Spirituality Matters: April 10th - April 16th

*****

(April 10, 2022: Palm/Passion Sunday)
*****

“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 is 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." Sure, it 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 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 in the sight of God and in the lives of others??

*****

(April 11, 2022: Monday of Holy Week)
*****

“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?

*****

(April 12, 2022: Tuesday of Holy Week)
*****

"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!

*****

(April 13, 2022: Wednesday of Holy Week)
*****

“The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue that I might know how to speak to the weary…”

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 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. Perhaps the poison the mouth casts forth does not always produce its effect because it finds its hearers’ hearts guarded by some protective remedy. Still, it was not for want of malice that it did not bring about their death. No man can tell me that he speaks without thinking.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 26, pp. 194-195)

People who are weary – people who are tired – people who are worn down – are especially vulnerable to the words that others speak to them.

How will we speak to the weary today?

*****

(April 14, 2022: Holy Thursday)
*****

“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!

*****

(April 15, 2022: Good Friday)
*****

“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?

*****

(April 16, 2022: The Vigil of Easter)
*****

"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.

*****

Spirituality Matters: April 3rd - April 9th

*
(April 3, 2022: Fifth Sunday of Lent)
* "For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things..." In her book Praying Our Goodbyes , Joyce Rupp writes: “Goodbyes are a part of every single day. Sometimes we choose them, sometimes they choose us. Usually, they are small, not-so-significant losses that do not pain us very much, but at times they are deep, powerful, wounding experiences that trail around our hearts and pain inside of us for years.” “Goodbyes, especially the more intense ones, cause us to face the ultimate questions of life: Why is there suffering? Where am I headed? What are my most cherished values? What do I believe about life after death? Goodbyes create a certain space in us where we allow ourselves room to look at life in perspective and to gradually discover answers to some of those questions about life. We also learn a great deal about the significant others in our lives; we learn who is willing to walk the long road with us, whose heart always welcomes us no matter what, who loves us enough to stand with us in good times and in bad, who is willing to love us enough to speak the truth for us or to us. Goodbyes, when reflected upon in faith, can draw us to a greater reliance upon the God of love, our most significant other.” (p. 10; 12) There is no doubt – because he tells us so – that Paul experienced a great deal of loss and change in his life. But his losses did not leave him empty. Rather, his losses helped him to realize one thing that he could never lose in the midst of all the give-and-take that comes with life – the love of Jesus Christ. Of course, that’s not to say that the love of Jesus shielded Paul from the pain that comes from the inevitable changes and losses of life. After all, Paul tells us that he still struggles to forget what has been left behind. But the love of Jesus helps Paul to make sense of what has come – and gone - before, thus enabling him to focus on what lies ahead, to turn his attention on what is still to come. Paul’s losses and goodbyes helped him to recognize in Jesus the most significant, dependable, and loving “other” in his life. What are our losses? How are we dealing with change? Where are our “goodbyes” taking us? *
(April 4, 2022: Isidore, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)
*

“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? *

(April 5, 2022: Vincent Ferrer, Priest)
*

“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? If you do, then today try applying the surest remedy of all. Gratitude! *

(April 6, 2022: Wednesday, Fifth Week of Lent)
*

“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? *

(April 7, 2022: John Baptiste de la Salle, Priest & Founder)
*

“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 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? *

(April 8, 2022: Friday, Fifth Week of Lent)
*

“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 kinds 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? *

(April 9, 2022: Saturday, Fifth Week of Lent)
*

"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?

*

Spirituality Matters: March 27th - April 2nd

*****
(March 27, 2022: Fourth Sunday of Lent)
*****

"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them..."

Thus 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 – with all of his supposed friends – 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 his younger son’s face in his failure – or treat him like a slave - but he also 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 describes the older son, or more to the point, 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.

Taken together, Jesus is the ultimate “Prodigal Son.” What could be more yielding than Jesus’ willingness to take on the fullness of our humanity? What could be more lavish than Jesus’ teaching, preaching, forgiving, and healing day in and day out? What could be more extravagant than Jesus’ laying down his very life for us?

It turns out that – as far as God is concerned – there are many ways of being extravagant, lavish, giving, and yielding in our His “prodigal” sons and daughter today?

*****
(March 28, 2022: Monday, Fourth Week of Lent)
*****

“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 traveling 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 it’s 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?

*****
(March 29, 2022: Tuesday, Fourth Week of Lent)
***** “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living…creature shall live…” Water, water everywhere! That’s how we might summarize the images from today’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah! The suggestion, of course, is that the reach of God’s power knows no borders or bounds. In a letter to Mademoiselle de Soulfour, Francis de Sales likewise used the image of water. He wrote:

“Remind yourself that the graces and benefits of prayer are not like water welling up from the earth, but more like water coming down from heaven; therefore, all our efforts cannot produce them, though it is true that we must ready ourselves to receive them with great care, yet humbly and peacefully. We must keep our hearts open and wait for the heavenly dew to fall.” (LSD, p. 100)

Regardless of whether it flows up from the earth or falls down from the heavens, what’s more important is to remind ourselves that the water of God’s love is welling up inside each and every one of us and is meant to be shared with all those around us. Today let it flow! *****
(March 30, 2022: Wednesday, Fourth Week of Lent)
*****

“The Lord is gracious and merciful…”

Gracious. Merciful. These two attributes are deemed synonymous with God in today’s responsorial psalm. And as it turns out, these same attributes – and others like them – are very much a part of the Salesian tradition.

In the book Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal – Letters of Spiritual Direction, we read:

“Chief among the Salesian virtues – and the one that belongs distinctively to this tradition, rather than to the wider contemplative heritage – is douceur. A difficult term to translate, douceur has been rendered in English as ‘sweetness,’ ‘gentleness,’ ‘graciousness,’ ‘meekness,' and ‘suavity.’ None of these translations do it full justice. Douceur is a quality of person that corresponds to the light burden offered by the Matthean Jesus to those otherwise heavily laden. It connotes an almost maternal quality of serving others that is swathed in tender concern. Salesian douceur also suggests a sense of being grace-filled and graceful in the broadest use of the term. This gracefulness extends from external demeanor – polite manners and convivial disposition – to the very quality of a person’s heart, that is, the way in which a person is interiorly ordered and disposed…stressing the harmony, beauty, and grace of the whole person and which De Sales saw as reflecting the beauty and harmony of God.” (pp. 63-64)

God is indeed gracious and insofar as we are made in God’s image and likeness, how can we imitate that graciousness today in the hope of reflecting something in our own lives of “the beauty and harmony of God?”

*****
(March 31, 2022: Thursday, Fourth Week of Lent)
*****

“I see how stiff-necked these people are…”

Regardless of what words you use – stiff-necked, obstinate, bull-headed, strong-willed – all of us have at least one thing in common with the Israelites described in today’s selection from the Book of Exodus.

Stubbornness!

