Gaudete et Exsultate and Salesian Spiritality part 1 Chat

Judy (Guest): Good evening Mother, and all! Mother have you seen the May issue of Magnificat? The cover is one of the loveliest renderings of the Visitation that I have ever seen.

Judy (Guest): 8734, are you Brian?

Judy (Guest): Hi Carol Ann! Happy that you are here!

Judy (Guest): No complaints!

Judy (Guest): Wonder where everyone is!

Judy (Guest): People seem to be coming on later and later every week/

Judy (Guest): Thanks for the reference, Carol!

Judy (Guest): Welcome viewer!

Judy (Guest): Let’s start with question 1: Rejoicing and being glad in the midst of persecution is truly a gift from God. Not everyone can do it. But doing so has the effect of keeping our eyes on the goodness of God and thus keeping our spiritsuy to see us through the difficult time. Even just smiling can lift our spirits. There is an old saying” “Keep smiling; it will make people wonder what you’re up to.“ And if you keep smiling in difficult moments, people wonder shy and see that that they can’t bring you down.

Judy (Guest): That should be “spirits up”

Judy (Guest): Wonder why.

Judy (Guest): Do you mean that people deliberately give you a difficult time just to hurt you?

Judy (Guest): While it may not be easy to do, try to keep smiling no matter what. That might fend them off if they see that they cannot disturb you.

Judy (Guest): Hi Carroll!

Judy (Guest): Yes Carol Ann, peace does come from within, but we do need to request it from he Lord, for it is a gift.

Judy (Guest): And if we consistently are without peace, we need to ask ourselves why. Are we somehow thwarting the growth of peace within us by acting in a way contrary to God’s will?

Judy (Guest): I think that we all go through periods of blindness. At such times we need to be like the blind man in the Scriptures who asked Jesus, “Lord, that I may see.“

Judy (Guest): And there is a saying:

Judy (Guest): “If you see someone without a smile, give him one of yours.“

Judy (Guest): Smiles can be contageous.

Judy (Guest): Question 2: The article states that “the middle class of holiness” refers to accessibility. If we consider those wealthy upper class holy people who literally radiate holiness like St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. John Paul IIm we might be discouraged feeling that we can never attain that height. And if we see people in a lesser class, exhibition of holiness, we might not want to go in that direction.

Judy (Guest): However middle class holiness is capable of being attained by all, even by doing the smallest things with patience and love. the article tells us that each one needs to discern his or her own path with the gifts God has given them rather than trying to imitate something not meant for them. There are many ways of bearing witness. Se are not all called to the same way.

Judy (Guest): Hi Dawn! Sorry to hear that you are having pain. Hope the doctor can help you.

Judy (Guest): These bodies of ours can certainly throw many curves our way.

Judy (Guest): Well Dawn, why a flying leap when you do not have wings?

Judy (Guest): No more flying until you get wings!

Judy (Guest): Question 3: I have never felt that holiness in unattainable. In Scripture, Jesus exhorts us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. He would not call us to do the impossible. But we need to remember that without God, we can do nothing. And so we must trust in, and rely on, Him to bring us to the degree and type of holiness that He has planned for us.

Judy (Guest): For some, it might be in deep and intense prayer; for others, varying degrees of suffering; for others, performing many acts of charity or kindness; for others great simplicity of being and of life. In Thess. 4:7 we read;“For God did not call us to impurity, but to holiness.“ In Hebrews 12:10, we read:

Judy (Guest): of discipline meted out by God,[Who] does so for our benefit, it order that we may share His holiness.“

Judy (Guest): Welcome aboard Mother!

Judy (Guest): Is she wearing full habit all the time now?

Judy (Guest): Please extend our condolences to her and her family.

Judy (Guest): I have answered all three. But there has not been discussion of the third one yet.

Judy (Guest): But there has been some discussion of what Jesus meant when He told us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

Judy (Guest): I do not think that Jesus is asking us to have the fullness of perfection as the Father does. Perhaps we can achieve, or strive, for perfection in one virtue.

Judy (Guest): That requires discernment-–is it God Who is leading us away, or are we choosing it ourselves?

Judy (Guest): Carroll, I think that we can be pretty sure if we are choosing to leave ourselves, but it might be more difficult to discern if God is doing the leading.

Judy (Guest): Is getting to Heaven a mission or a goal? I think of mission as something that we are doing as a form of service, but attaining Heaven is a goal. The mission can help us to attain the goal.

Judy (Guest): Mother, at the beginning of the chat, I asked you if you have seen the May issue of Magnificat. The cover is one of the loveliest renderings of the Visitation that I have ever seen.

Judy (Guest): Per chance the battlefield might come from within ourselves, not necessarily from the adversary.

Judy (Guest): Also our personality traits.

Judy (Guest): No wonder life can be so tiring at times. We have so many battles to fight.

Judy (Guest): And we continue to struggle. Is that we are not surrendering to Him?

Judy (Guest): Will be praying for the meetings for you, Mother. May they go well and produce something wonderful for the Lord and your congregation. So glad that you were able to be with us.

Judy (Guest): May we all continue to strive for holiness!