Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Image Source ) I have been working my way through a second reading of Finding God’s Will For You by St. Francis de Sales. His explanations of fundamental Truths always challenge his readers to reassess their relationship with the God they claim to love and serve. This gifted spiritual adviser always provides much fruit for contemplation. God has a plan for each of us – one that will lead to eternal happiness. He provides us with the graces sufficient to discover, accept and live out that plan. At the same time, He gave us free will and allows us to reject the path He sets before us. Many in our contemporary world (even among some clergy and members of our Church) ridicule and reject that which He calls us to believe and live. “Dogma” and “Doctrine” have become dirty words and those who dare treasure and teach God’s Truths are often ridiculed and attacked for doing so.

(Source: From Empty Hands ) Today we commemorate the life of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of our Church. His Introduction to the Devout Life is a timeless spiritual treasure that has had a profound impact on many a searching soul - including myself. But there are many other great books he left us, worthy of our time and reflection. One of them is “ Finding God’s Will for You. ” Since suffering is an inescapable part of our human condition – one which we have difficulty embracing - I thought, on this feast day of St Francis, that I would share the following brief excerpt from that Finding God’s Will for You in hopes that it would lead to fruitful contemplation on this great mystery of our Faith:. “…Job reflects that it is from God's hand that he received those good things,- thus testifying that he loved those goods not so much because they were good as because they had come from the hand of the Lord. Since this is so, he concludes that he must lov...