of St. Francis de Sales and Holiness
Editorial
Yves Le Saux, Bishop of Annecy
PATH OF HOLINESS
Since my installation as Bishop of Annecy, I have never ceased to think of Saint Francis de Sales who traveled our mountains and valleys and went everywhere. I entrust myself to his prayer.
Francis de Sales proposed to all holiness, that is the Introduction to the devout life. In this writing, he anticipated the Second Vatican Council, in particular chapter 7 of Lumen gentium, the universal call to holiness. To strive for holiness, that is, to the perfection of charity, is not reserved for some alone. “The call to the fullness of the Christian life is addressed to all those who believe in Christ, whatever their condition.” (1)
Holiness is not the fruit of an impossible effort, it is an availability. It is a question of letting the free gift of God, received by baptism, by the sacrament of confirmation, by our participation in the Eucharist, unfold in us. And to remove from our lives all that is contrary to the life of Christ.
Let us pray to God that this desire will be deeply inscribed in our hearts. The condition of our missionary fruitfulness is communion among ourselves. “Let all be one, like you, Father, you are in me, and I in you. May they be one in us, too, that the world may believe that you have sent me,” Jesus asks his Father (John 17).
The path of communion and unity is never complete. Everywhere it is the first emergency. Mutual charity, within the Body that is the Church, is the most decisive issue for the future. In a sense it is the most difficult thing, because each of us has different temperaments, different stories, different charisms, but also different wounds and worries.
Jesus’ prayer warns each of us against the risk of division, when self-love replaces the love of brothers and sisters, when ideologies prevail over the Word of God.
Let us work together to keep, whatever the cost, the reflex of fraternal love, of mutual aid without compensation. None of us is the Church alone. Fraternal communion is chosen, worked, it passes through friendly relations, but it also has objective and institutional constraints. Let us remember that the devil is the divider.
“The world is thirsty to know, not our ecclesial problems, but the fire that Jesus brought to earth. It is only if we have become contemporaries with Christ, and this fire is lit in us, that the Gospel announced touches the hearts of our contemporaries. (3)
Source: Catholics 74 – October — Diocese of Annecy (diocese-annecy.fr)