| Do Not Press Your Heart Too Much for Desires of Perfection |
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 nurturing faith with prayer.___________________________________________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  Certain desires tyrannize the heart (AI image)Keep your heart at large; do not press it too much by desires of perfection. Have one of these, a good one, thoroughly resolved and thoroughly constant. I mean the old one, which made you give yourself to God with so much courage. This desire you must diligently water with the dew of holy prayer. You must take great pains to preserve it, for it is the tree of life.But as for certain desires which tyrannize over the heart, which would have nothing to oppose itself to our designs — which would have no clouds, but insist that everything should be in broad noon-day; which would have nothing but sweetness in our exercises, no disgusts, no opposition, no distraction; and the moment any interior temptation arises, are not contented with our not consenting to them, but would have us not feel them; desires so delicate, that they are not contented if we are fed with juicy and nourishing viands, unless they are all sugared over; which would have us not even see the summer-flies of August pass before our eyes; these are desires after too Sweet a perfection; we ought to mistrust them. Believe me, sweet food engenders worms in little children, and even in those who are not little children. This is why our Saviour mingles them for us with bitterness.I wish you to have a great courage, and not one so tender; a courage which, whilst it can say very resolutely, “Live, Jesus!” without reserve, does not trouble itself either with the sweet or the bitter, with light or with shade. Let us walk boldly in this love of our God, essential, strong, and unpliable; and let us allow those phantoms of temptations to run hither and thither; let them cross our path as much as they please. “Ah!” said St. Antony, “I see you; but I do not regard you.” No, let us regard our Saviour, who waits for us beyond all these flourishes of the enemy. Let us implore His succour; for it is for this that He permits these illusions to terrify us.Courage: have we not reason to believe that our Lord loves us? Most certainly we have. Wherefore, then, distress ourselves about temptations? I recommend to you our simplicity, which is so agreeable to the Spouse; and still more our humility, which has so much credit with Him.I have, as it appears to me, more will and desire to love our Saviour than I ever had. Blessed and praised be His holy name! Are we not too happy in knowing that we must love God, and that all our happiness consists in serving Him, all our glory in honoring him? Oh, how great is His goodness over us! Reflections: What is St. Francis asking of us when he asks us to water our desires with the dew of holy prayer?Why is it unwise to hope for, or expect a life without difficulty or temptation?How is St. Francis’ essay similar to the prayer that asks God, “give me neither poverty nor riches”?Discuss this line: I wish you to have a great courage, and not one so tender; a courage which, whilst it can say very resolutely, “Live, Jesus!” without reserve, does not trouble itself either with the sweet or the bitter, with light or with shade.Discuss the importance of simplicity and humility.Why is it important to bear fruit in our prayer life and in our faith, why can’t it remain as a mere label? 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. |