| Please Him by Depending Utterly on His Love and Trusting Him |
At our Living Jesus Chat Room this Sunday we will be talking about a letter written by Francis de Sales to St. Jane de Chantal, written from Annecy in 1616, 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  Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on UnsplashWhat more can one say to a soul which God has for so long drawn to complete repose in him and in his providence except just this: stay where you are, my daughter, hidden in the most secret place of this holy tabernacle, giving yourself up completely to the will of him who deigns to take care of you. Your only care should be to please him by depending utterly on his love and trusting him, by your calm vigilance in helping his dear brides to advance in ever purer service of heaven, by exact observance, paying special attention to kindness and helpfulness without ever fearing to exceed in these holy virtues. Do this generously, cheerfully and sweetly and you will find God’s graces abounding in you. I pray for this with all my soul which loves yours perfectly. Pray for him who is unconditionally yours. Blessed be God. Amen .Ever be joyful with that peaceful and devout joy which is grounded in love of your own abjection, and cultivate a calm and peaceful humility of heart, accepting all sorts of suffering and abjection, not deeming yourself worthy of anything else. Reflections: What is the value of a hidden life?Does a hidden life stand in contradiction to the call to go out and preach the gospel to all nations?Consider St. Thérèse of Lisieux and how in her hidden life that ended in 1897 at age 24, she became a doctor of the church, a patron of missions, and within the time of just one century is known practically throughout the whole world with a statue or image in many parishes.How can we keep calm in the storms of life, whether leading religious sisters, shepherding a parish, or raising children?If God “deigns to take care of you” why should we also accept suffering and abjection? How does this not damage His title as Father?Is it possible to take the saint’s words encouraging St. Jane de Chantal to adopt a “complete repose in him” to apply to a layman living in the world? Could you practice these virtues and remain hidden in God amidst a busy secular life? 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. |