SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES
Numbers, chapter 22,
Verse 2-3
2 Now
Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel did to the Amorites, 3 and Moab feared the Israelites greatly because they were numerous. Moab was
in dread of the Israelites.
Fear is listed by many theologians as the 8th
deadly sin. God in making us a Holy people wants us to be free of fear. Is it
any wonder that people without faith are plagued by fear? Fear Dominates
Politics, Media and Human Existence in America—And It’s Getting Worse according
to Don Hazen.
“Fear is the
mind-killer” – Frank Herbert, Dune
People
cannot think clearly when they are afraid. As numerous studies have shown,
fear is the enemy of reason. It distorts emotions and perceptions, and often
leads to poor decisions. For people who have suffered trauma, fear messages can
sometimes trigger uncontrollable flight-or-fight responses with dangerous
ramifications.
Yet
over time, many interlocking aspects of our society have become increasingly
sophisticated at communicating messages and information that produce fear
responses. Advertising, political ads, news coverage and social media all send
the constant message that people should be afraid—very afraid.
In
addition, television and film are filled with extreme violence and millions of
fictional deaths, far out of proportion to what happens in real life, as
researchers have pointed out…All this, despite statistics
indicating that in most parts of the country, the crime rate is actually
on the decline.
Fear
is so pervasive that experts have made the case we live in a generalized
“culture of fear,” also the name of a book by Barry Glassner which underscores
the fact that we often fear the wrong things, and incredibly out of proportion
to reality. Statistics show you have a much higher chance of being
killed by lightning than by a terrorist.[1]
Tomorrow is the traditional start of the January thaw;
let us therefore take the advice of St. Francis and prepare ourselves for every
communion.
St. Francis de Sales says that Our Savior can never be
seen more amiable and more tender, in all that He has done for us, than in Holy
Communion, in which He, so to say, annihilates Himself and becomes food, that
He may unite Himself to the hearts and bodies of His faithful. Therefore, the
learned Gerson used also to say, that there was no means more efficacious than
Holy Communion whereby to enkindle devotion and the holy love of God in our
souls. And, indeed, if we speak of doing something agreeable to God, what can a
soul do more agreeable to Him than to receive communion?
St. Denis teaches us that love always tends towards
perfect union; but how can a soul be more perfectly united with Jesus than in
the manner of which He speaks Himself, saying: “He that eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him” (John vi. 57) St. Augustine
says that if every day you receive this sacrament, Jesus will be always with
you, and that you will always advance in divine love. Again, if there be
question of healing our spiritual infirmities, what more certain remedy can we
have than Holy Communion, which is called by the sacred Council of Trent a
remedy whereby we may be freed from daily faults, and be preserved from mortal
sins?
Whence does it come, asks Cardinal Bona, that in so
many souls we see so little fruit with such frequent communions, and that they
constantly relapse into the same faults?
He replies: The fault is not in the food, but in the
disposition of him who receives. Can a man, says Solomon, hide fire in his
bosom, and his garments not burn? (Prov. vi. 27.)
God is a consuming fire. He comes Himself in Holy
Communion to enkindle this divine fire; how is it, then, says William of Paris,
that we see such a diabolical miracle as that souls should remain cold in
divine love, in the midst of such flames?
All comes from the want of proper dispositions, and
especially from want of preparation. Fire immediately inflames dry but not
green wood; for this latter is not disposed to burn. The saints derived great
benefit from their communions because they prepared themselves with great care.
St. Aloysius Gonzaga devoted three days to his preparation for Holy Communion,
and three days he spent in thanksgiving to his Lord. To prepare well for Holy
Communion, a soul should be disposed on two main points: it should be detached from creatures and
have a great desire to advance in divine love. In the first place, then, a soul
should detach itself from all things,
and drive everything from its heart which is not God. He that is washed, saith
Jesus, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly (John xiii. 10);
which signifies, as St. Bernard explains it, that in order to receive this
sacrament with great fruit, we should not only be cleansed from mortal sins,
but that our feet also should be washed, that is, be free from earthly
affections; for being in contact with the earth they excite a sort of
repugnance in God, and soiling the soul prevent the effects of Holy Communion.
St. Gertrude asked Our Lord what preparation He required of her for Holy
Communion, and He replied I only ask that thou shouldst come empty of thyself
to receive. In the second place, it is necessary in Holy Communion to have a
great desire to receive Jesus Christ and His holy love. In this sacred banquet,
says Gerson, only those who are famishing receive their fill; and the most
Blessed Virgin Mary had already said the same thing: He hath filled the hungry
with good things (Luke i. 53). As Jesus, writes the venerable Father Avila,
only came into this world after He had been much and long desired, so does He
only enter a soul which desires Him; for it is not becoming that such food should be given him who has a loathing
for it. Our Lord one day said to St. Matilda: No bee flies with such impetuosity
to flowers, to suck their honey, as I fly to souls in Holy Communion, driven by
the violence of My love. Since, then, Jesus Christ has so great a desire to
come into our souls, it is also right that we also should have a great desire to receive Him and His divine love by
Holy Communion. St. Francis de Sales teaches us that the principal object which
a soul should have in view in
communicating should be to advance in
the love of God; since He Who for love alone gives Himself to us should be received for love.
The Strength to Suffer Well
103. It is strange. One hundred and twenty years
ago, toothaches were awful. Life expectancy was twothirds what it is today.
Physically, we now suffer less than any people in human history. We have
Ibuprofen and Novocain. But there may be more family suffering than any other
time in human history. This results in a gradual erosion of the ability to
suffer well. Suicide rates, even among the young, indicate this. In a time when
we are often able and even encouraged to indulge in every desire, it becomes
increasingly difficult to bear with courage and resilience even the smallest
sacrifice which love requires.
104. Marriage and family themselves are caught up in the fallenness of
the world. They are no escape from the sufferings of life, but in Christ, they
are filled with the grace to bear suffering well, and even with joy.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
Many who would willingly let
themselves be nailed to a Cross before the astonished gaze of a thousand
onlookers cannot bear with a christian spirit the pinpricks of each day! Think,
then, which is the more heroic.
Daily Devotions
[2]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
[3]https://family.dphx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-Complete-My-Joy-Apostolic-Exhortation-English.pdf
[4]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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