| Find Your Personal Piety, and Then Conquer Yourself |
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 explores the importance of generosity in 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 Gianna B on UnsplashDevotion ought to be generous, so as not to be surprised at difficulties, but to augment its courage by them. For, as St. Bernard says, he is not very valiant whose heart does not grow bolder in the midst of pains and contradictions. Generous, to aim at the highest point of Christian perfection, in spite of all present imperfections and weaknesses, resting with perfect confidence on the divine mercy, after the example of her who said to the Beloved: Draw me; we will run after Thee in the odour of Thy ointments (Cant. i. 3); as though she would have said, “Of myself I am immovable; but when Thou drawest me I shall run.” The divine Lover of our souls often leaves us, as it were, entangled in our miseries, in order that we may know that our deliverance comes from Him, and that when we have it we may cherish it as a precious gift of His goodness. This is the reason why, as generous devotion never ceases to cry unto God, “Draw me,” so it never ceases to aspire, to hope, and to promise to itself always to run courageously, and to say, “We will run after Thee;” and we ought never to distress ourselves if at first we do not run after the Saviour, provided we always say, “Draw me,” and provided we have the good courage to add, “We will run after Thee.” For although we run not, it is enough that, God aiding us, we shall run. The communities which are in the Church are not assemblages of perfect persons, but of persons who aim at perfection; not of persons who run, but who aim at running, and who for that reason learn first to walk step by step, then to hasten, and at length to run. This generous devotion despises nothing, and causes us without trouble or disquietude to see each one walk and run, and walk and run differently, according to the diversity of inspirations and the variety of the measures of divine grace which he receives. It is a great admonition which the holy Apostle gives us in his epistle to the Romans (xiv. 3-6): Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and he that eateth not, let him not judge him that eateth; let every man abound in his own sense. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth thanks unto God. “Let every man abound in his own sense:” that is to say, let him enjoy and use his liberty without judging or controlling others who do not do the same, or wishing to make them think his own way the best; since it may even happen that one person eats with as much renouncement of his own will as another exercises in fasting. Generous devotion does not wish to have companions in every thing it does, but only in its aim, which is the glory of God, and the advancement of our neighbour in divine love; and provided that it goes straight to that end, it does not trouble itself by what road: provided that he who fasts, fasts for God, and that he who fasts not, also for God fasts not, it is as content with the one as with the other. Generous devotion, then, does not wish to attract others to its own mode of life, but it follows its own path simply, humbly, tranquily. But even if it did happen that a person ate, not for God, but from inclination, still it would be necessary that those who do the contrary judge him not; but that without censuring him, they follow their own path sweetly, without despising or judging to the prejudice of the weak; recollecting that if on these occasions those persons yield perhaps too weakly to their inclinations, the others on other occasions do much the same.But those also who have these inclinations ought to be very much on their guard against saying anything, or giving any sign that they are displeased that others do better, for herein they would commit a great fault; but considering their own weakness, they ought to regard those who do better with a holy, sweet, and cordial reverence; and by so doing, they will be able to derive as much profit from their weakness, by the humility which will arise from it, as the others will derive from what they do. If this point is well understood and well observed, it will preserve in souls a marvellous tranquility of mind and a great sweetness of heart. Let Martha be active, but let her not control Mary. Let Mary be contemplative, but let her not despise Martha; for our Lord will take up the defence of her who is censured. Nevertheless, those who have aversions to pious practices, or inclinations to practices of less piety, will, if they take my advice, use violence, and oppose themselves as much as they can to their aversions and inclinations, in order truly to conquer themselves, and to serve God by this excellent mortification, making the authority of reason reign in every thing and every where. Lastly, they will endeavour to have a pliable and manageable heart, ready and easy to yield in all permitted things, and to shew obedience and charity on all occasions, so as to resemble the dove, whose feathers reflect all the colours of the light. Blessed are the pliable hearts, for they will never break. Reflections: What does it mean for devotion to generous? Does it mean we give a lot of it to others? How does one give it to God?St. Francis says, “The divine Lover of our souls often leaves us, as it were, entangled in our miseries, in order that we may know that our deliverance comes from Him.” Does this make God seem petty and needy? What does this mean?Is aiming for perfection unrealistic? Won’t it just lead to scrupulosity?What does having “the glory of God” as our aim mean?Why is humility in devotion so important?It seems that St. Francis allows each of us to follow our own path of spirituality. How do we come to form our own religious practices — especially if we want to avoid being too lax, or being too excessive? 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. |