it in every situation. Like certain great philosophers, they wish either always to weep or always to laugh. Still worse, they condemn and censure others who do not practice the same virtues they do. The apostle (St. Paul) says, ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep,’ and ‘charity is patient, is kind,’ generous, prudent, discreet and considerate.”

Jesus’ sense of timing - his knack for reading a situation, for recognizing his surroundings and for knowing what was called for with a particular person – enabled him to do the right thing at the right time in the right way. Unlike the “one-size-fits-all” approach of the disciples of John and the Pharisees, Jesus shows us that the authentic practice of virtue must be “tailor-made”.

Indeed, “there is a time for every purpose under heaven.” What time is it now? What are the things that God may be calling us to do today?

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(January 21, 2020: Agnes, Virgin and Martyr)
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Notwithstanding the increasingly common trend these days of removing all things religious from the public square, did you know that St. Agnes is still on the books as the patron saint of the Girl Scouts? In his book This Saint’s for You, Thomas Craughwell writes:

“St. Agnes was chosen because not only was she martyred when she was barely in her teens, but she also possessed many of the qualities the Girl Scouts attempt to cultivate in themselves: courage, honesty, respect for self and for others, and service to God and neighbor.”

“Agnes came from a Christian family in Rome. She was about thirteen years old when she was arrested and hauled before a magistrate for the crime of being a Christian. He threatened to burn her alive, but Agnes would not deny her faith. Next, he tried to force her to join the virgins who served the goddess Vesta, but Agnes refused to perform any function in a pagan temple. Finally, the magistrate ordered the early adolescent to be exposed in a brothel and then beheaded. Despite the fact that Agnes was but one of tens of thousands of Christians martyred during the emperor Diocletian’s persecution of the Church, devotion to her sprang up and spread almost instantly after her death. In imagery and art, Agnes is frequently portrayed with a lamb, a symbol of her innocence and purity as well as a take-off on her name: in Latin, the word for ‘lamb’ is agnus.” (This Saint’s for You, p. 192)

Perhaps Agnes should also be portrayed with a lion in addition to a lamb. She was innocent and pure as a lamb, but she also was a lion insofar as saw God as her father, her rock and her fortress, the one helped her to be courageous and tenacious…to the death.

Today, how might we imitate her example on both scores?

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(January 22, 2020: Wednesday, Second Week of Ordinary Time)
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On this anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision, Roe vs. Wade, all dioceses in the United States are encouraged to observe a “Day of Prayer” for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. It is suggested that the faithful throughout the country celebrate the Mass “For Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life.”

Over 400 years ago St. Francis de Sales made the following statement in his Introduction to the Devout Life: “Consider the nature God has given us. It is the highest in this visible world. It is capable of eternal life and of being perfectly united to God’s Divine Majesty.” (IDL, Part One, Chapter 9)

What is more precious – what is more profound – what is more promising – what is more powerful – than the God-given gift of life? What better way to express our gratitude for this greatest of gifts than to treat life in all its forms with profound respect and reverence from conception until natural death!

And at every single step in between!

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Spirituality Matters January 9th - January 15th

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(January 9, 2020: Christmas Weekday)
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“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar...”

In a sermon he gave during Lent, Francis de Sales observed:

“The Commandment to love the neighbor is new, then, for the reason just given; that is, because Our Lord came to renew it, indicating that He wished it to be better observed that it had ever been before. It is new also because it is as if the Savior had resuscitated it, just as we can call a man a new man who has been restored to life from death. The Commandment has been so neglected that it must have seemed never to have been given inasmuch as there were so few who remembered it, to say nothing of those who practiced it. Thus, Our Lord gave it again. And He wants it to be as if it were a new thing, a new Commandment, one that is practiced faithfully and fervently…He wants it so renewed so that everybody should love one another.” (Living Jesus, p. 249-250)

We can never be reminded enough of this “new” Commandment that Jesus preached in word and in deed: “Love one another, as I have loved you.” To observe this Commandment is to live in the truth. Of course, Jesus’ “new” Commandment also infers that if you claim to love God while hating your brother (or sister), you are a liar.

