Do you notice in this letter Saint Francis’s teaching about “holy indifference” which he speaks about often in other writings?2. Saint Francis stresses in spite of the darkness of troubling days that we should not be in distress. With all that we have going on in our world with COVID and civil unrest, that might not seem like the easiest advice to follow. But why is his advice just as right then as it is now?3. During this time of quarantine, we might feel like the bees in Saint Francis’s story. How duri
Jul 26, 9:22 AM
VisitationSiste: How during this confusing time can we stay “busy eating our fill of honey”?
4. How can we trust in God’s presence and purpose in spite of any dire situation?
5. Note that St. Francis asks that St. Jane be frank with him in mentioning her difficulties. How does this instruct us regarding how we are to approach a spiritual director, or a trusted person of prayer?
Jul 26, 9:23 AM
VisitationSiste: Sun chat July 26 730pm est
Jul 26, 7:12 PM
VisitationSiste: HI CALLIE
Jul 26, 7:21 PM
Callie (Guest): Hi
Jul 26, 7:21 PM
Callie (Guest): sorry I didn’t see you at first
Jul 26, 7:23 PM
VisitationSiste: That’s ok- it’s a bit early yet-
Jul 26, 7:23 PM
Callie (Guest): true
Jul 26, 7:24 PM
VisitationSiste: are you familiar with these letters of st Francis de Sales that we are using for chat?
Jul 26, 7:24 PM
Callie (Guest): no, only the introduction to devout life
Jul 26, 7:25 PM
VisitationSiste: He also wrote Treatise on the Love of God, a more advanced work- but the Introduction is more readable and has lots in it
Jul 26, 7:25 PM
Callie (Guest): Yes I have looked at it but it is very technical, so i havent tackled it yet.
Jul 26, 7:25 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): Hi mother susan marie this is bettychao, yea I have come to chat. I just finished the sunday morning mass online the novena the blessed secred heart of jesus daily mass from the brooklyn visitation monastery online youtube.
Jul 26, 7:26 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Betty- hope you enjoyed the Mass that we had for the Novena
Jul 26, 7:26 PM
VisitationSiste: welcome viewers
Jul 26, 7:26 PM
VisitationSiste: I guess we can begin
Jul 26, 7:27 PM
VisitationSiste: we have begun using the letters of St Francis de Sales to try to connect his spirituality and thoughts with our current concerns as well as to become more familiar with his wwritings- which shows his heart
Jul 26, 7:29 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): todays reading a reading from bible psalm 103;13-22 jesus christ same yesterday and today forever. hebrews 13;8 how is it comforting to know that God never change when you need that assurance
Jul 26, 7:29 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): this words from the book of our daily bread I was reading some words from the bible
Jul 26, 7:30 PM
VisitationSiste: Q1 1. Do you notice in this letter Saint Francis’s teaching about “holy indifference” which he speaks about often in other writings?
Jul 26, 7:31 PM
VisitationSiste: here is the letter https://archive.org/details/20200520-selected-letters/page/98/mode/2up?q=Do+not+be+in+the+least+distressed+on+my+account+because+of+all+you+write+to+me%3B+
Jul 26, 7:31 PM
VisitationSiste: To me, St Francis has a tender touch and “voice” in this particular letter and is very conceerned it seems to me that St Jane the Baroness trust him
Jul 26, 7:32 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): how do you want remeber after you leave this world and in what days you will seek Gods help and to make that happen? todays reading Genesis 4;1 eve say with the help from the abba father I have brought forth to a man the bible
Jul 26, 7:33 PM
VisitationSiste: I don’t see that St Francis is emphasizing holy indifference here, do you?
Jul 26, 7:34 PM
Callie (Guest): im not done with #14 but I am not seeing holy indifference yet in his admonishion, but in his example
Jul 26, 7:34 PM
Callie (Guest): ah here we go. starting with Be of good cheer! i suspect the theme would be picked up more.
Jul 26, 7:36 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): todays reading psalm 141:4 do not let you heart be drawn to what is bad and evil. what slippery slopes do you gravitate toward? in what ways can you set guard over you heart?
Jul 26, 7:36 PM
VisitationSiste: Where is that line Callie? I can’t find it.
Jul 26, 7:36 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Dawn!
Jul 26, 7:37 PM
Callie (Guest): He exibits holy indifference throughout but he most clearly talks about it (in letter 14) with the paragraph that starts “Be brave, my dear daughter…”
Jul 26, 7:37 PM
VisitationSiste: Thanks!
Jul 26, 7:37 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Sr Susan! And Callie Betty and viewers
Jul 26, 7:38 PM
Callie (Guest): “We have no control over any spiritual light or consolation except what depends on our will, and that is protected and sheltered by our holy resolutions. While the great seal of God’s chancery is upon your heart ther is nothing to fear.”
