4th Sunday of the Year (A)

"Blest Are Those"

Human experience sees happiness in situations of joy, laughter, merriment and pleasant company. This is common in many cultures. But the call of today's is a call to discover true happiness in situations that initially are: poor in spirit, sorrowful, humbled, downhearted, hungry and thirsting for God, persecuted and insulted. To hope for true happiness in this gospel call is to believe in a faithful God-in-Jesus. This seed of hope implanted by prayer and works of mercy eventually blooms and re-blooms deep within every human soul perseveres in his faith in Christ. The happiness obtained in this context is more lasting and permanent - more than the happiness obtained from what is often superficial and temporary, and obtained through pleasures gained by external senses alone.

In the gospel, Jesus calls us to deeper happiness, the true and real happiness. This is a happiness rooted in following God's will: in humility, merciful acts, purity of intention, etc. All are called to live and seek this happiness, this "beatitude". Even when some sectors of society give more emphasis to fame, worldly success, money, and power, what is real often gets known and revealed. Temporal matters are not essentially evil, but if made more important than the values of the gospel, man can easily lose sight of God and the happiness he seeks for himself and others. If man were to use the temporal order without a Christian vision or an ecumenically universal hope, then it is no wonder why the evils that befall us cause despair, disillusionment, and destructive behavior. So Jesus offers the solution of the Beatitudes.

Perhaps the best source to learn more about this gospel and what the Beatitudes can give is found in the Catechism:

The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw man to the One who alone can fulfill it:

We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated. (quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, De moribus eccl.)

How is it, then, that I seek you, Lord? Since in seeking you, my God, I seek a happy life, let me seek you so that my soul may live, for my body draws life from my soul and my soul draws life from you.(quote from St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions)

God alone satisfies. (quote from St. Thomas Aquinas)

St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

St. Thomas of Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church

St. Thomas of Aquinas, 1225-1274 A.D.: considered the preeminent spokesperson for the Catholic tradition of reason and divine revelation, and the only doctor of the Church whose theology was recognized as the Church's official theology in 1880 A.D.

Biographical sketch

St. Thomas was born at Rocca Secca near Aquino. He was the son of Count Landulph of Aquino, a relative of the Emperor Barbarossa of the Roman Empire, and a relative of the king of France. At five years old, his parents sent him for education to Monte Cassino (a monastery founded by St. Benedict) with the hopes he will be an abbot of that Benedictine monastery. In 1239 A.D., the Benedictines sent Thomas to the University of Naples to complete his education. However, he decided to join the Dominicans at Naples in 1244 A.D. at 19 years of age. The family of St. Thomas was in opposition to this, and they forced him to live in the family castle to dissuade him from joining the Dominicans. However, St. Thomas persisted in his decision. After further studies in Paris and Cologne with St. Albert the Great [a Dominican], he was ordained a Dominican in ca. 1250 A.D. Thomas continued his studies with the Dominicans and became a very good theologian - teaching and writing in Paris, Naples, Rome, Orvieto, Anagni, and Viterbo. It was during these years of his life, from 1259-1268 A.D., that St. Thomas wrote his well-known Summa Theologiae, ca. 1266 A.D., a work which explains the whole of all Catholic theology.

St. Thomas died in March 7, 1274 A.D. at the Cistercian monastery of Fossa Nuova. He was then canonized as a saint in 1323 A.D., and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567 A.D. He is the patron saint of students, schools, colleges, and universities. In 1879 A.D., Pope Leo XIII commanded all clergy to study the works and writings of St. Thomas. Then, in 1923 A.D., Pope Piux XI reemphasized the preeminence of St. Thomas among all scholars.

Teaching and spirituality

Though St. Thomas of Aquinas may have been noted for his highly scholastic theology, and considered an intellectual giant of the Church, there is still a place where affectivity and the heart dwell in his spirituality and writing. We see this in his language, and in some of his most fundamental theological insights. For St. Thomas, knowledge is imperfect without love. And the Holy Spirit, who is Love, is the strongest source of affective human love in spiritual growth. It is the Spirit that perfects the image of God in humanity, and unites all existentially to the infinite Good.

St. Thomas also welcomes the affective life of emotions and passions as part of human spiritual growth. Faith in God would indeed be impossible without that affective guidance in the human will. For St. Thomas, this faith, and the growth in the love of God begets wisdom - a gift of the Spirit that produces an experiential knowledge of God surpassing all studied knowledge. And it is wisdom and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, that guide all to live according to the law of the gospel. This gift of the Spirit helps all to recognize the Spirit as the source of life and unity of the Church.

St. Thomas of Aquinas further writes and teach that affectivity and the heart in spiritual life should be guided by the knowledge and wisdom associated with the Word. He is known for the quote: "the Word breathing forth Love" , translated in Latin as, Verbum spirans Amorem. And for St. Thomas, the Holy Spirit is the Love that is breathed forth by the Word. Therefore, the life and spirit of St. Thomas is a spirituality of the Word as well as a spirituality of the Holy Spirit of Love.

Excerpts from writings

St. Thomas of Aquinas wrote well-known tracts of teaching based on his theology and spirituality. Listed below are excerpts from his writings. You can learn about the teaching of St. Thomas of Aquinas through what he wrote about wisdom.

Uncreated Wisdom...unites herself to us first of all through the gift of charity, and as a result of this reveals mysteries to us, the knowledge of which is infused wisdom. Therefore, infused wisdom, which is a gift, is the effect rather than the cause of charity (Summa theologiae, 2-2.45.6 ad 2)

The study of wisdom is very sublime because through it we especially reach a likeness to God, who made all things in wisdom [Ps 103(104):24]. So, because love is caused by likeness, the study of wisdom especially joins us with God in friendship, which is why Wis 7:14 says that wisdom is an infinite treasure for human beings; those who use it become sharers in friendship with God (Summa contra Gentiles 1.2).

