St Francis de Sales
A French spiritual writer named Leon Bloy once wrote: “The
only real sadness in life is not to become a saint.” This perspective orients our life to go
beyond the mere temporal matters but to
aim for spiritual perfection. Jesus
says: “what profit is to gain the whole world but to forfeit one’s life.” These teachings are made incarnate in the
Saints. Saints are ordinary people but
live extraordinary lives because they are friends of Yeshua the Mashiach.
One such person is frances de sales whom the church honors
today. Who is he? St francis de sales was born in 1567 and died
in 1622. He lived to be 56 years of age. Not only has he been given the title of
Sainthood but he is also honored as a priest and doctor of the church.
Francis, after graduating with a law degree, came home and shared
surprising news to his parents. Instead
of pursuing a career in law, and receiving a good wage earning, he express a
desire to become a priest. One can only
imagine his parents’ jaws dropping to the ground.
His father remained obstinate, but was soon won over by
Francis’ conviction and strong desire to serve Christ. Francis then went on to become a Bishop of
Geneva Switzerland. As Bishop, not only
did he focus on the Sacraments, he also spent much time correcting the
Calvinist movement and eventually brought many conversions. He composed two classic writings: introduction
to the devout life and A treatise on the love of God. (these books are recommended for additional
spiritual reading). It is believed that
through his efforts, more than 60,000 lapsed Catholics return. When he was asked about the accomplishments,
he replied: “I have always said that whoever preaches with love is preaching
effectively against the heretics, even though he does not say a single
controversial word against them.”
At one point in his life, Francis was asked to go on a difficult
missionary journey where martyrdom was a high probability, he was one of the
few that volunteered. His own father
made a plea for refusal but Francis responded: “How can I set my hand to the
plow and look back?”
Francis was also a man of prayer and called the faithful to
pray unceasingly and never to despair. He
once prayed “Lord if I am never to see Thee in heaven, this at least grant me,
that I may never curse nor blaspheme thy holy name. if I may not love thee in the other world –
for in hell no praises thee – let me at least every instant of my brief existence
here love thee as much as I can.”
May the life of Francis be an inspiration for all the faithful
as we strive to do the will of God, and be affiliated to Christ as his (mother,
brother, sister) his friend. May the
Lord give us strength as we strive for the greatest happiness in our life which
is Sainthood.
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