In a letter to Peronne-Marie de Chatel (one of the three women who joined Jane de Chantal at the first Visitation in 1610), Francis de Sales wrote:

“Truly, you are right when you say there are in you two men, or rather, two women. One is a certain Peronne who is a bit touchy, resentful and ready to flare up if anyone crosses her; this is the Peronne who is a daughter of Eve and therefore bad-tempered. The other is a certain Peronne-Marie who fully intends to belong totally to God, and who, in order to be all His, wants to be most simply humble and humbly gentle toward everyone; this is the Peronne-Marie who is a daughter of the glorious Virgin Mary and therefore of good disposition. These two daughters of different mothers fight each other. The good-for-nothing one is so mean that the good one has a hard time defending herself; afterward, the poor dear thinks she has been beaten and that the wicked one is stronger than she. Not at all, my poor dear Peronne-Marie! The wicked one is not stronger than you, but she is more brazen, perverse, unpredictable and stubborn...” (LSD, pp. 164-165)

Most days we already have enough on our plates trying to deal with our own stubbornness without even considering the stubbornness of others. In what ways are we stiff-necked? What are the issues and concerns about which we are obstinate? What are the things about which we are bull-headed? How does our stubbornness get in the way of our relationships with God and others, and perhaps, even my relationship with myself? Yes, there’s something of both “Peronne-Marie’s” inside each and every one of us. Which one will get the upper hand today? *****
(April 1, 2022: Friday, Fourth Week of Lent)
***** “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us…” “Obnoxious” is defined as “very annoying or objectionable; offensive or odious.” Synonyms include words like abhorrent, abominable, detestable, disagreeable, disgusting, dislikeable, foul, hateful, horrid, insufferable, loathsome, nasty, nauseating, objectionable, obscene, odious, offensive, repellent, reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, sickening, and unpleasant. Do you get the idea? So, why is the just person persecuted for, well, being just? Often times it is simply because one person’s attempts to do the right thing may shine a spotlight on – however unintentionally – other people’s failure to do the right thing. Of course, we find the perfect example of this dynamic – you know, ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ – in none other than the life and ministry of Jesus himself. Jesus was far less concerned about pointing out others’ wrongdoings; he was more concerned about doing what was right. But on the other hand, Jesus was more than willing to call people out on their bad behavior and much more interested in showing people the path to living a good life. In other words, Jesus didn’t invest much time or energy in laying guilt trips on other people. Other people pretty much did that all by themselves. But rather than experiencing the guilt as an invitation to make a change in their lives, Jesus’ enemies experienced the guilt as a reason for discrediting, opposing, and – ultimately – getting rid of him. 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)

Perish the thought, but it is possible that someone you encounter today may find you to be obnoxious. Of course, that could be because you are doing something wrong. On the other hand, it could be because you are doing something right. That’s unfortunate, because in a perfect world doing the right thing would never be obnoxious to anyone.

Of course, this isn’t a perfect world!

*****
(April 2, 2022: Francis of Paola, Hermit)
*****

"Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?"

We addressed this yesterday, but some things bear repeating. 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)

The unvarnished anger, resentment and jealously of the Pharisees is on public display in today’s Gospel. Not satisfied with merely bad-mouthing Jesus, they also ridicule anyone who would have the audacity to believe – that is, to accept – Jesus’ message. Their blind, smug belief in themselves – and their disdain for the common man – render the Pharisees totally impervious to considering how God’s plan of salvation might differ from their preconceived notions of God’s plan, to say nothing of Jesus’ role in it. Even Nicodemus – one of their own – gets thrown under the bus for daring to suggest that they should reconsider their perspective; or, at the very least, they should give Jesus a fair hearing.

Yesterday, we considered how others might find us obnoxious for doing what is right. Today, we might ask ourselves this question: do we ever find people who do the right thing obnoxious to us?

The truth is there might be something of the Pharisees in all of us.

---

Spirituality Matters: March 20th - March 26th

*****
(March 20, 2022: Third Sunday of Lent)
*****

“The place where you stand is holy ground...”

“Holy ground.” The term conjures up images of mountaintops shrouded in smoke, sanctuaries illuminated by candlelight, grand churches with vaulted ceilings and ancient monasteries in remote locations. Such places may indeed provide the opportunity to stand on “holy ground,” but there’s a lot more to “holy ground” than meets the eye.

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

“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 too, wherever we go – or wherever we are – God is truly present…Thus you must say with your whole heart and in your heart, ‘O my heart, my heart, God is truly here!’ Remember that God is not only in the place where you are but is also present in a most particular manner in your heart and in the very center of your spirit. Just as the soul is diffused throughout the entire body and is therefore present in every part of the body – but especially in the heart – so also God is present in all things but always resides in a special manner in your spirit. For this reason, David calls him ‘the God of his heart,’ and St. Paul says that ‘we live, and move and are in God.’ Therefore, in consideration of this truth excite in your heart great reverence toward God who is so intimately present in you.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 2, pp. 84-85)

Today, do you want to stand on “holy ground”? Then look in a mirror!

*****
(March 21, 2022: Monday, Third Week of Lent)
*****

“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 it and go 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? St. 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!

*****
(March 22, 2022: Tuesday, Third Week of Lent)
*****

“Let our sacrifice be in your presence today…”

This line from the reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel would suggest that it is possible to sacrifice something without being in God’s presence. But - as we heard so clearly and convincingly from St. Francis de Sales yesterday - it is not possible to sacrifice something apart from God’s presence because there is no place in this world in which God is not truly and fully present.

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

“Although faith assures us of God’s presence, we forget about him and behave as if God were far distant from us because we do not see him with our eyes. We really believe that God is present in all things, but because we do not reflect on this fact we act as if we did not believe it.” (IDL, Part II, Chapter 2, p. 84)

Whatever we might choose to offer to God today – regardless of what it is that we may want to sacrifice for God today – just remember our offerings and sacrifices are not intended to draw God’s attention to us. Rather, our offerings and sacrifices are designed to draw our attention to God!

Over and over again!

*****
(March 23, 2022: Turibius of Mogrovejo, Bishop)
*****

“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, St. 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)

Do you want to make progress in carefully observing 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.’

*****
(March 24, 2022: Thursday, Third Week of Lent)
*****

“If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts…”

If you ask a group of people the question, “What is the worst thing that can happen to the human heart?” many folks will almost instinctively respond by answering, “When it breaks.”

However painful a broken heart may be, there is actually something far worse than can happen to a human heart - “When it hardens.”

The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah cites some characteristics or qualities frequently associated with hardening of the heart. These include:

• Not paying attention or heed

• Being disobedient

• Turning ones back on God and others

• Being stiff-necked

• Not listening

• Not answering

• Being unfaithful And in the case of today’s Gospel, we witness a particularly toxic variation on hardening of the heart: refusing to acknowledge the power of God at work in the lives of others, refusing to acknowledge that God can choose to work in the lives of others that often confound – and contradict – worldly wisdom. Nobody wants a broken heart! However, a broken heart can serve as a kind of spiritual pulse. Wounded as we might be, at least it can remind us that we are still alive! By contrast, a hardened heart ultimately leads to one thing and one thing only - death. If you hear God’s voice today, with what kind of heart will you listen?

*****
(March 25, 2022: Annunciation of the Lord)
***** “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, it is better that we be more moved to be signs of God’s love and care in the lives of one another.

*****
(March 26, 2020: Saturday, Third Week of Lent)
*****

"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 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 off3enses. 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?

---

Spirituality Matters: March 13th - March 19th

*****
(March 13, 2022: Second Sunday of Lent)
*****

“The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

The Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Luke describe two very powerful scenes in which God's will is demonstrated in clear and unmistakable ways. Abram is presented with the mysterious smoking brazier as a sign of God's covenant with him and his descendants, while Peter, John, and James witness the transfiguration of Jesus.

It is very difficult to miss the message because these scenes are direct manifestations and expressions of God's will, desire, hope, and dream that all live a God-centered life on earth and experience the fullness of that life forever in heaven.

Would that God's will were always so cut and dry! Would that we could always easily discern God's will for us and for others! Would that we could know precisely what God wants from us in every moment with absolute clarity! Would that God spoke to everybody through transfiguring light or smoking braziers!

Of course, for most of us, this simply doesn't happen. Absent these kinds of communications, how, then, are we to discern God's will for us? Francis de Sales suggests a handful of things that can help us to recognize God’s will in our lives…and how that will should affect our relationships with others.

