| It’s OK to Seek Good Spiritual Guides |
At our Living Jesus Chat Room this Sunday we will be talking about a letter written by Saint Francis de Sales to Madame Angelique Arnauld, Abbess of Port-Royal at Maubuisson, written from Paris, May 25, 1619.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 UnsplashNo, I beg you never to fear that your letters will weary me for I can really and truly assure you that they will always afford me great consolation, as long as God gives me the grace of filling my heart with his love, or at least of making me long to have it. Allow me to say this once and for all.It is of course true that if I had never come to this city, you could hardly have discussed your spiritual affairs with me; but since it has pleased divine Providence that I should be here there is no difficulty whatever about your making use of this opportunity if you see fit. And do not believe that you are seeking out excellence of person and rank, for although a thought of this kind might be very natural to my unworthiness, the fact is that I do not have it on such occasions; on the contrary, perhaps nothing is more likely to put me in the way of humility than my astonishment that so many servants of Our Lord, both men and women, can have such great confidence in a spirit as imperfect as mine. And this makes me take heart greatly and hope that I may one day become what people think me, and that as God gives me his children’s holy friendship, he may one day give me his own, according to his mercy, after he has made me do penance as I deserve.But I really should not be saying all this. It is the evil spirit, then, who being forever deprived of holy love wants to prevent us from enjoying the fruits of the Holy Ghost’s love that is to grow between us, so that in our mutual holy communications we may find a means of growing in love of his holy will.It is difficult, my very dear sister, to find people of all-round discernment who can see clearly to an equal degree in all matters: nor is it essential to have people of this kind so as to be well directed, and there is no harm, it seems to me, in gathering from many flowers the honey which we cannot find in one alone.Yes, you go on to say, but in the meantime, I am cleverly indulging my inclinations and fancies. My dear sister, I see no great danger in this since you do not want to follow your inclinations unless they are approved; and although you make a point of seeking out favorable judges, as long as you find good, sensible and learned ones, you cannot go wrong in following their opinions even if it happens to be what you yourself want, provided of course that you explain your affairs and difficulties with childlike candor.It is enough, my very dear sister, to submit to advice, and it is neither necessary nor expedient to desire that this advice should go against our own inclinations, but only that it should conform to heavenly law and doctrine. For my part, I think that we should not ask for bitter suffering to come to our heart as Our Lord did, for we cannot deal with it as he did; it is enough for us to suffer patiently should the time come. That is why it is not necessary for us always to go against our inclinations provided they are not evil and have been scrutinized and found good.There is no great harm in listening to people talking of the affairs of the world when our intention is to add to the sum of good, and we must not be punctilious in our examen on this point; for it is morally impossible always to keep to the exact point of moderation. However, my very dear sister, I should not like you to miss your prayer, at least half an hour a day, unless something very out of the ordinary happens or illness prevents you.As for the rest, I shall do one of two things: either I shall write to you again at greater length before I leave, or I shall go and see you on the day I told your good and honest porter. And believe me, I beg you, that nothing shall stop me except if it really proves impossible, and that I shall give you all the time you want; for I have a very great desire to fall in with your wishes and a special affection for your heart which I pray God to bless abundantly. And then we shall talk as long as you please about your conduct and everything you want to put before me, nor shall I fail to try and deal with all your points unless I have not the light required to guide you. Dwell wholly in God, my very dear daughter, and in him I shall be forever with all my soul, Your humble brother and always your servant,Francis, Bishop of Geneva. Reflections: What is happenstance or serendipity? Are these just life’s happy little moments, or is there an element of “divine coincidence” (providence)?How can we strike the balance of being friends or friendly with someone in a place of stature, power, or fame? Should we just avoid relationships with them since we might risk wanting a relationship because of their status instead of for them?Saint Francis exhibited much humility in his role as bishop. Why is this paramount for a bishop or a priest?Why is discernment in all things, not just our vocations, important?How can we, as Saint Francis instructs, to know that we can trust our inclinations and go with them? And does his advice about not asking for the suffering that Our Lord endured seem contrary to his advice from other letters to embrace suffering?When St. Francis talks about seeking “people of all-round discernment” and a bee taking honey from many flowers, he seems to say that we can seek advice from many others. Do you seek out priests or others with a good sense of discernment? What kind of persons would be good for such purposes? 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. |