Have you ever felt called to do something or start something because your conscience impelled you to do so? Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS, was chaplain to the Visitation of Holy Mary Convent in Annecy, France, during the late 1800s. Mother Marie de Sales Chappuis, VHM, (The Good Mother), their Superior, kept encouraging him to found a religious community of men who follow the teachings of St. Francis de Sales. He didn’t see that as his call until Jesus appeared to him one day, following a meeting with The Good Mother, that he accepted this as his call. He founded the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Then, with St. Leonie Aviat, he founded the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales to attend to the needs of young women who needed guidance and education at the time of the Industrial Revolution. Young women and young men were often abused in body, dignity, and faith. The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales attended to the needs of young men in similar situations. We celebrate Bl. Louis Brisson, OSFS, on October 12, which we call Founders’ Day.
Fr. Brisson wrote to the community of the early Confreres that: “We should be the kind of religious that our Good Mother Mary de Sales expects us to be. Let us be the image of our Lord. Let us be other Christs, placing our feet in His footprints.” This is a wonderful and concrete description of how we are to live St. Francis de Sales’ desire that we “Live + Jesus” (“Vive + Jesus). We are the image of our Lord when we live in such a way that when people see us they see Jesus Christ. When people hear us they hear Jesus Christ. When people meet us they encounter Jesus Christ. How? By placing our feet in His footprints. Then we walk Jesus’ talk and follow Jesus’ way. We do what Jesus did.
The Good Mother taught that “when we say ‘yes’ to God’s call, then God re-incarnates Himself into the world in and through us,” and God is made flesh again in us. Our feet become God’s feet. Our hands become God’s hands. We become “God-bearers,” like Mary the Mother of God. Christ is seen in the world again and again through us. While living this way can be difficult at times, Salesian Spirituality gives us practical guidance about how to re-incarnate Jesus Christ.
When we wake up in the morning, do we say “Yes” to God? Do we promise to live God’s way throughout our day, or at least do the best we can?
Throughout our day, do we see God with us at all times? This awareness can change how we treat others, how we act, and help us see each other with God's eyes.
Do we live with an attitude of gratitude for our meals, our gifts or our challenges? An attitude of gratitude makes a big difference. Even when something does not turn out the way we wish, I can be grateful that I’m alive to experience it.
Do we see and hear Jesus in our companions? This is a challenge when another person’s view is not one that I share. But I want the person to see Jesus in me, which means I need to see Jesus in her or him. We are one as children of God, but we can be very different. Fr. Brisson called this unidiversity, we are one in our diversity. We can disagree with respect and without violence in word or deed, even on Facebook.
Do we see our daily work as undertaking the work of God? That helps me to appreciate the value of human labor and not live life in a perfunctory manner.
Do we invite God into our rest? God is with us throughout the night. Trying to be conscious of God’s presence in our sleep, our dreams, our rest can help me experience God’s love in transformative ways, even at night.
Try living consciously today as an image of the Lord, as an other Christ. Put your feet into His footsteps. Reflect on how you already walk Christ’s talk and follow Christ’s path. Give thanks and then live in ways that give birth to Jesus Christ anew every day. Who knows, you might become a founder, too.
May God be praised!
Fr. Paul Colloton, OSFS, D.Min.
Superior
DeSales Centre Oblate Residence, Childs, MD
