Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1567-1622). In reading about Francis de Sales in Robert Ellsberg’s book All Saints, I learned that he became well known for the publication of his book An Introduction to the Devout Life, which was translated into many languages at that time and is said to remain one of the classics of Christian spirituality. Apparently what was significant about Francis’s book was that it addressed Christians in any state of life, whereas most other such handbooks at that time had been addressed to clerics or members of religious orders. Francis taught that the path to holiness could be pursued in the world, not just in the cloister. According to Ellsberg, Francis wrote that “the practice of devotion has to be adapted to the strength, life-situation, and duties of each individual.”
As a lay person, I am grateful for the work of Francis de Sales and others since him who have helped bring spirituality into the everyday lives of so many people who have tried to answer God’s call to holiness in various “non-religious” walks of life. I also appreciate his apparent understanding that we will daily fall short of our ideals in our walk toward holiness, and offered that rather than be discouraged as a worthless sinner, we should say, “Alas, my poor heart, here we are, fallen into the pit we were so firmly resolved to avoid! Well, we must get up again and leave it forever.” How well he understood what it is to be human!
Today’s readings present us with what I see as an opportunity to reflect on Jesus in his humanity as well as Jesus as the Son of God. In the first reading (Hebrews 7:25-8:6), Paul writes about Jesus as the perfect high priest: “holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens.” In this reading, I can appreciate Jesus’ divinity, but have difficulty relating to him on a more personal level with the understanding that Jesus was also fully human.
In the gospel reading (Mark 3: 7-12), however, we get a more human picture of Jesus as he is dealing with the crowds that are pressing in on him hoping to touch him for a healing. Apparently the crowd is so vast and unrelenting that Jesus instructs his disciples to get a boat ready for him so that he won’t be crushed by the crowd! – A very real and human concern that Jesus addresses with his disciples. Interestingly, this passage is followed by the appointing of the twelve apostles to be with Jesus and to assist in his ministry and mission. This seems to, again, point to the relational nature of Jesus and the call to be in community, not isolated from one another.
We are, indeed, blessed to have a God who became fully human, while also being fully divine. Perhaps knowing that Jesus is fully divine can at times cause us to feel unable to walk in his footsteps although we, too, are called to holiness. With the intersession and encouragment of Saint Francis de Sales, let us pray for guidance to answer the call to holiness in our own state of life, whether lay or religious, single or married. And in the words of today’s psalm response (Psalm 40), let us pray, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
-Eileen Miller