Jul 26, 7:38 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): Genesis 1:1-5 God say let their be light and their has a light. in what situation do you need christ light to shine when has his wisdom light to guide you
Jul 26, 7:38 PM
VisitationSiste: Good reference!
Jul 26, 7:38 PM
VisitationSiste: Thanks Callie!
Jul 26, 7:39 PM
Callie (Guest): or the paragraph earlier: “What does it mater whether God
Jul 26, 7:39 PM
Callie (Guest): ‘s voice comes to us amongst thorns or amongst flowers?
Jul 26, 7:39 PM
VisitationSiste: That is certainly indifference-!
Jul 26, 7:39 PM
VisitationSiste: Q2 2. Saint Francis stresses in spite of the darkness of troubling days that we should not be in distress. With all that we have going on in our world with COVID and civil unrest, that might not seem like the easiest advice to follow. But why is his advice just as right then as it is now?
Jul 26, 7:40 PM
Dawn (Guest): Good examples thanks
Jul 26, 7:40 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): sr susan how are you ?and how is you health ?and how is sr mary berchman? i just talk to sr mary berchman before along time before .
Jul 26, 7:40 PM
Callie (Guest): holy indifference is holy because it is also timeless
Jul 26, 7:40 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): Hi dawn how are you? this is bettychao
Jul 26, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: Distress does not help a situation although I think for most people some degree of it is unavoidable
Jul 26, 7:42 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): sr susan which place I can find the st francis desales life history books in what place ? bettychao
Jul 26, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: But it should not control us
Jul 26, 7:43 PM
VisitationSiste: That’s where prayer and trust come in.
Jul 26, 7:43 PM
Dawn (Guest): Q2, because this is the same as what Jesus taught. John1427 and other places. We are warned thruout the Gospel. And yet it is difficult when the darkness seems overtaking
Jul 26, 7:43 PM
VisitationSiste: Yes it is difficult
Jul 26, 7:43 PM
VisitationSiste: But we need to try to mitigate that emotional reaction so it does not get out of hand and prayer helps
Jul 26, 7:44 PM
Dawn (Guest): Best counsel
Jul 26, 7:45 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): sister susan marie loving God .we thank you for you son jesus is the light of this world and guide us in to the light of his great love bettychao
Jul 26, 7:45 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Ruth!!
Jul 26, 7:46 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Ruth, glad you made it!
Jul 26, 7:48 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hello everyone, I’ve just been reading what you’ve written thus far.
Jul 26, 7:48 PM
VisitationSiste: q 3: 3. During this time of quarantine, we might feel like the bees in Saint Francis’s story. How during this confusing time can we stay “busy eating our fill of honey”?
Jul 26, 7:49 PM
Ruth (Guest): Oh, where’d Callie go? Hello Sister Susan, Dawn, Betty and visitor.
Jul 26, 7:49 PM
Ruth (Guest): Good selection for these troubling times!
Jul 26, 7:50 PM
VisitationSiste: I guess Callie left
Jul 26, 7:51 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): todays reading leviticus 19:18 love you neighbor as you self. prayer : loving jesus I thankyou for the love of you secred heart I believe at the holy mass you offered sacrefice youself on the cross and die for us for take away our sins for the love of you. please help draw the image love of you in the our heart so we may love you more and love our neighbor and make them to believe in you.
Jul 26, 7:51 PM
Dawn (Guest): busy eating our fill of honey while we act and do the works he calls each of us to do.
Jul 26, 7:52 PM
VisitationSiste: I guess there are “pots of honey” that we need to identify in our lives. For ex in quarantine, one might read books one has been waiting for a long time to get to That’s one pot
Jul 26, 7:52 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): sister susan this prayer is from the leviticus words loving you neighbor as you self so I make that prayer.
Jul 26, 7:52 PM
Dawn (Guest): A good pot
Jul 26, 7:54 PM
VisitationSiste: Another could be spending more time in with a favorite or new devotion
Jul 26, 7:56 PM
VisitationSiste: In reality how did we live quarantine? For me, it was the regular life plus more work
Jul 26, 7:56 PM
Dawn (Guest): Spending time in nature also a perfect place to pray and read
Jul 26, 7:57 PM
Dawn (Guest): My time was quite isolated
Jul 26, 7:58 PM
VisitationSiste: ah yes in nature
Jul 26, 7:58 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): jesus may the power of you resurrection become more and more evident in my life .may it be clear in my words and action especially as interact my life for those people dont know you and believe you.
Jul 26, 7:59 PM
VisitationSiste: Thanks Betty
Jul 26, 7:59 PM
Dawn (Guest): A thunderstorm pouring rain right now. Lovely
Jul 26, 7:59 PM
VisitationSiste: q 4: 4. How can we trust in God’s presence and purpose in spite of any dire situation?
