Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

17th Sunday Ordinary Time (July 24, 2005)

Suggested Emphasis

"Give your servant an understanding heart..."

Salesian Perspective

Of all the things that Solomon could have asked of God, he asked for "an understanding heart" that he might distinguish between right and wrong. We are told that God was indeed pleased with such a wise and insightful request. God grants Solomon his request, a gift that would serve Solomon well as the wisest of all the kings of Israel.

An understanding heart seems to be one of the greatest hallmarks of all the saints of God. Holy men and women of every age and culture often display (among other things) a keen ability to understand the things in life that really matter.

St. Francis de Sales was no exception to this trend. In a letter to St. Jane de Chantal Francis wrote: "O that I might receive and use the gift of understanding as I ought, so as to get a clearer and deeper insight into the holy mysteries of our faith! For this intelligence has a marvelous power to subject the will to God's service; our understanding is committed to God and plunged in God, recognizing God as wonderfully and perfectly good. As the mind ceases to think anything else good in comparison with God's goodness, so, too, the will can no longer desire or love any goodness in comparison with God's goodness, even as when our eyes look deep into the sun we can no longer see any other light. But because we can only show our love in this world by doing good (because our love must act in some way), we need counsel so as to see what we ought to do to put this love which presses us into practice, for it is heavenly love itself which urges us on to do good. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of understanding so we may find out how to do good, which good to choose and in what way to express our love in action." (Selected Letters, pp. 281 - 282)

From a practical point of view, the gift of wisdom (and the ability to discern how best to accomplish the good) gets played out in the selection and practice of virtue. Francis de Sales wrote: "Charity never enters a heart without lodging both itself and its train of all the other virtues which it exercises and disciplines as a captain does his soldiers. It does not put them to work all at once, not at all times and in all places…A great fault of many who undertake the exercise of some particular virtue is thinking they must practice it in every situation. In practicing the virtues we should use the ones best suited to the circumstances at hand rather than the ones that we like…Among the virtues that we practice we should prefer the ones that are more excellent to the ones that are more obvious." (Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III)

An understanding heart knows what it means to be truly divine; an understanding heart knows what it means to be truly human. An understanding heart knows how to do what is right and good; knows what good or right thing to do in a particular situation; knows how to express love in action.

Such understanding is a gift from our home in heaven. Such understanding is truly a treasure for our homes here on earth.

Why desire anything else?

Rev. Michael S. Murray, OSFS is Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center.