Edited from the following sources:

• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• Doctors of the Church, by John F. Fink

St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal

St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious

St. Francis de Sales, 1567-1622, and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, 1572-1641, worked together to found the Congregation of the Visitation, a religious order of nuns that follows the teachings and spirituality of St. Francis de Sales.

St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales was born in August 21, 1567, the eldest of thirteen children at the Chateau de Sales in Savoy - in the south of France. He studied in Paris when he was 14 years old, and then went to the University of Padua where he obtained his doctorate in law at 24 years old. He decided to be a priest despite the opposition of his father, and even when he was offered a high government position. At the age of 26 years, he was ordained a priest on December 18, 1593.

The pope appointed St. Francis de Sales as the provost of the chapter of Geneva even if St. Francis de Sales was reluctant to take up its responsibilities. This and other duties engaged him in a very active life of teaching and preaching.

St. Francis de Sales had a lot of zeal in caring for the poor and preaching to many with much enthusiasm. His singular and effective style in preaching won a large following. At a certain point of his life, Francis volunteered to be in a dangerous mission to restore the Catholic faith to the people of Chablais. The people of Chablais converted to Calvinism. The efforts of St. Francis de Sales to bring Chablais back to the Catholic fold made him the target of two assassination attempts.

It was during this time that St. Francis de Sales also wrote tracts of writing which set the Church teachings in direct opposition to the faith of the Calvinists. Despite all this danger and opposition, Francis de Sales was able to firmly reestablish Catholicism among the people. It was his simple message of God's love that did the work of reconverting Chablais from Calvinism to Catholicism.

Claude de Granier, bishop of Geneva, proposed to the pope that Francis de Sales be appointed coadjutor of the see of Geneva. So Pope Clement VIII invited St. Francis de Sales to Rome to examine him for this appointment. After Francis proved himself knowledgeable before an illustrious panel, his appointment was confirmed, and the pope made St. Francis de Sales coadjutor of Geneva.

When Claude de Granier passed away in 1602 A.D., St. Francis de Sales was elevated from coadjutor to bishop of Geneva. He was 35 years old at the time. As bishop, he preached and heard many confessions. A well-known story says that while he was preaching in Dijon in 1604 A.D., St. Francis de Sales met the widow, Jane Frances de Chantal. This spiritual encounter led both of them to eventually found the order of the Visitation nuns in 1610 A.D.

St. Francis de Sales continued his writings. His famous work is the "Introduction to the Devout Life". On December 27, 1622 A.D., he unfortunately suffered a paralyzing stroke. He died the next day, December 28, 1622 A.D. at the age of 55.

St. Francis de Sales was beatified in 1661 A.D. at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by Pope Alexander VII. He was canonized by the same pope in 1665 A.D., and declared doctor of the Church in 1877 A.D.

St. Francis de Sales was made patron saint of journalists by Pope Pius XI. He is also the patron saint of authors, other writers, and the deaf.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Jeanne Françoise Fremyot, later to be known as St. Jane Frances de Chantal, was born of a rich family in Dijon, France in 1572 A.D. At the young age of 20, she married Christopher de Rabutin, (Baron de Chantal) - an officer of the French army. After her husband's death, she went back to her father's home, bringing her children with her.

In 1604 A.D., St. Jane Frances de Chantal met St. Francis de Sales, who became her spiritual director. In 1610 A.D., after providing for the welfare of her children, she founded a religious order together with Francis de Sales. This religious order is called the Congregation of the Visitation. Through her leadership, and also under the spiritual direction of St. Francis de Sales, the Visitation Order prospered in holiness and good works.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal died in 1641 A.D. and was buried at Annecy, France, beside the tomb of St. Francis de Sales.

Salesian spirituality

In the way of life and philosophy of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, the human person was created by God and was made for Him. The root of this principle lies in the desire or insistence of the good. They believe that even if humans have been wounded by sin in the Fall, they affirm the teaching of the Church that God's image and likeness was not effaced by it. There is still that central impulse within each human person to return back to God. And it is in the heart (seen as the dynamic core of the person) that this God-directedness is located.

In Salesian spirituality, God is Love. And the heart of God is the Source and womb of that Love. The heart of God, which is filled with great love, is intent upon calling all of God's creation to Himself - yearning for union with all humankind.

To effect the union with humankind, the mediator between the heart of God and humanity, is the heart of Christ. For Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal, Jesus is a living presence - a reality lived more deeply as one's life unfolds. Christ's presence comes to live in people's hearts so that all hearts may find union with the Lord.

Excerpts from writings

As soon as a person gives a little attention to divinity, a sweet feeling within the heart is experienced, which shows that God is God of the heart...If some misfortune strikes fear into our heart, it immediately turns to divinity...This pleasure, this confidence that the human heart naturally has in God certainly comes from nowhere else than the congruity between God's goodness and our soul...We are created in the image and likeness of God. (from Treatise on the Love of God)

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.' Good God! How amorous the divine heart is of our love! Wouldn't it have been enough to give us permission to love Him as Laban permitted Jacob to love his fair Rachel and to gain her by services? But no! He makes a stronger declaration of His passionate love for us and commands us to love Him with all our power... (from Treatise on the Love of God)

Edited from the following resources:

• Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
• Doctors of the Church, by Fink
• Spiritualities of the Heart, various writers
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.