Jul 26, 8:00 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): 1 corinthians 15:12-19 if only for this life we have hope in our God we are all people most to be pitied
Jul 26, 8:02 PM
Ruth (Guest): For one thing, by remembering his promises, and by recalling the many times he’s shown himself faithful, both in the lives of His people and in our own lives.
Jul 26, 8:03 PM
VisitationSiste: finding HIM in the present in a moment of deep stillness despite whatever dire thing surrounds one
Jul 26, 8:03 PM
Carol Ann: Hi everyone!
Jul 26, 8:04 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hi Carol Ann!
Jul 26, 8:04 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Carol Ann!
Jul 26, 8:04 PM
Ruth (Guest): By ASKING for the gift of Trust in God.
Jul 26, 8:06 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): todays reading a reading from the philippians 2:1-11 jesus christ himself made nothing the only way to healing and goodness the only way to move forward is to join jesus and walk with him to heaven and you faith to him
Jul 26, 8:06 PM
Ruth (Guest): By looking upon a crucifix and knowing that he gave his life freely for us. By choosing to walk in His steps, no matter what difficulties befall us.
Jul 26, 8:06 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Carol Anne!
Jul 26, 8:07 PM
VisitationSiste: repeating q for you: 4. How can we trust in God’s presence and purpose in spite of any dire situation?
Jul 26, 8:07 PM
Dawn (Guest): I have seen Him in an unfolding of circumstances
Jul 26, 8:08 PM
Dawn (Guest): a merciful grace give
Jul 26, 8:08 PM
Dawn (Guest): given
Jul 26, 8:08 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): say rosary and chaplet divine mercy and go to church mass and study bible and go to bible study class that will help you to believe in jesus.
Jul 26, 8:08 PM
Carol Ann: Sorry, the internet is not cooperating in my house today
Jul 26, 8:09 PM
Dawn (Guest): thank you Betty!
Jul 26, 8:09 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): I love to studied the bible and I try to get the catholic bible studied class online and I hope I can get one from ewtn
Jul 26, 8:10 PM
Ruth (Guest): By knowing that God is omnipresent. Desiring to DO his will. Realizing what is MOST important, union with Him — so that even the dire circumstances, in the last analysis, are RELATIVELY unimportant.
Jul 26, 8:11 PM
VisitationSiste: Most true-
Jul 26, 8:11 PM
Dawn (Guest): yes, the main focus Ruth!
Jul 26, 8:12 PM
Dawn (Guest): Memento Mori
Jul 26, 8:12 PM
VisitationSiste: we often wonder about God’s purpose- perhaps that is something we cannot know, and might just trust that He has a good one
Jul 26, 8:12 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): How it is comforting to know that God never change his promise whe you needed his love the best answer is by study his words from bible and listen to the sermons of the church mass
Jul 26, 8:13 PM
Ruth (Guest): We can FEEL abandoned — as he did on the cross — but trust/ KNOW even that because He rose from the the dead we can, too. We are a RESURRECTION PEOPLE; that means that life and death, death and life do not just follow one another; they co-exist in each of us simultaneously.
Jul 26, 8:14 PM
Dawn (Guest): Carol Ann how is everything where you are? I hope you are always safe
Jul 26, 8:15 PM
Carol Ann: We are not locked down again yet, but cases are up. Lots of squabbling over wearing masks. People are starting to react to the stress in troubling ways
Jul 26, 8:16 PM
VisitationSiste: they should read St Francis’s letter here!
Jul 26, 8:16 PM
Carol Ann: We are not enjoying a thunderstorm down here though. Just fog
Jul 26, 8:16 PM
VisitationSiste: so many do not have spiritual resources within
Jul 26, 8:16 PM
VisitationSiste: q 5 5. Note that St. Francis asks that St. Jane be frank with him in mentioning her difficulties. How does this instruct us regarding how we are to approach a spiritual director, or a trusted person of prayer?
Jul 26, 8:17 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): reading from the words from the proverbs 12:12,24-28 dilligent hands will rule.but the laziness end in forced labor. what are some area where can i can learn from the teenager to be diligent and perserve ?how does doing my best and working hard honor God?
Jul 26, 8:17 PM
Carol Ann: We are to do the same, but only to the director
Jul 26, 8:18 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): our teacher and our faith director alelluia is jesus christ he is king of kings lord of lords alelluia Amen
Jul 26, 8:18 PM
Dawn (Guest): I thought this interesting, that he invites her to be open transparent. I’ve not had that experience personally , perhaps the opposite.
Jul 26, 8:18 PM
Ruth (Guest): Carol Ann, why only to the director?
Jul 26, 8:20 PM
Dawn (Guest): ii believe it is essential to spiritual growth
Jul 26, 8:20 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes, Dawn, that is so important. I still miss Sr. Charlotte Keith, with whom I could be exactly who I am, AND always feel accepted, supported. She died 12/11/10.
