The Propriety and Excellence of Devotion


21 August 2019

“The Propriety and Excellence of Devotion” pp.29-31



                It is amazing how even in the 16th and 17th Centuries, when St. Francis De Sales was writing this book, he notes that “…the world vilifies holy devotion as much as it can.” The world abhors discomfort, but like Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “[y]ou were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness”. The devout life may be difficult and even painful, at times, especially as a teacher when we find ourselves grading late or picking up an extra lunch duty or any of the thousand other things that has to be done in our schools.  But when we are close to Jesus, especially in the Eucharist, St. Francis De Sales writes, the “…devout souls encounter great bitterness in their works… but by performing them, they change them into something more sweet and delicious.” Indeed, those thousand irksome tasks become like honey to the devout.  When we are in that intimate relationship with Jesus, that “…devotion is true spiritual sugar”.

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