First, look to the Ten Commandments and other counsels found in Scripture; consider the tradition, the teaching, the practices, and authority of the Church; pay attention to the duties and responsibilities that accompany you in your state and stage of life. So, for example, if you are married, working, and raising a family, God's will for you would include such things as keeping the Sabbath, honoring your own father and mother, nourishing your relationship with your spouse, providing for the needs, and teaching of your children, doing your job in a gentle, just and ethical manner, balancing the demands of work and leisure, of home and the office, etc., etc.

Second, look to the circumstances, situations, and relationships in which you find yourself each day, each hour, each moment. Pay attention to how the demands and needs of others might be expressions of God's will for you.

Third, deepen your ability to listen. Pay attention not only to what is going on around you, but also to what is going on inside of you. Learn how to identify and filter out the external and internal static in your life. Prayer and participation in the liturgical/sacramental life of the Church are two powerful allies in this effort.

Fourth, develop and nurture solid spiritual friendships. Just as God's will is never expressed in a vacuum, don't try to figure out everything all by yourself. Turn to the advice and counsel of trusted friends when trying to determine what God wants you to do in any given situation.

Finally, be patient. Trust in God's love for you. While God's revelations are occasionally quite unmistakable, most are much more subtle and revealed gradually - indeed, over a lifetime.

*****
(March 14, 2022: Monday, Second Week of Lent)
*****

“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 – by being 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 – we who both obey and disobey 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 pretty high expectations. God’s forgiveness should lead us to practice compassion, not complacency. 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!

*****
(March 15, 2022: Tuesday, Second Week of Lent)
*****

“Let us set things right…”

In this 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 angry. 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!

*****
(March 16, 2022: Wednesday, Second Week of Lent)
*****

“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.

And 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 – he who is the Way, the Truth and the Life – isn’t all smiles and sunshine. And somewhere deep down inside each of us, the mother of James and John 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?” Doesn't it sure feel that way sometimes? 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?”

*****
(March 17, 2022: Patrick, Bishop)
*****

“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.

~ OR ~

“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 Confessions, 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 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 on the lives of others today? *****
(March 18, 2022: Lenten Weekday)
***** “When his brothers saw that their father loved him best…they hated him…” Our first reading today is a famous story from the Book of Genesis. It is a story of a 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, the plan changed again: the brothers – even Rueben, by all accounts – decided to sell Joseph into slavery. This decision 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 of 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? *****
(March 19, 2022: Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
***** “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, despite 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.

---

Spirituality Matters: March 6th - March 12th

*****
(March 6, 2022: First Sunday of Lent)
*****

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 and to open up his mind and heart to the power and promise of the Holy Spirit - he was tempted.

Jesus was tempted to turn stone into bread. Jesus was tempted with all the power and glory of earthly kingdoms. Jesus was tempted to throw himself from the temple: presumably, to convince people of his identity and authority.

What is the fundamental temptation here? 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, to sanctify. Jesus was tempted to believe that there was a shortcut to salvation.

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 shortcut) 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 never live the one life - the only life - that God gives us. Francis de Sales writes:

“Don't sow your desires in someone 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 the least understood - in the spiritual life.” (Letters of Spiritual Direction, p. 112)

Jesus was tempted to be someone and be somehow other than who he was. 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.

As we journey through yet another season of Lent, let us ask for the courage we need to recognize the voice of the tempter in us. Ask for the insight to see the ways in which you are tempted to spend your life wishing you were someone else. Ask for the grace and the strength to follow the example of Christ.

Be who you are and be that well.

*****
(March 7, 2022: Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs)
*****

“You shall not…”

Today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus makes it quite clear: if you want to be holy as the Lord is holy there are many things that God expects us to avoid. The things on the “do not do” list includes:

• Stealing

• Lying

• Slandering

• Defrauding

• Cursing

• Hating

• Taking revenge

• Holding grudges

• Spreading slander

• Being unjust

• Being idle

• Causing others to stumble while enjoying success in avoiding these vices may be noteworthy, there is more to life than merely refraining from doing bad; there is also the matter of actually doing good! On the topic of how to resist temptations to do wrong, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Despise these assaults and do not deign even to think about what they propose. Let them buzz around your ears as much as they like and flit around you on every side like flies. When they try to sting you and you see that they somehow light on your heart, be content with quietly removing them. Don’t do this by struggling or disputing with the temptations but by performing some actions of a contrary virtue, especially acts of love of God…This is the best way to overcome the enemy in small as well as in great temptations…” (IDL, Part IV, Chapter 49, p. 249)

So, in the Salesian tradition, rather than focus on how to avoid the “do not do” list, we’d be better off pursuing the “to do” list:

• Be generous

• Be honest

• Bless

• Love

• Forgive

• Let go

• Circulate truth

• Act justly

• Get busy

• Hold up others In other words, what better way to “shall not” than to “shall do?"

*****
(March 8, 2022: John of God, Religious)
***** “In praying, do not babble like the pagans…” In the book St. Francis de Sales, St. Jane de Chantal - Letters of Spiritual Direction, we read: “The way in which St. Jane de Chantal was drawn by God was a contemplative type of prayer which she referred to as the prayer of ‘simple attentiveness’ or ‘simple entrustment to God.’ This prayer consisted in a hidden and quiet waiting, an expectant attention to the presence of God. It was a virtually imageless and wordless type of prayer to which she had been drawn early in her own development.” It was this prayer which later became the inner charism of the Order of the Visitation and about which she wrote:

“When the time comes to present ourselves before His divine Goodness to speak to Him face to face, which is what we call prayer, simply the presence of our spirit before His and His before ours forms prayer whether or not we have fine thoughts or feelings…He is touched with the prayer of a soul so simple, humble and surrendered to His will.” (LSD, pp. 84 – 85)

Prayer isn’t always about saying a lot to God or doing a lot for God. Sometimes, prayer is simply about being…with God.

*****
(March 9, 2022: Frances of Rome, Religious)
*****

“There is something greater here…”

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

“‘Woe to you, Corozain! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had have long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.’ Such is the word of Our Savior. Hear the, I beg you, Theotimus, how the inhabitants of Corozain and Bethsaida, instructed in the true religion, and having received favors so great that they would effectually have converted the pagans themselves, remained nevertheless obstinate, and never wished to avail themselves of those favors, and by an unparalleled rebellion rejected that holy light. In truth, ‘at the day of judgment the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will rise up against the Jews, and will convict them as worthy of damnation: because, as to the Ninevites, though idolaters and barbarians, at the voice of Jonas they were converted and did penance; and as to the Queen of Sheba, she, though engaged in the affairs of a kingdom, yet having heard the renown of Solomon's wisdom, forsook all, to go and hear him. Yet the Jews, hearing with their own ears the heavenly wisdom of the true Solomon, the Savior of the world; seeing with their own eyes his miracles; touching with their own hands his virtues and benefits; they did not cease to harden their hearts and to resist the grace which was so freely and powerfully offered to them. See then again, Theotimus, how they who had less attractions are brought to penance, and those who had more remain obdurate: those who have less occasion to come, come to the school of wisdom, and those who have more, stay in their folly…” (TLG, Book II, Chapter 10, pp. 126 – 127)

Why is it that the people you would least expect to are the ones who ‘get it’ when it comes to the love of God? They may not be very sophisticated – they might be slow to see the big picture – yet their hearts are touched and changed by their realization of the enormity of God’s love for them. They open their hearts to their own delight!

By contrast, why it is that the people who should know better are frequently enough the very ones who don’t "get it?" They might be very wise – they may have a lot going for them – and still they never manage to allow the love of God to get through to them. They harden their hearts at their own peril.

In the midst of our day-to-day lives there is, indeed, “something greater here.” Do we get it or not?