And there’s absolutely nothing new about that!

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(January 10, 2020: Leonie Aviat, OSFS, Religious and Founder)
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(Readings: Colossians 3: 12-17; Psalm 15: 2-3, 3-5, 5; Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 14)

“Anyone who welcomes one such child for my sake welcomes me...”

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of St. Leonie Aviat, OSFS: religious, founder.

In the middle of the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution, there was a rapid expansion of the textile industry in the town of Troyes, France. The Industrial Revolution created opportunities for women to work outside of the home and/or the farm. Droves of young country girls came to the town in search of employment and adventure. They had no money, nowhere to live and were thus exposed to many potential hazards. With a remarkable intuition for overcoming obstacles, Father Louis Brisson took these girls into his care. He acquired a building, offering board and lodging and even work on the premises to a number of young female workers. He trained a group of volunteers to oversee the boarding house, but no matter how devoted they were, the undertaking lacked stability. It was not only necessary to provide room and board for the girls and young women, but also to educate them in their faith and guard them against moral danger. Fr. Brisson eventually determined that this new undertaking would be better served by a community of religious women who could devote themselves to this growing ministry.

Enter Leonie Aviat. Together with Fr. Brisson, she founded the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales who, during the course of her lifetime, saw many a child – and young adult, for that matter – welcomed for the sake of the Lord.

Children not only come in many shapes and sizes, but, as it turns out, children also come in a variety of ages. In the broadest sense, the ‘children’ to whom Jesus alludes in today’s Gospel are anyone who is vulnerable, anyone who needs welcome, anyone who needs comfort and anyone who needs a safe place.

Today, who might be the children in our lives whom Jesus challenges us to welcome for his sake today?

~ OR ~

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality there frequently appears to be an uneasy relationship between prayer and work, between being and doing, and/or between resting in God and doing for/with God.

St. Francis de Sales offered a remedy for the temptation to dichotomize prayer and work. The ‘Gentleman Saint’ identified – in broad strokes – three types of prayer.

First, there is vocal prayer. This is the type of prayer on which most – if not all – of us first cut our gums: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, Grace-before-Meals, etc, etc. It is a form of prayer of which we can make good use even into old age.

Second, there is mental prayer, or “prayer of the heart.” Some people experience this type of prayer as meditation; for other people, it is known as contemplation. This type of prayer relies a great deal less on words and makes greater use of thoughts, considerations, affections, images and silence. Unlike vocal prayer, it tends to be much less public and much more private. It seems to come easily for some folks, while it is appears to be more elusive or challenging for others.

Finally, there is what Francis de Sales referred to as the prayer of good life. It is the prayer that comes with doing good – with practicing virtue – in a very mindful, heart-filled, intentional and deliberate way at each and every moment: specifically, through the practice of the Direction of Intention!

Leonie Aviat clearly saw the Direction of Intention as the bridge linking prayer and work. Years after founding the Oblate Sisters, she would later remark:

“I still remember the words the Good Mother said to us one day on the subject. ‘The faithful practice of the Direction of Intention is the first rung on the ladder that will make us attain sanctity.’ She had been so faithful to this article that she knew its reward.” (Heart Speaks to Heart, p. 150)

Professor Wendy Wright notes that in the Salesian tradition the interior prayer of the Direction of Intention - be it with or without words - provides the foundation for both the life of the cloistered Visitandine and the very active life lived by an Oblate Sister. She again quotes Leonie Aviat:

“My children (wrote the Good Mother) you are not called to say the office for the moment. Your principal occupation is work. Give yourself to it as graciously as possible. Go to your work when the clock chimes. Set out joyfully according to our Rule, as if you were going to say the office and make meditation, because for you, work is a continual meditation.” (Ibid)

Whether we do our work prayerfully – or put our prayer to work – prayer and work are the inseparable sides of the same coin: the love of God, neighbor and self.

