Sprisingly specific

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part I, Chapters 9-24
Group 2 - Korean Language Group
(Jung Seung-Ku, JS Kim Jong-Soo, Michael Lee Chun-Seob, Oh Kwang-Cheol)
29 September 2006

1. To begin, our group, most of our group members are Protestants, talked about some differences between the Catholic and the Protestant tradition. Also, we talked about the spirituality and the specific method of meditation displayed in Francis’ book, Introduction to the Devout Life. The surprising thing to us is that the content of the meditation is very specific. It expresses spiritual sensitiveness. It has the deep relations to the life of ordinary people. In addition, the contents of the meditation are not only well organized according to each stage but also have some clear themes and purposes. The meditation of Francis De Sales seems to have a point of excellence in that meditators can feel their spiritual condition and its developmental stages through the meditation. On the other hand, we can find that the devout life Francis emphasizes continuously is similar to the concept of ‘sanctification’ of Protestant theologian Wesley. Needless to say, it is true that Wesley was influenced by Francis De Sales.

2. The purpose of the meditation, as Wendy Wright says, is “to make Christians know their true identity as children of god created to know, remember, live and praise the Creator” (Wright, p. 55). Francis began his meditation with the themes of the creation of human beings and the purpose for which we are created. How is the life of humans who comprehend the purpose for which they are created? What is the purpose of human existence? The meditation continuously makes us recall our identity as Christians. We come to realize that we are God’s creatures and God’s loving children, and then we serve God with all our capabilities (mind, heart, soul, and strength), and live a life of devotion, a life oriented toward the love.

3. In his meditation, Francis emphasized the consequence of the meditation. For Francis, it is very important to take form in action. As Wendy’s expression, meditators “need to be impressed upon consciousness, burned into the flesh of our lives” (Wright p. 55). One thing we have to have in mind is that the meditations are directed toward the whole person. There are some connections among concepts such as the whole person, the devout life, devotion (not partial but whole thing), and charity.

4. The most impressive phrase to us is that “the most terrible torment is the privation and loss of God’s glory which they are debarred from seeing forever; deprivation of the sight of God’s gentle and loving face” (Francis, meditation: hell, p. 64). We think that this is the most tragic to human beings. Our life has meaning only when we live in God’s grace and loving face.

Devotion is really about Love

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part I, Chapters 1-9
Group 3
(Anne, Tien-An, Javier, Marcel)
22 September 2006

There are a few things that we learned from reading the first 8 chapters of the Introduction to the Devout Life:

1. We were surprised to find out that Devotion was a virtue. We were wondering whether it would still be a virtue if someone had a bad devotion. Fortunately, with Fr. Joe Boenzi’s help, we eventually understood that the term Devotion according to St. Francis de Sales meant something different from the devotions that we understand today. This true devotion is the true love of God, that is, charity. This can only be seen in human action.

2. We agree with St. Francis that we should begin our devout life by finding a good spiritual director. This person should be strong and gentle, entirely holy and reverent, entirely spiritual. Once we find one, we should put absolute trust in and be obedient to our spiritual director like Tobias trusting and following the angel’s direction.

3. We also like the image of Jacob’s ladder. This image helps us to see the importance of keeping a balance between praying and doing charity. St. Francis describes that the ladder has two directions. When we climb up, we pray to God; and after we have prayed to God, we come down to act with charity toward our neighbors.

4. When we discussed chapters 6, 7, and 8, which were all about purification, we had a difficult time talking about it. We thought we were not holy enough nor even ready to talk about it. We are still very human, and we do not want to detach from earthly things yet. However, we believe that God’s grace will be poured down on us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Practical devotion for real life

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part I, Chapters 1-9
Group 2 - Korean Language Group
(Jung Seung-Ku, JS Kim Jong-Soo, Michael Lee Chun-Seob, Oh Kwang-Cheol)
22 September 2006

The contents of this text are very practical and anyone can apply what they learn here to real life. Also, each chapter is very logical and Francis develops his teachings step by step.

As a Protestant Christians, some of us in this group have always understood «devout life» or «devotion» to mean just much reading the Bible and praying, however this book shows us what is the real devout life and the methods of the life.

We cannot understand exactly the difference between charity and devotion because charity means something about acting to the Protestant Christian in Korea. Through the class, we came to know that charity is very important thing in the Catholic Church, especially in the Salesian tradition.

Seung-Ku

New baby

Kwang-Cheol Oh, who is taking the class on Francis de Sales this semester, has shared that a week ago his wife gave birth to a baby girl -- their second child. These are happy days for Kwang-Cheol and his wife; his mother-in-law arrived from Korea on Friday (22 Sep) and is helping with the baby.

Best wishes to Kwang-Cheol and his family, and especially to the new arrival!!

Devotion is for everyone

Introduction to the Devout Life
Part I, Chapters 1-9
Group 1
(Tien, Steve, John, Cecilia, Rey)
22 September 2006

1) Images: Francis de Sales used a lot of images in his text perhaps for readers to remember. He connects images from Scriptures to his messages too.

2) Devotion is for everyone thus it is a call to holiness: in this way, it is applicable to our time today not only within the Catholic Church but also other Churches are catching on as well.

3) Working gradually to the center: Francis de Sales sets up his preliminary work for the soul going from outside (explaning devotion, charity, sybolism) and works its way into the interior (meditation, purification....)

4) Difficulty in finding a good guide: this was true of Francis's time as well as our time. obedience to the spiritual guide poses as a challenge for sometimes we like to do penance rather than obey our spiritual guide especially when the guide lacks prudent.