*****
(March 10, 2022: Thursday, First Week of Lent)
*****

“Ask and it will be given to you…”

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

“If a man prays to God and perceives that he is praying, he is not perfectly attentive to his prayer. He diverts his attention from God to whom he prays in order to think of the prayer by which he prays. A man in fervent prayer does not know whether he prays or not, for he does not think of the prayer he makes but of God to whom he makes it.” (TLG, Part IX, Chapter 10, p. 122)

If Jesus invites us to ask for things in prayer, who are we to refuse him? However, we need to be open to the fact that God may not always give us what we want in ways that we want. God indeed answers our prayers, but not always in ways to our liking.

For his part, St. Francis de Sales asks us for something. When it comes to prayer, he asks us to be less concerned about the things for which we ask and more focused upon the person to whom we bring our requests. After all, what could be better than any one thing that God might give us when compared with what God has already given us in the person of His Son?

Himself!

*****
(March 11, 2022: Friday, First Week of Lent)
*****

“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 purer and cleaner than 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 - but God also 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 affect something of this transformation even today!

*****
(March 12, 2022: Saturday, First Week of Lent)
*****

"Be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul..."

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. 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!

Spirituality Matters: February 27th - March 5th

*****
(February 27, 2022: Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.”

Francis de Sales dedicated five chapters in his Introduction to the Devout Life to the subject of conversation. The fact that he would devote so much attention to this topic speaks to the importance – and the impact – of words.

Francis wrote:

“Physicians learn about a person’s health or sickness by looking at his tongue. In like manner, our words are a true indication of the state of our souls. ‘By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned,’ says the Savior. We quickly move our hand to the pain we feel and our tongue to what we like. If you are truly in love with God, you will often speak of God in familiar conversation with your servants, friends and neighbors.’ The mouth of the just man shall meditate on wisdom and his tongue shall speak of judgment. Just as bees extract with their tiny mouths nothing but honey, so your tongue should always be sweetened with its God and find no greater pleasure than to taste the praise and benediction of His holy name flowing between your lips.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 26)

Spend just a few hours watching cable television and/or surfing social media and you’ll notice that there is no shortage of words on the airways and the Internet. These words may tell us a great deal about the people speaking them; these words may also tell us a great deal about the nature of our culture. Note the level of volume, shouting, harshness, suspicion and divisiveness that characterizes so much of our conversations – if you can call them that – these days.

Remarkable how prescient Francis de Sales’ advice sounds four hundred years ago given the context in which we live today.

“To speak little – a practice highly recommended by ancient sages – does not consist in uttering only a few words but in uttering none that are useless. With regard to speech, we must not look to the quantity but rather to the quality of our words. It seems to me that we ought to avoid two extremes. To be too reserved and to refuse to take part in conversation looks like lack of confidence in the others or some sort of disdain. To be always babbling or joking without giving others time or chance to speak when they wish is a mark of shallowness and levity.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 30)

Let’s be clear – words are not just words. They can shape and create reality, for better or for worse. How just are our words? What do our words tell others about the state of our soul? What do our words tell us about the health of our heart?

*****
(February 28, 2022: Monday, Eighth Week of Ordinary Time)
***** “You shall not…You shall.” Today’s Gospel remind us that being children of God comes with its share of “do's” and “don’ts.” The “don’ts” includes, You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; The “do's” include honor your father and your mother. During the season of Lent, it is customary for people to focus on not doing the “don’ts” of life. In the Salesian tradition, however, we’re probably better off pursuing the “do's” of God’s Kingdom as a more effective remedy for the “don’ts.” For example, why settle for giving up lying when we can tell the truth? Why promise to stop being stingy when we can redouble our efforts at being generous? Why refrain from stealing when we can commit ourselves to being honest? Why merely turn away from hatred when we can turn toward healing? Why simply renounce revenge when we can accomplish much more with reconciliation? So, how will you use your time and energy today? By avoiding life’s “don’ts” or by doing life’s “do's?” *****
(March 1, 2022: Tuesday, Eighth Week of Ordinary Time)
*****

“Be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct…”

Tomorrow we begin yet another season of Lent, a period of time during which many of us will – among other things – engage in fasting. Of course, fasting is not an end in itself, but rather it is a means to an end. As such, fasting is one of a number of means at our disposal for pursuing in our own unique ways the common vocation to which God calls each and every one of us – to be holy people, to live holy lives. (Francis de Sales calls holiness “devotion,” contemporary spiritual writer Matthew Kelly describes holiness as being “the best possible version of ourselves.”)

Regardless of how you image, define or understand what it means to be holy, Francis de Sales is very clear that if you are going to employ fasting as a means of growing in holiness, you can’t settle for half measures. When it comes to fasting, he says that you have to be “all in.” He observed:

“Your fasting should be entire and universal. That is, you should submit all of the members of your body and the powers of your soul to fasting. Keeping your eyes lowered, keeping better silence, or at least keeping it more punctual than usual, mortifying your hearing and your tongue so that you will no longer hear or speak of anything vain or useless, keeping your will in check and maintaining your spirit of the crucifix with some holy or humbling thoughts: if you do all this, your fast will be universal, interior and exterior, for you will be disciplining both your body and your spirit.” (Living Jesus, p. 110)

Note the words from today’s first reading: “Be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct.” How can I tell if my fasting is “entire and universal?” How can I tell if it is having an impact on every aspect of my life? How can I determine if it is helping me to become more holy? Look for changes in how you think, how you feel, how you speak, how you listen and, above all, how you behave. Fasting doesn’t become any more entire and universal than that!

Otherwise, it might be nothing more than a fast track to hell.

*****
(March 2, 2022: Ash Wednesday)
*****

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites…”

In today’s Gospel Jesus gives instruction on the proper way to pray. He cautions us to “not be like the hypocrites,” 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. Lent provides a perfect opportunity to revisit this truth…and to live by it.

*****
(March 3, 2022: Thursday after Ash Wednesday)
*****

“If you are led astray and serve other gods…you will certainly perish…”

Other gods – idols – are defined as “an object of extreme devotion”. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales cautions us from going to extremes when it comes to fasting or any other form of devotion. Beginning with a quote from St. Jerome, he wrote:

“’Long, immoderate fasts displease me very much…I have learned by experience that when an ass’ foal grows tired, it tends to wander away,’ meaning that those who are weakened by excessive fasting easily turn to soft living. Stags run poorly in two situations – when they are too fat and when they are too lean. We are very exposed to temptation both when our bodies are too pampered and when they are too run down, for the one makes the body demanding in its softened state and the other desperate in affliction. Just as we cannot support the body when it is too fat, so, too, it cannot support us when it is too thin. Lack of moderation in fasting and other forms of austerity makes many people’s best years useless for the service of charity. After all, the more some people mistreat the body in the beginning, the more they tend to pamper it in the end. Wouldn’t people do better to have a program that is balanced and in keeping with the duties and tasks their state in life obliges them to do?” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 23, p. 185)

A word of advice: When it comes to fasting of the body, the mind, the soul or spirit, avoid the temptation of going to extremes.

*****
(March 4, 2022: Friday after Ash Wednesday
***** “This is the fasting that I wish…” In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:

“Both fasting and labor mortify and subdue the flesh. If your work is necessary for you to contribute to God’s glory, I much prefer that you endure the pains of work rather than of fasting. Such is the mind of the Church, for it exempts those who are working in the service of God and our neighbor even from prescribed fasts. One mind finds it difficult to fast, another to take care of the sick, visit prisoners, hear confessions, preach, comfort the afflicted, pray and perform similar tasks. These last sufferings are of far greater value than the first. In addition to disciplining the body, they produce much more desirable fruits…” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 23, p. 186)

And what are these “more desirable fruits”? Isaiah names a few: “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.” Today, what is the kind of fasting that God may wish from us? The answer: the sacrifice, discipline and self-mastery that come more from focusing on what we can try to do, rather than on what we can try to do without. *****
(March 5, 2022: Saturday after Ash Wednesday)
*****

"If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech…light shall rise for you in the darkness..."

