:: Bloom where you are planted :: Recollections with St. Francis de Sales

RECOLLECTIONS WITH St. FRANCIS DE SALES





JULY 2004 - APRIL 2005

October 2004:

4. Meditation: Gathering of Honey

1. Personal Study and Reflection

1.1. Scripture References

2 Tim. 3:14-17: All Scripture is useful for ...
Ps. 139: Divine Presence
Ps. 119: Meditation on the Word of God
Is. 51:1-3: Listen... consider... joy and gladness shall be found
Is. 55:1-3: Meditation on the Word of God (cf. also Is. 50:4-6)
Jer. 20:7ff: You have seduced me... A fire burning in my heart... meditation in time of trial
Mk. 4:1-20: Shared meditation
Lk. 6:12-16: Jesus spends the whole night in prayer
Lk. 10:38-42: She has chosen the better part...
Rom. 11:33-36: How unsearchable are the depths of God...

1.2. Teaching of the Church

Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians have no lack of them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation and that of history - the page on which the "today" of God is written.

To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here another book is opened: The book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord what do you want me to do?"

There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.

Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart and strengthen our will in follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflect ion is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2705-2708)

1.3. Teaching of St. Francis de Sales

Meditation is made when we fix our understanding on a mystery from which we mean to draw good affections, for if we did not have this intention it would no longer be meditation, but study. Meditation is made, then, to move the affections, and particularly that of love Indeed, meditation is the mother of the love of God and contemplation is the daughter of the love of God. (SFS, Sermon from the third Sunday of Lent, March 22, 1615. Sermons of SFS on Prayer, ed., by Father Lewis S. Fiorelli, Tan Books, Illinois, 1985, pp. 2-3.)

For a Short method for mental prayer, cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapters 2-9.

It is a common mistake to believe that we must do such a lot of things, use so many methods, in order to pray well. You will find people very anxious to seek out every possible means of acquiring some special skill which they imagine to be essential for doing it properly. They never come to an end of scrutinizing or picking holes in their prayer, to see if they can make it meet with their satisfaction...

I am not condemning the use of any definite method, but we are to beware of setting our hearts on methods to the extent of relying on them completely. We don't want to be like those who think that provided they always put the reflections before the spiritual acts of the will, when they meditate, all is well. Reflections are very useful, and it is a good thing to make them; but it is far from good to become so taken up with one method or another as to imagine that everything depends on what we do ourselves.

To pray well only one thing is necessary: to take our Lord in our arms. If we do this, we shall always be praying properly, no matter what method we use. There is no other craft of prayer; and unless we fulfil that condition our prayer will never be worth anything, never find audience with God. After all, our Lord himself has said: Nobody can come to the Father, except through me (Jn. 14:6). (Sermons, Feb.2, 1620, AE. IX, pp. 252 - 265) Pulpit and Pew pp. 114 - 115.

Worldly people will say that in this book I almost always presume that Philothea has the gift of mental prayer, whereas this is not always the case. So this Introduction will not be suitable for all. It is certainly true, that I have assumed this and it is also true that not every one has the gift of mental prayer. Nevertheless, it is true that almost everyone, even the most dull, is able to have it, provided that they have good spiritual directors. Also, they must be willing to strive to acquire it as much as it deserves. And in case there is anybody who has not this gift at all (which I think could happen only in very rare cases), a wise spiritual father can easily remedy the defect. He could teach them to be attentive to the same considerations which are set down in the meditations, either by or hearing them read. (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part V, Chapter 17.)

1.4. Biographical Notes

There are two important means of growth in prayer in the personal programme of Francis which he drew up in Padua. First he assigned a time for personal prayer, a sacred rest. Second, he suggested means to keep himself constantly in touch with God always whether it be day or night. Spiritual authors are not agreed on what he means by a sacred rest. There are hints which point to active recollection as it seems to be his own initiative. All the same, there are elements of passivity in so far as he "in imitation of the beloved disciple, may rest in all security upon the breast of the Saviour, upon the loving and lovable heart of him..." (Antony Mookenthottam, St. Francis de Sales, A Formative Biography, pp. 54 -55).

2. Apostolic Community Meeting

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Shared Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (One Hour)

Points for Reflection and Sharing:

What are the usual subjects of your meditations?

Does word of God become active and alive in your daily life as a result of your meditation?

Are you at home with meditation, especially on the word of God?

Have you mastered the Salesian way of meditation? Are you in the habit of helping people to meditate? Do your reflections lead you to good movements of the will and concrete decisions? Cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Ch. 6.

Is listening to the word of God and considering it against the background of daily life and entering into the joy of the Lord, part of your spiritual programme?

What Salesian changes have your meditations brought about in your personality? Please share.

What advice would you suggest for a person in spiritual dryness (boredom, meaninglessness, struggle with daily activities, etc? cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part IV, Chapter 14.

How do your daily meditations influence your daily socio-religious life?

3. Evaluation and Decisions

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Share the concrete follow up of the decisions taken.

What practical steps do we need to take to assimilate at the individual and community level the insights we have gained from this Recollection?