| Advice for Mother: Moderate Your Daughter’s Zeal |
For Sunday’s Living Jesus chat we will read again an article from a book by St. Francis de Sales called Of Devotion, and of the Principal Exercises of Piety. It deals with a conflict between a mother and her daughter. Let us join together and reflect on whether too much zeal is good.___________________________________________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 Fr. Barry Braum on UnsplashIt is true, as I have often told you, that discretion is a virtue without which, according to the testimony of St. Anthony, no virtue is virtue, not even devotion, if, indeed, real devotion could exist without real discretion. This good lady complains wonderfully about her daughter, that having found a swarm of bees with their honey, she amuses herself too much with them, and eats too much of this honey, contrary to the advice of the Wise Man, who said, Thou hast found honey; eat what is sufficient for thee. (Prov. xxv. 16.) She will have given you all her reasons in better terms than I could represent them to you. Contribute, then, as much as you can to the satisfaction of this mother, by speaking to her daughter, that she may give up, I will not say a little, but a great deal of her consolations, no matter how spiritual they may be; to leave a great deal of them to her mother. I confess that I do not know how it can happen that a mother of such talents, perfection, and piety, and a daughter of such great virtue and devotion, do not remain altogether united in that great God who is the God of union and of charity; but I know, nevertheless, that this does happen, and that even the angels, without ceasing to be angels, have contrary wills even upon the same subject, without falling, for all that, into either division or dissension; because they have a perfect love for the will of God, which, the moment it appears, is embraced and adored by them all. Ah, my God, are there no means of helping these two ladies to understand that holy will? For I am certain it would range them both under its obedience. To speak properly on this occasion, it would be necessary to hear both parties at length; but while this is impossible, one should speak on the side of the mother: there is always a just prejudice in her favor. For the rest, she only wishes you to use your influence to moderate the zeal which her good daughter has for her retreats, which is a thing which cannot and ought not to be refused; moderation being always good in all exercises, except in that of the love of God, whom we ought not to love by measure, but altogether without measure. Have the goodness, then, to interest yourself about this moderation, to which it will be very easy to bring this good daughter, since her good mother permits her to enjoy the devotion in peace all the great feasts of the year, and besides that, for three days every six weeks. This is a great deal; this is enough. I assure myself, that after having invoked the Holy Ghost, He will give you light to bring about or to advise this moderation. Reflections: St. Francis talks about discretion when it comes to being zealous. He apparently means using wise judgment about this. What does it mean to be discreet in decisions about devotion? Can one spend too much time in spiritual activities?Reflect on discretion in relation to this verse: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:5-6)How can two people so fixed on holiness and doing the will of God find themselves in disunity with each other? What can be done to ease such conflict within a family?Why is moderation in all things important? 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. |