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

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity or dissimulation. While it is not always advisable to say everything that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth. You must become accustomed never to tell a deliberate lie whether to excuse yourself or for some other purposes, remembering always that God is the ‘God of truth.’ As the sacred word tells us, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a deceitful or slippery soul. No artifice comes close to being so good and desirable as plain dealing…” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 30, p. 206)

Whether in fasting from telling lies – or being committed to telling the truth – what steps can we take today to make the light rise a bit higher and brighter in the darkness for ourselves and others by the type of speech we choose to speak?

---

Spirituality Matters: February 20th - February 26th

*****
(February 20, 2022: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat 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 – quid pro quo won’t cut it.

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 makes 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)

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…to do good, without expecting anything back. “Higher love” is its own reward. *****
(February 21, 2022: Peter Damian, Bishop & Doctor of the Church)
***** “He said to them in reply, ‘O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you?’” Commenting on this selection from the Gospel of Mark, William Barclay makes the following observations regarding this “cry wrung from the heart of Jesus”:

“He had been on the mountaintop and had faced the tremendous task that lay ahead of him. He had decided to stake his life on the redemption of the world. And now he had come back down to find his nearest followers – his own chosen men – beaten and baffled and helpless and ineffective. The thing, for the moment, must have daunted even Jesus. He must have had a sudden realization of what anyone else would have called the hopelessness of his task. He must at that moment have almost despaired of the attempt to change human nature and to make men of the world into men of God.”

“How did he meet the moment of despair? ‘Bring the boy to me,’ he said. When we cannot deal with the ultimate situation, the thing to do is to deal with the situation which confronts us at the moment. It was as if Jesus said, ‘I do not know how I am ever going to change these disciples of mine, but I can at this moment help this boy. Let us get on with the present task, and not despair of the future.’”

“Again, and again that is the way to avoid despair. If we sit and think about the state of the world, we may well become very depressed; then let us get to action in our own small corner of the world. We may sometimes despair of the church; then let us get to action in our own small part of the church. Jesus did not sit appalled and paralyzed at the slowness of men’s minds; he dealt with the immediate situation.”

“The surest way to avoid pessimism and despair is to take what immediate action we can – and there is always something to be done.”

*****
(February 22, 2022: Chair of Peter, Apostle)
*****

“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 Gethsemane. 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!

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?

*****
(February 23, 2022: Polycarp, Bishop & Martyr)
*****

“Whoever is not against us is for us."

William Barclay sees this selection from the Gospel of Mark as a lesson in tolerance, a lesson that nearly everyone needs to learn:

• “Every person has a right to his own thoughts. Every person has a right to think things out and to think them through until he comes to his own conclusions and his own beliefs. And that is a right we should respect. We are too often apt to condemn what we do not understand.”

• “Not only must we concede to every person to right to do his own thinking, we must also concede the right to a person to do his own speaking.”

• “We must remember that any doctrine or belief must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces.”

• “We may hate a person’s beliefs, but we must never hate the person. We may wish to eliminate what the person teaches, but we must never wish to eliminate the person.”

It takes all kinds of people to continue the work of God. At the end of the day, it matters little whether this person or that person is a member of our group or tribe – what matters is that God’s work is getting done.

No matter who they are…or aren’t.

*****
(February 24, 2022: Thursday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

"Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

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

“The Sacred Spouse declares that he is always pleased to accept the great deeds of devout persons, that their least and lowest deeds are also acceptable to him, and that to serve him as he wishes we must have great care to serve him well both in great, lofty matters and in small, unimportant things.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 35) In an obvious reference to Jesus’ own words in today’s Gospel, Francis de Sales continued:

“For a single cup of water, God has promised to his faithful a sea of perfect bliss. Since such opportunities present themselves from moment to moment it will be a great means of storing up vast spiritual riches if you only use them well.” (IDL, Part 3, Ch. 35)

Something so simple as offering someone a cup of water of as a means of salvation? Don’t take my word for it – listen to Jesus himself.

*****
(February 25, 2022: Friday, Seventh Week of Ordinary Time)
*****

“Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another…”

In the movie Kindergarten Cop (1990) Detective John Kimble (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher. After the first day, he is on the brink of defeat. Frustrated that he has absolutely no control over his preschoolers, he confides his fears to his partner, Phoebe O’Hara:

Kimble: “They’re pushing me around.”

O’Hara: “Who?”

Kimble: “The kids. They’re walking all over me.”

O’Hara: “Listen, if you walk into this situation showing fear, you’re dead. And those kids know you’re scared.”

Kimble: “No fear?”

O’Hara: “No fear.” (The next morning Detective Kimble lays down the law.)

Kimble: “Today, we’re going to play a new fun game. It’s POLICE SCHOOL. I’m going to be the sheriff and you’re going to be my deputy trainees.”

Kids: (In unison) “Uuuhhhh.”

Kimble: “C’mon, stop whining! You kids are soft. You lack discipline. I’ve got news for you: You’re mine now! You belong to me! Time to turn mush into muscle. No more complaining!”

This scene offers a comical treatment of what can become a serious malady: chronic whining or complaining. Let’s be honest – we’ve all done it. We’ve all whined; we’ve all complained. But as Detective Kimble suggests, complaining may reveal far less about how hard and demanding life can be and disclose more about how soft, sensitive and undisciplined we are.

Take to heart St. Francis de Sales’ advice on this subject:

“Complain as little as possible…A person who complains commits a sin by doing so, since self-love always feels that injuries are worse than they really are. Above all, do not complain to irascible or fault-finding persons. If there is just occasion for complaining to someone either to correct an offense or restore peace of mind, do so only with those who are even-tempered and really love God. Otherwise, instead of calming your mind the others will stir up worse difficulties and instead of pulling out the thorn that is hurting you they will drive it even deeper into your foot.” (IDL, Part III, Chapter 3, On Patience)

Sure, life is tough. Sure, relationships are challenging. Sure, disappointment is hard. Sure, things aren’t always fair. If stuff needs to be addressed, then simply address it, but don’t make it worse by complaining and whining about it.

*****
(February 26, 2022: Saturday, Seventh Week of Ordinary Time)
*****

“The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these…

Why did Jesus hold children in such high esteem? William Barclay offers these thoughts:

• “There is the child’s humility…The child has not yet learned to think in terms of place and pride and prestige. He has not yet learned to discover the importance of himself.”

• “There is the child’s obedience. True, a child is often disobedient, but, paradox though it may seem, its natural instinct is to obey. The child has not yet learned the pride and the false independence which separate a man from his fellow-men and from God.”

• “There is the child’s trust…acceptance of authority and confidence in other people.”

• “The child has a short memory. It hasn’t yet learned to hold grudges and nourish bitterness. Even when unjustly treated – and who of us is not sometimes unjust to children – the child forgets and forgets so completely that it does not even need to forgive.”

“Indeed, of such is the Kingdom of God.”

How might we imitate the example of children today?

---

Spirituality Matters: February 13th - February 19th

*****
(February 13, 2022: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

"Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."

What does it mean to “hope in the Lord?” Isn’t it somewhat synonymous with having “trust in the Lord”? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines trust thus: “Firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person or thing.”

Imagine a world without trust. Imagine a world in which nobody believed in the "integrity, ability or character" of others. Such a place could indeed be described as a living hell. Trust is the mortar that binds us together. Trust is what enables us to form families, friends, community and country. Trust is an integral part of what it means to be human.

