| Do Not Dwell on the Wrong You Have Suffered |
At our Living Jesus Chat Room this Sunday we will be talking about a letter written by Francis de Sales to Madame d’Escrilles, written from Annecy on 7 January 1614, taken from Selected Letters of St. Francis de Sales.To prepare for our chat, please read the article, which is reproduced below, and review the questions at the end.Click for Living Jesus Chatroom  Image by Gerd Altmann from PixabayMy dear and ever dearer Sister,I have just received the two letters which you entrusted to Madame de Travernay [her sister-in-law with whom St. Francis also corresponded] as well as another from her in which she explains the nature of your trouble [she had been subject to calumny of some kind] to me; I see that this is very considerable because of the great number of vexatious incidents which seem to attach to it. My very dear sister, these mists are not so thick that the sun cannot melt them away. Believe me, God who has led you up till now will go on holding you in his blessed hand; but you must throw yourself into the arms of his providence with complete trust and forgetfulness of self; now is the right time. Almost everyone can manage to trust God in the sweetness and peace of prosperity, but only his children can put their trust in him when storms and tempests rage, I mean put their trust in him with complete self-abandonment.If you do it, believe me my dear sister, you will be amazed and full of wonder when suddenly one day you realize that all the horrors which now trouble you have simply vanished into thin air. His divine Majesty expects this of you because he has drawn you to him to make you his in a very special way.Speak little and conscientiously about the man whom you consider partly to blame; that is to say, do not dwell on the wrong you have suffered, nor speak of it often; and when you do mention it say nothing except what you really know to be true, stressing doubt where there really is doubt, in exact accordance with the truth.I am writing to you without leisure on the most crowded day I have had for a long while. I shall write at greater length, please God, praying for your peace and consolation. Do your best to pacify your parents. Alas, on such occasions hiding your grief heals more evil in the space of an hour than open resentment could do in a year. God must take charge of it all; that is why you must entreat him to do it.May God always be the center of your heart, my very dear sister, my daughter. I am indeed,Your most humble brother and servant, Francis, Bishop of Geneva. Reflections: What is calumny, and why is it so dangerous?Why does St. Francis call what we perceive to be big problems mere “mists”?If it is easier to trust God in the peace of prosperity, then why doesn’t God just make that our state in life so we can trust Him more easily?Why is it important for parents to be trusting and gentle as a means for helping their children embrace God as such?Why is it important to speak little about the people who wrong us and not dwell on it? Doesn’t that just give them a free pass to mistreat us without consequence?If someone has offended us in a serious way, how do we get over it? Is there a point where justice ends and forgiveness begins?Have you ever allowed your anger to smolder for months or even years over an offence done to you? How did you get over this? Sign up for our Living Jesus Chat Room:Come to our Living Jesus Chat Room, 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time U.S. |