Artwork by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS
I write this reflection from Baton Rouge, LA where I am preaching a Parish Mission at St. George Parish. The parish Music Director, Joseph Smaldino, worked with the parish Director of Adult Faith Formation, Karen Fawley, Pastor Father Paul Yi and the Parish Staff to develop the Mission Theme. We are reflecting on Making Ordinary Time Extraordinary by Living Jesus. It is always a great gift to discover how many people have been touched by Salesian Spirituality. I even met a couple, the Daigles, who belonged to Our Lady of Good Counsel, an Oblate parish in Vienna, VA, before moving to Baton Rouge.
Saint Francis de Sales said, “Many are satisfied with carrying the Lord on their tongue, recounting His marvels and praising Him with great ardor; others carry Him in their hearts with tender and loving affection, which becomes part and parcel of their lives, thinking of Him and speaking to Him. But these two ways of carrying the Lord do not amount to much if the third element of carrying Him in their arms by good works is missing.” (Sermons 2; O. IX, p. 22) As much as we might love the Lord or speak about Jesus, it is by good works, carrying the Lord in our arms, that He is known. It is by Living Jesus that He is known and seen. I like to put it this way: Love is known when it is shown. Jesus is known when He is shown by our words, deeds and attitudes.
My mother’s version of this was, “Don’t tell me you love me. Clean the toilet. Do the dishes. Give me flowers that you pick from our garden or buy from the store. Tell me you’re sorry and show me that you mean it.” In other words, show me that you love me. I believe that is the message that de Sales conveys by telling us that we must carry the Lord in our arms by good works. Mother Frances de Sales de Chappuis, the Good Mother, said it this way, “Imprint the Gospel in your flesh and blood.” So I ask, “Do we? Do I?”
I see it in little and big ways. A wife walks by the side of her husband who uses a walker, ready to assist him if necessary but supporting his independence as much as possible. A couple holds hands while sitting together or walking down the street. On the day of my writing this reflection, a man fell before our session and people immediately got up to see if he was alright and to offer a hand to help him stand up. People volunteer to assist others in need, like one of our confreres who has gone to Florida twice to help with hurricane relief. Students go on mission trips during their breaks, like the students I would take to Appalachia when I was a University Chaplain, the students from Salesianum who recently served in Central America, or the people who volunteer at De Sales Service Works in Camden, NJ. Love is shown when people stop to visit with or eat with one of our sisters and brothers who are homeless. People bring meals to assist a family in need, drive others to appointments or offer to sit with a spouse suffering from dementia or on hospice so that the caregiver can have some relief. Where do you see someone carrying the Lord in their hands? Where do you help Jesus be known because He is shown in your good works?
A number of years ago I worked with a man whose daughter went to Bishop Ireton High School, a high school in Alexandria, VA that was administrated by the Oblates for many years. He and his wife went to a Live Jesus! event. While they were registering, they heard a woman behind them read one of the banners. Instead of “Live Jesus” she read “Jesus, Live!” She saw that sign and proclaimed that the day would be better than she had thought it would be. She was going to see Jesus alive that day. Well, after we laughed, our conversation reflected on the fact that when we carry the Lord in our arms by our actions, our words of support, our prayers, an email or a phone call and….you fill in the blank, we live Jesus in ways that help Him to come alive. Our Salesian Spirituality makes a real and practical difference in people’s lives.
I find this both comforting and challenging. The comfort comes from the fact that Jesus is as near as our hearts, our minds and our very bodies. The challenge comes from the fact that living Jesus, carrying Him in my arms by doing good works, stretches me to look and see where those works are needed and then to actually do them. And so I ask myself:
“How can I carry Jesus in my arms by good works?”
“Where do I see Jesus?”
“Where can I live Jesus so that He is seen by others?”
When we do these things, the ordinary becomes extraordinary because the One whose name is engraved on our hearts, Jesus, is made visible for others to know and see Him. Live Jesus and make Him alive in our midst so that His love can be known by being shown. May God be praised!
Father Paul Colloton, OSFS
Superior, De Sales Centre Oblate Residence
Childs, MD