In stark contrast with the importance of trusting one another, Jeremiah warns: "Cursed are those who trust in human beings." What are we to make of this? Simply put, trusting one another only is not enough to sustain us in life. Why? Because, as we know all too well - and painfully - we humans, despite our best efforts, are not always trustworthy. If our trust is limited to the human plane, we run the risk of being overwhelmed by the woes of pain, disappointment, heartache and cynicism.

Our ultimate trust must be found in God, the one who is always trustworthy. Our ultimate trust must be found in God, the ‘faithful friend who never deceives or betrays’. Our fundamental trust allows us to not merely survive this life, but to thrive in it, especially when confronted by our own imperfections and those of others. St. Francis de Sales wrote:

“If the whole world turns topsy-turvy, if all around is darkness … shall not all be well with us as long as we place our trust in God?” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 125)

Cursed are we if we expect others to fulfill all of our deepest wants, our deepest needs, our deepest desires and our deepest dreams without fail. Such expectations lead to bitterness, resentment and despair. Blessed are we if we take confidence and consolation in the God who is always trustworthy, even when human beings - including ourselves - are not. Our trust in God will not shield us from life's inevitable disappointments - those we receive, those we cause - but it will enable us to name them, to work through them and hopefully move beyond them.

Our hope in God – our trust in God – enables us to celebrate the ways we are and can be trustworthy. Likewise, our hope in the Lord – our trust in the Lord – enables us to forgive one another when we are not so trustworthy.

*****
(February 14, 2022: Cyril, Monk and Methodius, Bishop)
*****

“He sighed from the depth of his spirit...”

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 duck trouble either, especially when it came to promoting the justice and peace of the Kingdom of God. Given the amount of resistance that he faced from some quarters, it’s amazing that the Gospels don’t provide many more examples of how Jesus “sighed from the depths of his spirit” more often!

In our day-to-day attempts at living a devout life we can relate to Jesus’ frustration. We’ve all faced resistance in ways that make us sigh from the depths of our spirits, too. 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.

*****
(February 15, 2022: Tuesday, Sixth Week of Ordinary Time)
*****

“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 path will you pursue?

*****
(February 16, 2022: Wednesday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
***** “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. *****
(February 17, 2022: Seven Founders of the Servite Order)
***** “Who do you say that I am?” No sooner does Jesus give Peter a big “shout out” for correctly identifying him as the Christ then Jesus publicly – 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 servants of the high priest who came to arrest Jesus at Gethsemane. And 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 his share of cracks, too. Peter might even be described as being “off his rock(er)” 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. *****
(February 18, 2022: Friday. Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“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.

Just today, consider how vigilant is your faith. How vigilant are your good works?

*****
(February 19, 2022: Saturday, Sixth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“He was transfigured before them…”

Something remarkable happened on that mountain.

Consider the possibility that it was not Jesus who changed, but rather, it was Peter, James and John who were changed. Imagine that this account from Mark’s Gospel documents the experience of Peter, James and John as if their eyes were opened and their vision widened, enabling them to see without impediment the virtually blinding light of Jesus’ love that flowed from every fiber of his being.

Indeed, every day of Jesus’ life something of that remarkable brilliance, that remarkable passion and that remarkable glory was revealed to people of all ages, stages and states of life. The shepherds and magi saw it; the elders in the temple saw it; the guests at a wedding saw it; a woman caught in adultery saw it; a boy possessed by demons saw it; a man born blind saw it; the good thief saw it.

If so many others could recognize Jesus’ brilliance in a word, a glance or a touch, why might Peter, James and John have required such extra effort in helping them to see Jesus’ glory? Perhaps it was because they were so close to Jesus; perhaps it was because they were with him every day; perhaps it was because, on some level, they had somehow taken his glory for granted.

What about us? Do we recognize that same divine glory present in us, present in others, present in creation, present in even the simplest and most ordinary, everyday experiences of justice, truth, healing, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion?

Or do we take it for granted?

St. Francis de Sales saw the Transfiguration as a “glimpse of heaven.” How might our eyes, our minds and our hearts need to be transfigured and transformed in ways that enable us to catch this “glimpse of heaven” within us and around us? How might we need to see more clearly the glory of a God who always loves, redeems, heals, forgives, challenges, pursues., strengthens and inspires us?

Today, may we grow in our ability - through the quality of our lives - to make that “glimpse of heaven” more clearly visible and available to the eyes – and in the lives – of others.

---

Spirituality Matters: February 6th - February 12th

*****
(February 6, 2022: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

We have every reason to believe that Peter was a very good fisherman. He would know how, when and where to catch fish. He would know all the good spots. He would know when to stick with a place; he would know when to move on to another. Perhaps most importantly, Peter would know that even the most successful fisherman sometime comes home empty-handed.

Enter Jesus - a new face and a new name. While apparently a great teacher and healer, he was the last person from whom Peter would expect to receive fishing advice. Can anyone fault Peter for his initial skepticism?

Still, he relented. For whatever reason - an intuition about Jesus' power, a desire to show Jesus up - to the deep water of the lake Peter and his colleagues returned. And as we know, his reluctant second effort was rewarded far beyond his expectations.

This sudden and mysterious turn of events prompts Peter to consider his own sinfulness. In particular, perhaps his belief - understandably so - that he knew far more about fishing than Jesus. Perhaps his hope of embarrassing Jesus; perhaps his own pride or bullheadedness; perhaps his resentment that Jesus had, in fact, been right.

Seems that Peter wasn't so perfect after all.

And yet, it is precisely this imperfect person (along with other imperfect people) whom Jesus called to learn and share his love. Why? St. Francis de Sales hits the nail on the head:

“Although he was subject to so many imperfections, St. Peter was chosen because, notwithstanding his defects, he was always filled with courage to take a second look at a situation.”

Peter had the courage to listen - however reluctantly - to Jesus' advice. Peter had the courage - after all, he would have appeared foolish to his colleagues to take direction from a carpenter’s son - to consider Jesus' suggestion. More personally, Peter had the courage to confront his own arrogance. Ultimately, Peter had the courage to consider that sometimes God's wisdom flies in the face of human expectation and experience.

We, like Peter, are imperfect people. We have our share of defects and shortcomings. Yet, Jesus calls us, too, as we are, to be his disciples. Take heart; have the courage to name your gifts; have the courage to name your sinfulness; have the courage to learn from others; most importantly, have the courage to follow God's invitation no matter where, when or how it leads you.

*****
(February 7, 2022: Monday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“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?

*****
(February 8, 2016: Jerome Emiliani)
*****

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!”

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 have 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 dwell in God.

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

*****
(February 9, 2022: Wednesday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile…”

In a conference to the Sisters of the Visitation (on the “Obligations of the Constitutions”), Francis de Sales counseled:

“The rules do not command many fasts, but nevertheless some individuals may for their own special needs practice extra fasts; let those who do fast not despise those who eat, nor let those who eat despise those who fast. And the same, for that matter, in all other things that are neither commanded or forbidden, let each person abound in one’s own sense, that is, let each person enjoy and use one’s liberty, without judging or interfering with others who do not do as they do, or trying to persuade others that their ways are the best…”

Are you undecided about things from which to fast and abstain? Here’s a suggestion: how about trying to fast and abstain from the temptation to compare ourselves to others?

*****
(February 10, 2022: Scholastica, Virgin)
*****

"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?

*****
(February 11, 2022: Our Lady of Lourdes)
*****

“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: intimate, 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?

*****

(February 12, 2022: Saturday, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“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 an affection. It is more than a feeling. While he clearly makes the neediness of others his own, Jesus does more than that - he addresses 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 of our hearts?

---

Spirituality Matters: January 30th - February 5th

*****
(January 30, 2022: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Love rejoices in the truth…”

Jeremiah wanted no part of being a prophet. This avocation seemed to be nothing but trouble, and with good reason, because the prophets of the past had a nasty habit of getting hassled, being rejected, getting beat up, sometimes, ending up dead. Nevertheless, God was adamant that Jeremiah live a prophetic life – that is, being willing to speak the truth, being able to tell it “like it is” – and that He would sustain Jeremiah in the face of whatever opposition or dangers he might encounter.