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(January 11, 2020: Christmas Weekday)
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“Be on your guard against idols...”

“‘Idolatry’ is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honor and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although views as to what constitutes idolatry may differ within and between them. In other religions the use of cult images is accepted, although the term ‘idolatry’ is unlikely to be used within the religion, being inherently disapproving. Which images, ideas, and objects constitute idolatry is often a matter of considerable contention, and within all the Abrahamic religions the term may be used in a very wide sense, with no implication that the behavior objected to actually consists of the religious worship of a physical object. In addition, theologians have extended the concept to include giving undue importance to aspects of religion other than God, or to non-religious aspects of life in general, with no involvement of images specifically. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: ‘Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods, or demons (for example Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc.’” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idolatry)

Odds are slim that any of us actually worship craven images in our homes, offices or places of worship. However, there are other ways of practicing idolatry. What might we be tempted to worship in this life? The list might include: our time, our talents, our opinions, our way of doing or seeing things, our appearance, our popularity or our plans!

Today, be on your guard against idols…whatever they may be!

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(January 12, 2020: Baptism of the Lord)
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“Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

“God is so good that he never ceases to work in our hearts to draw us out of ourselves, out of vain and perishable things, so that we can receive his grace and give ourselves wholly to him.” (Saint Jane de Chantal)

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Jesus. The Baptism of Jesus marks his inauguration into his public life. Isaiah in the first reading gives the blueprint for ministry for Jesus. As Isaiah writes, “I will put my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations. I have formed you……to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners from confinement and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

We know from the life of Jesus as recorded in the Scriptures, he fulfilled the blueprint Isaiah had written. He reached out to the marginalized, cured those who were sick, touched those who were believed “untouchable,” challenged his religious leaders to “do what they preached,” and was constantly traveling doing good works. With all the good that he accomplished for others, he was crucified. In the words of today’s Gospel, he was that “beloved Son in whom the Father was well pleased.”

In celebrating the feast of the Baptism of Jesus, we also celebrate our own Baptism. Just as the Baptism of Christ inaugurated his public life, so also our own Baptism inaugurates us into a Christian life. Christ gave us an example in his life to allow us to see how those who were baptized into him can live His life. St. Jane tells us, “God never ceases to work in our hearts to draw us out of ourselves so we can receive his grace and give ourselves wholly to him.” The reading from Acts tells us that “Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed with the devil, for God was with him.”

To live our lives as followers of Christ we also should “go out of ourselves” and “go about doing good” and bringing Christ’s healing presence and his peace to those whom the Lord sends our way. Like Christ, we too should visit the sick and reach out to the marginalized in our communities and in our families. We should speak with those toward whom we have had negative feelings or painful memories: anyone that we might consider “untouchable,” anyone at home, in the neighborhood or at work who we avoid, ignore or even despise.

We need to be people who put into identifiable action our profession of being a follower of Christ. This action requires strength and courage. Just as the Father was with the Son in his life, so also, we have the presence of Christ within our minds and hearts to give us the strength and courage we need to be his authentic followers.

Today, let us then come out of ourselves and our own little worlds to see what good we can do and how we, relying on the strength of the Lord within, us might be agents of the Lord’s healing presence to all those around us.

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(January 13, 2020: Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church)
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“They left their nets and followed him...They left their father along with the hired men and followed him.”

The word left (used twice in today’s Gospel) is, of course, a form of the verb leave, defined as “(1) to go out of or away from; (2) to depart from permanently; quit: to leave a job; (3) to let remain or have remaining behind after going, disappearing, ceasing; (4) to allow to remain in the same place, condition, etc; (5) to let stay or be as specified.”

Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, encounters with God almost always seem to involve people “leaving” something, somewhere or someone. Adam and Eve left Eden; Abraham and Sarah left their homeland; Noah left dry land and later left his boat; Moses and the Israelites left Egypt; Mary left in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth; the Magi left the East to follow a star; Mary, Joseph and Jesus left Bethlehem ahead of Herod’s rage, Matthew left his tax collecting post. And in today’s Gospel, Simon, Andrew, James and John left their nets, their livelihood, their families and their homes.

