Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

Mary, the Mother of God (January 1, 2003)

Readings Is 52: 7 - 10 Ps 98: 1-6 Heb 1: 1-6 Jn 1: 1-18 or 1: 1-5, 9-14

Suggested Emphasis

"How peaceful is my life right now?"

Salesian Perspective

Ask yourself, "How peaceful is my life right now?" As our country talks increasingly of a war that makes us wonder just when war is a moral alternative, and our sons and daughters may be betting their lives on our choices, we long for peace. But, "How peaceful is MY life right now?" Personal turmoil, family crises, politically hot issues and terrorist fears plague us all in one way or another.

Yet in the Lukan gospel for today's feast of Mary, the Mother of God, we have a scene of peace. Shepherds find Joseph and Mary and the infant lying in a manger. It has been re-enacted many times since Francis of Assisi started the tradition of the living "creche" on Christmas Eve in 1223. But for Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the rest of her family, the peaceful scene was perhaps but a short moment she could hold in her heart. Previously there had been the unexpected and unexplainable pregnancy, and the inopportune but necessary trip to Bethlehem while she was full term. Not to mention the birth itself, at which point they were all homeless.

And if we cross over into Matthew's gospel for a moment, soon Herod would try to murder this new-born Prince of Peace, and the Holy Family would flee and become refugees in a foreign land. Not exactly a peaceful life! Neither are our lives so filled with peace-at least on the outside.

St. Francis de Sales, in his Spiritual Conference on "Constancy," asks us to consider the great peace and serenity of mind and heart shown by both Mary and Joseph. This newborn Son of God, born of this incredible woman and given such an "Abba" in Joseph, would learn as a child growing up how to maintain an inner peace amidst the earth shattering disturbances of life. These parents of Jesus, the God-Man, knew that the secret of peace lies in the heart, and in the heart-to-heart relationship with the God who sees us as his beloved children.

And so, ask yourself, "How peaceful is my life right now?"

So come now-remain in peace; bear your sufferings in peace; wait in peace; and God, who is the God of peace will cause his glory to triumph in the midst of this human war.

- From a letter of St. Francis de Sales to Louise de Ballon AE 19.412

Fr. John Graden, OSFS, is a member of the Toledo-Detroit Province of the
Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. He is the Director of the DeSales Resource Center in Lewiston, New York.