No surprise that Jesus, too, experienced his share of opposition, hostility and rejection. As today’s Gospel illustrates, speaking the truth – living the truth – sometimes stirs up its own share of hornets’ nests.

By virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation we, too, are called to live our lives in a prophetic manner. In the words of St. Paul, we “do not rejoice in what is false; we rejoice in the truth.” As we all know, however, this is easier said than done. There are many occasions on any given day when we hesitate to tell the truth for any number of reasons: we don’t want to cause trouble, we don’t want to upset others, we don’t want others to be angry with us, we don’t want to be rejected and we want to be liked. And so, we measure our words, and we speak in convoluted ways. We don’t say what we mean, and we don’t mean what we say.

In other words, we lie.

Francis de Sales wrote:

“Your language should be restrained, frank, sincere, candid, unaffected and honest. Be on guard against equivocation, ambiguity, or dissimulation.”

This statement does not give us the license to use blunt force when telling the truth. Remember that Francis de Sales also tells us that we are more likely to win over other people with a teaspoon of honey rather than a gallon of vinegar. Wherever possible, we should speak the truth in a gentle, mild, simple and straightforward manner, avoiding the two extremes of being either mush-mouthed or vesuvial. In addition, telling it “like it is” is not the same as “letting it all hang out.” Francis continued:

“While it is not always advisable to say all that is true, it is never permissible to speak against the truth.”

Regardless of how much or little of the truth that we speak in a manner that is as calm, humble, gentle and respectful as humanly possible. The bottom line is that we cannot always predict – and certainly cannot control – how that truth will be heard or received by others. Perhaps, it is no coincidence, then, that love not only “rejoices in the truth” but it also requires patience, it also requires forbearance; it is not prone to anger, it does not brood over injuries; it ultimately requires “trust, hope and the power to endure.”

Jesus promised us that the truth will set us free. Jesus never promised us that it would be easy.

*****
(January 31, 2022: John Bosco, Priest, Founder & Religious
*****

“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 concluded that it 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.

John Bosco (a contemporary of Louis Brisson) had his own approach to following Jesus. 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)

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?

*****
(February 1, 2022: Tuesday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“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.

Today, 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?

*****
(February 2, 2022: Presentation of the Lord)
*****

"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 somewhat 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.

Today, how can we imitate God’s example through our willingness to meet others where and how they are?

*****
(February 3, 2022: Blaise, Bishop and Martyr)
***** “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. 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 we, too, – disciples of Jesus – need to stick together. *****
(February 4, 2022: Friday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

"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.

*****
(February 5, 2022: Agatha, Virgin and Martyr)
*****

"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!

---

Spirituality Matters: January 23rd - January 29th

*****
(January 23, 2022: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“This Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Words are like atoms. They can heal. They can energize. They can extend and improve the quality of life.

In the other hand, words can also wound. They can divide. They can poison. They can destroy.

St. Francis de Sales understood that our words - what we say, how we say it - have a very powerful impact on others. He offers the following advice: “Let your language be mild, open, sincere, frank unaffected and honest.” Integrity, justice and fairness should be hallmarks of our speech. Don't dance around the issue. Speak directly from the heart. Don't measure words to the point at which nothing is communicated. Still, being honest does not require us to be brutal or to “pile on” by saying all that is true at a particular moment. When in doubt, Francis tells us: “It is never appropriate to say something against the truth.”

“Never give others the occasion to believe that something evil is being spoken of them.” When speaking in public, be as inclusive as possible. When needing to speak in private, do so with sensitivity and discretion. Never use words in ways that actually injure another or would cause others to think you are injuring them.

“Nothing is ever gained by harshness.” No matter how noble or righteous our values, we gain nothing by promoting them in words that are brutal or ham-handed.

“Wisdom consists of knowing how and when to speak, and when and where to keep silent.” In some cases, actions speak much more loudly - and more effectively - than words.

“Fidelity, plainness and sincerity of speech are assuredly a great ornament of a Christian life.” When we make it a habit to speak of the good that we need to pursue or of the evil we need to confront with kindness and compassion, is it any wonder that others experience healing, freedom, encouragement, life and love?

There is no doubt how God uses words. God's Word, as embodied in Jesus, “brings glad tidings to the poor, proclaims liberty to captives, offers sight to the blind, frees the oppressed and proclaims a time of favor from the Lord.”

In short, God's Word heals, liberates, encourages and raises others up. When we speak, what do our words do?

*****
(January 24, 2020: Francis de Sales, Bishop, Founder and Doctor of the Church)
*****

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!

*****
(January 25, 2022: Conversion of Paul, Apostle)
*****

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.

*****
(January 26, 2022: Timothy and Titus, Bishops)
*****

In his preface to his Introduction to the Devout Life, the Bishop of Geneva observed:

“I foresee that many people will say that is it only members of religious communities and persons dedicated to devotion who should give special direction in piety, that such things require more leisure than a bishop in charge of a diocese as large as mine can have, and that such an undertaking is too distracting for a mind that should be employed in matters of importance. For my part, I tell you that it is primarily the duty of the bishop to lead souls to perfection, since their order is as supreme among men as that of the seraphim among angels. Hence their leisure cannot be better employed than in such work. The ancient bishops and fathers of the Church were at least as careful about their duties as we are, yet, as we see from their letters, they did not refuse to take charge of the particular conduct of souls who turned to them for assistance. In this they imitated the apostles who, while working with special and particular affection to gather all men, picked out certain extraordinary ears of grain. Who does not know that Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Onesimus, Tecla and Appia were the dear children of the great St. Paul…?”

Tempted as very busy people may be to perceive other folks as obstacles to getting things done, Francis de Sales (no doubt inspired as he was with the example of Paul’s willingness to mentor, support and encourage would-be protégés like Timothy and Titus in the work of proclaiming and living the Gospel) reminds us that the work with which each of us is charged is people – God’s people. There is no work, no ministry, and no job so important as to distract us from pursuing what really matters in this life: to lead, encourage and support one another in our quest for perfection. After all, as Francis de Sales reminds us in another section of his Introduction,

“This life is only a journey to the happy life to come. We must march on as a band of brothers and sisters, companions united in meekness, peace and love.”

This task is our work. This task is our life - to journey together on the paths to perfection, i.e., to bring out the best in ourselves and in one another.

One person – one day – at a time.

*****
(January 27, 2022: Angela Merici, Religious)
*****

“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.

Today, how generously will you measure unto others?

*****
(January 28, 2022: Thomas Aquinas, Priest/Religious/Doctor of the Church)
*****

“The land yields fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”

In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote: “Wherever we may be, we can and should aspire to a perfect life.”

Throughout his ministry, Francis de Sales repeatedly counseled people to make a stark – but sometimes all-too-subtle – distinction between perfection and perfectionism. It seems that the fault of many folks in Francis de Sales’ day was not that they weren’t trying to “aspire to a perfect life.” They were, in fact, trying too hard. They were overwhelmed with good intentions but underwhelmed by their results. Typical of this counsel is a letter from Francis de Sales to Madame Angelique Arnauld, in which he wrote:

“I do know you well and I know that your heart is steadfastly determined to live entirely for God; but I also know that your great natural activity harasses you with many restless impulses. O dear daughter, you must not imagine that the work we have undertaken to do in you can be done so quickly. Cherry trees bear their fruit quickly because they only bear cherries which keep but a short time; but the palm, the prince of trees, only begins bearing fruit a hundred years after it has been planted, it is said. A mediocre life can be achieved in a year, but the perfection for which we are striving – that, my dear daughter, takes quite a few years to establish itself…” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 274)

If a grain of wheat takes time to grow – if an ear of corn takes time to grow – so much the more time is required for us human beings to grow as we “aspire to a perfect life.”

