At times, I think of the saints as examples that I can never live up to. I convince myself that they were perfect and I am not. And while I am certainly not perfect, each time I push myself to dive into their lives and words, I find that they renew my desire for holiness and convict me further in my faith.
The Church celebrates the feast of St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) on January 24. I first learned about him when I was studying for my undergraduate degree in theology. Francis was a priest and later bishop who became famous for his work, “The Introduction to the Devout Life.” To be honest, his devotion led me to assume that he had no relevance for my practical life in the 21st century. I didn’t think that the writings of a priest from nearly 500 years ago could be applicable to my life and I found myself making excuses for why I could never be like him. He was a priest who lived in a different time, a time when it was easier to be faithful, I thought. I also believed, incorrectly, that living a life of intense prayer would be boring or cost me too much.
Then, I came across this quote of his that shook me with its simplicity: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman … It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world.” His intention was to emphasize that holiness is called upon us no matter what we do for a living, when we live, or who we are. It was this line that made me realize that the lives and witness of the saints are roadmaps to meeting Jesus.
Our journeys to meeting Jesus will differ from the saints, and the details of our lives will vary. One thing we know we will have in common are the challenges and hurdles to remaining faithful. If you are like me and have attempted to make commitments to move past a particular sin or spend more time in daily prayer, you know how easy it can be to make excuses when our commitments become difficult.
Francis gives this advice for when we are faced with these hurdles: “When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time.” This allowed me to learn patience with myself while relying on God’s providence to bring me towards him in prayer and the life of holiness. I learned to ease into the commitment of spending more time in prayer by realizing I can use moments like driving to work and washing the dishes to offer up prayers.
RELATED: Patron Saints for Introverts
The practices of relying on God’s care when things become difficult and using ordinary moments to be united to God allows oneself to remain humble. Humility is a key virtue for St. Francis de Sales. Without it, we will never meet God on a personal level. Therefore, we must always guard against convincing ourselves that we don’t need to advance in prayer or holiness. “Those who believe themselves to be far advanced in the spiritual life,” Francis writes, “have not even made a good beginning.”
Any commitment to daily prayer or growth in our moral life is ultimately the work of God in and through us. Francis taught me, and continues to reveal to me, that becoming small and humble is absolutely necessary if we desire to meet God as a real, living person. This meant that I needed to quiet myself down and make prayer about him. I began to see that this humble turn to silence made me more aware of how close God was to me and how he was inviting me to be quiet, rather than be the first to speak in conversations with others.
RELATED: How I’m Learning From the Holy and Humble
Francis wrote that “Mere silence is not wisdom, for wisdom consists of knowing when and how to speak, and when and where to keep silent.” Rather than being tempted to own the conversation with friends or be the one giving my opinion constantly at work, I found that moving to the standpoint of humble listening made me more receptive to those around me. This receptivity made me more inclined to understand others and less inclined to gossip about those I disagree with.
Most of all, Francis de Sales has shown me that faith is not a mere following of rules or the performance of good actions. The Christian faith is the meeting with a person who is actually alive and he calls us to encounter him each day. That encounter can so easily overflow into our concrete lives when we become silent and humble before the Lord who we are called to devote our lives to.
