| The Fine Line Between Charity and Doing One’s Duties |
Hi, Susan,For Sunday’s Living Jesus Chat, we will again read 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 Ngo Ngoc Khai Huyen on UnsplashThe effects of liberty are a great sweetness of spirit, a great gentleness and readiness to yield wherever there is not sin or danger of sin. It creates a disposition sweetly pliable in the action of all virtue and charity. For example, a soul that has attached itself to the exercise of meditation; interrupt it, and you will see it lay aside that exercise with some expression of annoyance, disturbed and put out.A soul which has true liberty, will lay aside its meditation with an even countenance, and a heart graciously disposed towards the troublesome person who may have caused it inconvenience; for to such a soul it is all one whether it serves God by meditating, or serves Him by bearing with its neighbor. Both the one and the other is the will of God; but to bear with its neighbor is necessary at that particular moment. The occasions of this liberty are all things which occur contrary to our inclination; for whoever has not his inclinations fixed, is not disquieted when they meet with opposition. This liberty has two vices opposed to it— instability of spirit and constraint.Instability of spirit is a certain excess of liberty, by which one would be ready to change one’s exercises and state of life without reason, or without knowing what the will of God may be. On the least occasion such persons change their exercises, purpose, and rule. For the most trifling occurrence, they lay aside their rule or praiseworthy custom; and by that means the heart dissipates and loses itself: it becomes like a garden open on all sides, the fruits of which are not for the master, but for all the passers-by.Constraint is a certain deficiency in liberty, by which the spirit is overwhelmed either with weariness or anger when it cannot do what it has determined on, although it might be able to do something better. For example, I determine to make a meditation every day in the morning: if I have the spirit of instability, on the least occasion in the world I defer it till the evening; for the barking of a dog that has prevented my sleeping; for a letter I must needs write, though there is no pressing necessity for it. On the contrary, if I have the spirit of constraint, I refuse to omit my meditation, although a sick person has great need of my assistance during that hour; although I have a dispatch of great importance, and which cannot well be deferred; and so of other subjects. We must nevertheless observe two rules, in order not to fail in this. The first is, that a person ought never to lay aside his exercises and the common rules of the virtues, unless he sees the will of God on the other side. Now the will of God manifests itself in two ways, by necessity and by charity. I wish to preach this Lent: if, however, I fall sick or break my leg, I have no business to regret and to vex myself about not preaching; for it is a certain thing, that the will of God is, that I should serve Him by suffering and not by preaching. Or again, if I am not sick, but an occasion presents itself for going to some other place, where, if I do not go, the people will turn Protestants, here the will of God is sufficiently evident to make me gently change my purpose. The second rule is, that when it is necessary to use liberty from a motive of charity, this must be done without scandal and without injustice. For example, I know that I would be more useful elsewhere, at a distance from my sphere of duty: I ought not to use liberty in this case, because I should give scandal and do injustice, since I am bound to be here. So, it is a false liberty for married women to separate themselves from their husbands without lawful reason, under pretext of devotion and charity. So that this liberty never prejudices vocations: on the contrary, it makes each one satisfied with his own vocation, since each one ought to know that it is the will of God he should remain in it .Reflections: What’s the difference between true liberty (obtained by surrender to God) and the idea of no-holds-barred “freedom” that is emphasized today?How do we determine the necessity of choosing some good deeds over others?Discuss the two opposing vices to liberty: instability of spirit and constraint.How can devotion and freedom become idols in our lives? Here we are talking about a disposition to be too eager to change plans, and too rigid.The spiritual life and devotion always seems to be about a prudent balance of always choosing the right good in any given moment. This could seem like it would lead to scrupulosity about which to choose. How can this be “mastered” and actually lead to peace?Under what circumstances can a member of a family exercise an apostolate outside their home? This would be teaching catechism, helping the poor, visiting the sick, and so on. Or what if a parent of a family needs to make a business trip? At what point has a person gone too far and ignored their vocational responsibilities? 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. |