Jesus is in
the midst of his ministry, in his proclamation of God’s kingdom, but perhaps
his mother and his family are concerned for his welfare. Perhaps they want to make sure that he is ok
and well taken care of. Yet, Jesus knows
he needs to be occupied with his Father’s work, so he declares that his true
mother, his true brothers and sisters, are those who do the will of his Father
in their lives.
St. Francis de
Sales, the saint whom we celebrate today, also displays in his life the same
courage and conviction that Jesus exemplifies in today’s Gospel. Francis de Sales was the Bishop of Geneva in
the early 17th century and was declared to be a Doctor of the Church
in the year 1877. Francis was destined
to by a lawyer and a senator in his native country of France, but after earning
his doctorate in law, he decided to become a priest. He is known for his great preaching and for
his support of the Catholic faith in the city of Geneva, which was a very
strong center of Calvinist Protestantism.
With Sister Jane Frances de Chantal, he helped found the Sisters of the
Visitation, a group of religious sisters who were to practice the virtues that
Mary exemplified in her visit to her cousin Elizabeth: humility, charity, and
piety.
Francis de
Sales had a strong sense of identity in his Catholic faith, in his priestly
vocation. May we hear the calling we
have as disciples of Christ, living out that discipleship with courage and
zeal. May we do our Father’s will just
like Jesus, just like St Francis de Sales.
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