Live+Jesus
From St Francis’s Treatise on the Love of God, Book 2, Chapter 16 “How Love Is Practiced in Hope” let’s consider some of his statements in the light of our lives. I trust that your hearts will be uplifted !
“By the sacred promises God’s goodness has made us, our hearts become and remain completely calm. This calm is the root of that most holy virtue which we call hope.” (St. Francis de Sales)
Can you not hear St. Francis de Sales gently entreating us to remain calm as we face our challenges, to remember the many promises God has made to us , and especially the Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? That calm will birth in us the virtue of hope.
And St. Francis de Sales reminds us of the meaning of hope. “Hope is simply the loving complacence that we take in looking towards and striving for our supreme good. In that good all is love…The love we exercise in hope is indeed directed to God, Theotimus, but it returns to us. Its eyes are turned toward God’s goodness, but it has concern for our own profit.” (St. Francis de Sales)
Is this not Salesian optimism? Hope and love are entwined. As is often said, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. The late Sr. Mary Grace Flynn VHM put it another way,“Live Jesus. How? Love Now.” Our well being is assured in this mutuality.
“Between hoping and aspiring the sole difference is this: we hope for such things as we expect to gain by another’s aid; whereas we aspire to such things as we strive after by our own resources and by ourselves…. Our hope, therefore, is in some degree mingled with aspiration…. Then, hope is changed by aspiration into courageous determination, while aspiration is changed by hope into humble striving, and we both hope and aspire as God inspires us.” (St. Francis de Sales)
This is in itself an excellent program for us to follow in our future endeavors. As we strive “by our own resources,” we bear witness to our faithfulness to the covenant with the Lord. And if we discover areas where this is not the case, love and hope will sustain us as we renew ourselves in a true spirit of reconciliation, reclaiming what we have overlooked, and rediscovering lost riches.
The biblical passage of the Visitation was chosen by St. Francis de Sales for his Institute “because he found in this mystery a thousand spiritual insights which shed light on the spirit he wanted to establish in his institute” (The Visitation – a monastic way of life in the Church; page 19). Each of us can plumb the depths of this Gospel mystery, living from its grace with deep sensitivity, remembering the ways God has worked with us.
St. Francis de Sales, whose feast is celebrated at the end of Christian Unity Week, was disposed toward peaceful dialogue with the Christian Reformers of his day. The theme of this ecumenical week in 2012 can very well serve as a companion to St. Francis’ desire for a “Bond of Perfection” among Christians. We can say among ourselves, our families and friends as well as with the world’s Christian communities, “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (cf. 1 Cor 15:51-58)
May each of you have a very blessed Feast of St. Francis de Sales!