Be that as it may, leaving – at least, as far as God is concerned – isn’t only about walking away from something, somewhere or someone. It’s also about drawing closer to something, somewhere or someone else. Specifically, loving God – and the things of God – frequently invites us to leave that which is comfortable and familiar in order that we might experience that which is challenging and new. By most standards that’s what growth – human growth – is all about: knowing when it’s time to leave – knowing when it’s time to move on – even when what, where or who we might leave is good - sometimes, very, very good!

One of our greatest temptations in life is to stop moving, growing, changing, learning and developing. There was a time when psychologists seemed to suggest that human beings stopped growing somewhere in their twenties or thirties. Today, we know that human beings continue to grow right up until the day they die…or, at least, they are invited to do so. Leaving – as it turns out - is a part of living.

Leaving is not about doing with less. Very often, leaving is about making room for more. What, where, how or who may God be inviting us to leave today in order that we might have more life - and more love – tomorrow?

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(January 14, 2020: Tuesday, First Week of Ordinary Time)
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“He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

In today’s Gospel we hear that the people of Capernaum were “astonished” at the teaching of Jesus, for “he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. What distinguished the teaching of Jesus from the teaching of the scribes? How did Jesus’ “new teaching” manifest itself? Some of the differences include - but are certainly not limited to – these:

1) Jesus taught matters of the highest importance which are necessary for salvation. By contrast, the scribes taught trifling matters of rites and ceremonies which were passing away, such as the washing of hands and of cups.

2) What Christ taught in word, he fulfilled in deed. He talked the talk and walked the walk. The scribes, by contrast (as Jesus observed) spoke bold words, but exhibited few deeds.

3) Jesus taught with fervor and zeal, such that the words of Scripture could always be applied to him. The scribes could lay no such claims.

4) Jesus confirmed his teaching by miracles; the scribes could not.

5) The scribes were merely interpreters of the Law, whereas Christ was the embodiment of the Law and Prophets.

6) While the scribes sought their own glory and the praise of others, Jesus taught solely for the glory of God and for the salvation of others.

7) In his words and example – and also by the hidden inspirations of his grace - Jesus illuminated the minds and inflamed the hearts of his hearers. By contrast, the scribes clouded the minds and discouraged the hearts of their hearers. (http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2012/01/christ-taught-as-one-having-authority.html)

When other people encounter us – especially as it relates to matters of faith, life and love – to whom do we bear a greater resemblance: the scribes or the Christ?

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(January 15, 2020: Wednesday, First Week of Ordinary Time)
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M. Scott Peck, an American psychiatrist, wrote two books on the subject of “demons” - People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil and Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption. Peck describes in some detail several cases involving his patients. In People of the Lie he provides identifying characteristics of an evil person, whom he classified as having a character disorder. In Glimpses of the Devil Peck goes into significant detail describing how he became interested in exorcism in order to debunk the myth of possession by evil spirits – only to be convinced otherwise after encountering two cases which did not fit into any category known to psychology or psychiatry. Peck came to the conclusion that possession was a rare phenomenon related to evil, and that possessed people are not actually evil, but rather, they are doing battle with the forces of evil. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon)

In today’s Gospel – and all throughout the Gospels – we are told that Jesus drove out “demons” as a part of his ministry of proclaiming the power and promise of the Good News. Whether or not you believe in demons – regardless of your thoughts regarding exorcisms – we all struggle with things that plague us, that exasperate us or that appear to ‘possess’ us to the extent that they prevent us from being the people God wants and/or intends us to be. Despite our best efforts, these “demons” seem impervious to our feeble attempts at conquering, dispelling or exorcizing them. Perhaps therein lies the lesson - the greatest mistake we make in struggling with our own “demons” is to believe that we must do it alone; that we must battle with our “demons” all by ourselves.

However large, small, frequent or few they might be, are you willing to bring your “demons” to Jesus?

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