| Doing That Which is Most Agreeable to God |
We are begin our reflections this week, pulling from a new book by St. Francis de Sales called “Of Devotion, and of the Principal Exercises of Piety.” Let us join together and return to this most basic and essential principal of Devotion.___________________________________________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 Aaron Burden on UnsplashYou ask me what means you ought to use for acquiring devotion. This is no trifling question; but take good heed to what I shall say to you in reply. The virtue of devotion is nothing else than a general inclination and promptitude of spirit in doing that which one knows is agreeable to God. It is that enlargement of the heart of which David said, I have run the way of Thy commandments when Thou didst enlarge my heart. (Ps. cxviii. 32.) Those who are simply good people walk in the way of God, but the devout run in it; and when they are greatly devout, they fly in it. Now I shall tell you that there are some rules that one must observe in order to be truly devout. We must, above all things, observe the commandments of God and of the Church, which are laid down for every faithful Christian; and without that, one cannot have any true devotion in it. This everyone knows. Besides the general commandments, we must carefully observe the particular commandments, which regard each person’s vocation; and whoever does not do this, he will not fail, at the resurrection, of being culpable of sin, and of being damned, if he has died in it. For example, Bishops are commanded to visit their dioceses, teach their flocks, defend and console them. If a Bishop spent all the week in prayer, and fasted all his life, but did not do this, he is lost. Though a woman, being in the married state, were to work miracles, and yet not obey her husband in what regards the duties of that state, or to take no trouble to bring up her children well, she is worse than an infidel, says St. Paul (1 Tim. v. 8); and so of other cases. Here, then, are two sorts of commandments which it is necessary to observe diligently, as the foundation of all devotion; and nevertheless, the virtue of devotion does not consist in observing them, but in observing them with promptitude, and willingly. Reflections: What is devotion and why does St. Francis call it a virtue?What’s the difference between being “good” and being “devout”?What’s the distinction between general commandments and particular commandments?What are particular commandments unique to married live and also unique to religious life?Does the idea of mortal sin downplay/diminish the saving power of Jesus?Walking, running, flying — if these are the steps to the devout life, how do we advance from one level to another?What can a Christian do to follow their vocation if their children are grown up and have left the nest?What would you say to an elderly person who says to her priest, “I live alone and spend my days by myself, and thus do not sin”? 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. |