Jul 26, 8:21 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): ezekiel 2:4-3:3 so I eat it,and it tasted as sweet as honey my mouth.what truth has God shown you recently did you recieve it as a bitter pill or sweet honey? God is love and truth and sweet.
Jul 26, 8:21 PM
VisitationSiste: A director cannot guide well if one is not open with that person
Jul 26, 8:22 PM
Carol Ann: Because they are able to guide you through the issue as Jesys would, acting in our faith. A confessor could too. But if we trust the wrong secular person with too much information about our spiritual lives it can end up a big mess
Jul 26, 8:22 PM
Ruth (Guest): Even a psychotherapist cannot serve a patient well unless that patient is honest with the therapist.
Jul 26, 8:22 PM
Dawn (Guest): Amen
Jul 26, 8:24 PM
Ruth (Guest): Carol Ann, that’s the counsel of not throwing your pearls to the swines. But not all secular persons would be any less competent than some directors.
Jul 26, 8:24 PM
VisitationSiste: Probably St Francis wrote that to St Jane because she had a terrible experience with her first director
Jul 26, 8:24 PM
VisitationSiste: He did not understand her and really put her in a bind with spiritual exercises, secrecy etc
Jul 26, 8:25 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): christ himself gave to his friends and the prophet priests and nuns and saints to teach his people about the truth faith is is not only come from those saints and nuns and priests but is come from heavenly jesus him self because jesus drawing his image of himself to them and tell them guide us to enternal truth and way to heaven.
Jul 26, 8:25 PM
Ruth (Guest): One of the things that worried me when I thought of becoming a sister was NOT having much control over WHO would become my director.
Jul 26, 8:26 PM
VisitationSiste: We allow a Sister to choose her own director
Jul 26, 8:26 PM
VisitationSiste: but if things seem odd for any reason we talk with the Sister
Jul 26, 8:26 PM
Ruth (Guest): IF there were a mismatch over a long period of time it COULD be very harmful.
Jul 26, 8:26 PM
VisitationSiste: Some directors do not understand cloistered life
Jul 26, 8:26 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): my mom also tell me not you want be a nun or want to be a nun is jesus call you to married him and become his bride that is name call the calling from God
Jul 26, 8:27 PM
Ruth (Guest): That’s good, Sister, but how can it be practically carried out if there are only a few priests, or trained directors, male or female, available where the sister is cloistered?
Jul 26, 8:28 PM
Carol Ann: We gave the same question out here. Directors are incredibly difficult to find
Jul 26, 8:29 PM
VisitationSiste: One contacts the Chancery, but of course it does depend on the geographical area
Jul 26, 8:29 PM
Ruth (Guest): Indeed, Carol Ann.
Jul 26, 8:29 PM
VisitationSiste: Much prayer is needed
Jul 26, 8:29 PM
VisitationSiste: Earlier we spoke of Holy indifference: here is an article on that that I leave you with http://www.salesian.online/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/JSS_18_N_1_Holy_Indifference-Freeing_the_Heart_for_Pure_Love-Eunan_McDonnell1.pdf
Jul 26, 8:29 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): my mom say she has a Godmother who guide her to catholic she really want be a nun and she enter the monastery and be a nun and leave the monastery 3 times now she got married a man and have children if jesus want you be a nun and choose you be a nun he well if he does not calling you maybe he want you do something different or some catholic work to work for his church.
Jul 26, 8:30 PM
VisitationSiste: Interesting Betty!
Jul 26, 8:30 PM
VisitationSiste: I wish you all a week of immersion in our Lord. Prayers for you! God bless
Jul 26, 8:31 PM
Carol Ann: Thank you Sister@
Jul 26, 8:31 PM
Ruth (Guest): Prayer is primary. And yet, it seems God allows us, often, to go for long periods of time without a spiritual director, or, we think we’ve found a suitable one, and either the distance to get to see him is prohibitive, or something comes up in a very early session to through the whole matter into question.
Jul 26, 8:31 PM
Carol Ann: I wonder why that is, Ruth, whennits so necessary
Jul 26, 8:32 PM
Ruth (Guest): throw
Jul 26, 8:33 PM
Guest5364 (Guest): I have to go and may God bless you all
Jul 26, 8:34 PM
Ruth (Guest): God bless you Betty.
Jul 26, 8:36 PM
Ruth (Guest): “throw” not “through” Carol Ann, I do not know. But Jesus said he will send the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us. Perhaps it is in part so that we will listen more attentively to the Holy Spirit of God, who is truly, the only perfect “spiritual director.”
Jul 26, 8:38 PM
Ruth (Guest): There are, indeed, risks of mistaking ones own thoughts or desires or insights for those of the Holy Spirit — and that is the reason, I think, that the human director is so important.