Anything worth doing takes time. In our case, it requires a lifetime!

*****
(January 29, 2022: Saturday, Third Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“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.

---

Spirituality Matters: January 16th - January 22nd

*****
(January 16, 2022: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.”

As a first step in “going public” goes, this first demonstration of Jesus' divine power is, to say the least, an understatement: no miraculous healing, no exorcism of demons and no raising someone from the dead. Instead, he simply prevents the caterer from running out of wine at a wedding reception.

Many might consider this a misuse - nay, even a waste - of Jesus' saving power. Initially, even Jesus himself seems to feel that his power could be used better - and later - elsewhere.

Not Francis de Sales. He sees that there is more to this miracle than meets the eye. Here is an example of how God's power permeates all human experiences, even the most ordinary. We are speaking here of the practice of the “little virtues”, a notion precious indeed to St. Francis de Sales and a hallmark of his understanding of Christ's saving power. In his Treatise on the Love of God, Francis de Sales wrote:

“It may well be that a very small virtue has greater value in a soul in which sacred love reigns with fervor than martyrdom itself in a soul in which love is languid and feeble.” (Book 11, Chapter 5)

Put another way, the little virtues, the expression of care or concern in seemingly ordinary circumstances, may be “found more pleasing in God's sight than great and famous deeds performed with little charity or devotion.”

Still, there is a place for great displays of love:

“I do not say that we may not aspire to outstanding virtues, but I say that we must train ourselves in the little ones without which the great ones may be false or deceptive.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, p. 159)

Jesus may have been tempted to believe that changing water into wine was beneath his divine - perhaps even his human - dignity. In the end, however, the needs of others were more persuasive than the desire to make a "big splash" in the eyes of others. Ironically, it may have been Jesus' willingness to employ his heavenly powers for such a down-to-earth request that enabled his disciples to "begin to believe in him." His greater, more famous and once-in-a-lifetime displays of power would, indeed, come later. But whether on the cross of Calvary or at a simple wedding in Cana, the power, the promise and the person were one and the same.

The moral of this miracle? Nothing is too small for the Kingdom of God.

*****
(January 17, 2022: Anthony, Abbott)
*****

“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?

*****
(January 18, 2022: Tuesday, Second Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior…”

In an undated letter addressed to “A Gentleman” who apparently had been struggling with a debilitating illness that had seriously challenged his confidence and faith in pretty much everything, Francis de Sales wrote:

“It is of great concern to me that everyone says that in addition to your physical illness, you are suffering from deep depression…Please tell me sir, what reason have you for remaining in this dark mood which is so harmful to you? I am afraid that your mind is still troubled by some fear of sudden death and the judgment of God. That is, alas, a unique kind of anguish! My own soul – which once endured it for six weeks – is in apposition to feel compassion for those who experience it.”

“So, sir, I must have a little heart to heart chat with you and tell you that anyone who has a true desire to serve our Lord and flee from sin should not torment himself with the thoughts of death or divine judgment: for while both the one and the other are to be feared, nevertheless, the fear must not be the terrible kind of natural fear which weakness and dampens the ardor and determination of the spirit, but rather a fear that is so full of confidence in the goodness of God that in the end grows calm…This is not the time to start questioning whether or not we are strong enough to entrust ourselves to God.”

“So, now, since you want to belong entirely to God, why be afraid of your weakness – upon which, in any case, you shouldn’t be relying in the first place? You do hope in God, don’t you? And will anyone who hopes in God ever be put to shame? No, sir, never!” (LSD, page 180)

In good times, in bad times, and in all the times in between, God is our rock, our savior. At those times when – for whatever reason – we become more aware than usual of our weakness, we should remind ourselves of an even greater truth.

God’s strength.

*****
(January 19, 2022: Wednesday, Second Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

“Grieved at their hardness of heart…”

Recall last week’s account of Jesus and the paralyzed man? Jesus healed a paralytic in two phases (first, by forgiving the man’s sins and second, by curing the man’s infirmity). As astonishing as that two-fold miracle may have been to those who witnessed it, perhaps the only thing even more astonishing was the intractability of the scribes who questioned Jesus’ authority for doing so. Those men of God appeared to have lost any sense of their need for God.

We see the same dynamic played out in today’s Gospel. Jesus is painfully aware that the Pharisees are looking for any excuse to discredit him, even if it requires demonizing an objectively good and righteous act! In another case of putting the cart before the horse (or perhaps dropping the cart on the horse altogether!) the Pharisees – this time through their cold, calculating silence – are placing the primacy of the Sabbath far ahead of the opportunity to restore someone’s health, in effect, to bring them back to life.

We are told at the end of the day that the Pharisees were undaunted in their pursuit of pettiness and parochialism, hardening their hearts to God’s providence at every opportunity. Fortunately for us, Jesus was even more undaunted in his pursuit of righteousness. Grieved as he might have been, Jesus never allowed others’ hardness of heart to harden his heart.

As followers of Jesus, can the same be said of us?

*****
(January 20, 2022: Fabian, Pope & Martyr)
*****

“Hearing what Jesus was doing, a large number of people came to him…”

As word of Jesus’ reputation for helping those in need spread, we are told in today’s Gospel that lots of folks 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 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 you. Have confidence that God will heal you. Have confidence that God will empower you.

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

*****
(January 21, 2022: Agnes, Virgin & Martyr)
***** ‘Have mercy on me, God; have mercy on me for in you I take refuge.“ Notwithstanding the increasingly common trend of removing all things religious from the arena of public life, 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 savior, the one helped her to be courageous and tenacious…to the death. Today, how might we imitate her example of being both a lamb – and a lion – of God? *****
(January 22, 2022: Saturday, Second Week in Ordinary Time)
*****

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!

(OR)

In his popularization of Bishop Camus’s accounts of the life and legacy of St. Francis de Sales (in The Spirit of Love) CF. Kelley wrote:

“St. Francis de Sales would often say to me (Camus) how much better it would be to accommodate ourselves to others rather than to want to bend everyone to our own ways and opinions. The human mind is like pulp, which takes readily any color with which it is mixed. The great thing is to take care that it not be like the chameleon, which, one after the other takes every color except white.” (Select Salesian Subjects , p. 122, 0523)

St. Francis de Sales’ preferred approach for evangelizing was to meet people where they lived. As his Catholic Controversies clearly demonstrate, however, the “Gentleman Saint” had no hesitation pointing out when people were doing something objectively wrong. While seeking to understand others’ ways and opinions as a strategy for winning people over, Francis never compromised his own principles or core beliefs.

The debate regarding Roe v. Wade and its impact in the United States shows no signs of waning. In addition, debate often denigrates into wholesale divisiveness, even ad hominem attacks. With this unfortunate state of affairs surrounding what is a life or death situation in mind, Jane de Chantal’s advice to a fellow Visitandine sister is especially relevant:

“I am convinced, and experience has taught me, that nothing so wins souls as gentleness and cordiality. Follow this method, for it is the spirit of our blessed Father. Curtness in words or actions only hardens hearts and depresses them, whereas gentleness encourages them and makes them receptive…” (LSD, page 247)

Discussions about how best to legally protect unborn children appear to produce little or no consensus. Arguments for and against “legislating morality” seem to have no end. In the meantime, there is nothing to be lost – and perhaps much to be gained – by continuing to pray that “liberty and justice for all” will, in fact, be just that - for all, including unborn children.

Today, may God help us to put that prayer into action with as much poignant purpose – and gentle persuasion – as we can.

---