5) Spiritual guidance and the ministry of priests and laity. Francis did not say a guide is a priest (perhaps common assumption at the time), but when he talked about purification and about sins, he ventures into the sacramental realm of the ordained ministers. We have now-a-days many spiritual guides who are not priests. What would Francis say about that?

6) Issues of politics and how to practice devotion in one's life. Political life can be corrupted, and to mantain one's holiness of life within the system is a challenge. Should a person leave politics or shoud one stay within it to help improve it? what if one is blind by the corrupted system?

tien

Reading Spiritual Classics

The following comments come out of a group discussion on the essay "Reading Spiritual Classics" by Wendy M. Wright, published in her volume Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God, rev. ed. (Stella Niagara: DeSales Resources, 2006), 17-28.

Question one: What did you, as a group, find most striking in this essay?

Responses:

• This essay is refreshing to read, perhaps because Wendy Wright writes from experience.
• In approaching Francis de Sales, we are all very much like freshmen: everything is new for us. Naturally we want to move toward a more critical consciousness, and the author puts us on our guard about becoming more critical than conscious.
• We reflected together that Francis de Sales is a diocesan bishop who lived in day-to-day contact with the common people. He spoke their language. We need to find a way to understand that language and the context in which he lived and worked.

Question two: What did you find personally most striking in Wendy Wright's essay?

• When dealing with classical, spiritual writing, it is important to let the author's words come to us gradually so that we pray over what we read and dwell with it. To use an anology, we need to let the material simmer gently.
• Wendy Wright offers many insights, and she is especially clear when she says that we need to change our attitude in approaching authors such as Francis de Sales. Our world and culture and values have changed over time, so it will often happen that we find his explanations out of step with our sensibilities. For instance, he speaks about "loving your abjections". What does this mean? He can't possibly mean that I love to be abused, does he? No. What he is saying is "accept your limits and handicaps, be patient with yourself and love yourself".
• Wendy uses an interesting image when she speaks about God's heartbeat. Spiritual writers want to help us approach God more closely, and if we keep this in mind, we can get beyond the cultural differences to find the deepest value in the encounter. We will discover ourselves in the communion of saints, straining to tack the fragile vessels of our lives in the direction of God as they did before us. We are certainly not alone. For the human heart, despite the centuries, has not changed; its fundamental rehythm is still the heartbeat of God. [Wright, 28]

Reflection of Rey de la Cruz:

In spite of the distance of time and space, we can connect with spiritual authors such as Francis de Sales, for we share the same Gospel Faith. It is in that connection that we are empowered to respond to God in a heart-to-heart way. We cannot reduce God to our world. But this is something about which Francis de Sales was very aware. He wrote over a period of time and revised his writing as his experiences changed. In a similar way, I may have read the writings of Francis de Sales when I was very young, and I certainly learned from that experience, yet now, twenty years later, I have grown in different ways. As I take up his writings today, I read it in a new way because I have different needs now than I had as a youngser. There is a dynamic of growth, therefore, in the author but also in the reader.

Approaching Spiritual Classics

After discussing the reflections of Wendy M. Wright on the reading of «Spiritual Classics», students in ISS/DSPT course SP2505 (GTU Fall 2006) offered the following pointers for approaching the reading of the Introduction to the Devout Life:


Anne Collins, FMA: My new approach is to read these gems of living wisdom, which have come from a lived experience, reflectively, with an open mind and heart, the mind being thoughtfully critical, leaving aside some of the language and ideas not relevent to this century but allowing the content to be savoured, mulled over and prayerfully pondered, so as to reach the spiritual nourishment contained there for my own God-ward. journey.

Rey de la Cruz: What would be my approach? To read, to reflect, and to reappropriate.

Seung-Ku Jung: Reading the spiritual classics is a journey because we must leave our home (our naivete) and set out on a spiritual path; and then we must come back home (with a new sense that is critical consciouness).

Jongsoo Kim: I often would try to approch the spiritual classics in a theologial way, but I am very new to theology. I understand that spirituality is an area for all Christians interested in spiritual life. I think it is important to begin with the pure heart when approaching spiritual texts.

Tien Nam: What new approach for me in reading Introduction to the Devout Life? In reading this book, I realize that what St. Francis wrote in the text requires some reflections and at time praying with the text; therefore, it is fitting that I would bring what I read into my daily reflection and prayers as well.

John O’Brien, SDB: My ambition in reading and studying the Introduction to the Devout Life is to peel off the layers of bygone cultures and expressions, exposing clear meanings in current language, furthering greater understanding and easier applications in the spiritual life via the insights of St Francis de Sales’ ready and warm wisdom.

Kwang-Cheol Oh: Through reading the spiritual classics, especially the Introduction to the Devout Life, I want to feel ‘the heartbeat of God’. In so doing, I hope that I will enjoy the common spirit (holy communion) with the author and many spiritually sensitive readers through history.

Thien An Tran, OP: I’ve learned many new things from the reading. However, my new approach could be "when I read a spiritual classic, I should take some time to digest it. Besides, I need to read it with not only my reason, but with my heart."

Cecilia Tse, FMA: Here is the new approach I would like to take: I will take time to reflect the writings of the spiritual classics and try to adapt it to our context and live out the spiritual teachings in daily life.

Steve Von Stade: My new approach is to take more time to reflect on the message of the reading and allow it to speak to my heart.

GTU: Lo studio di S Francesco di Sales a Berkeley

Un saluto dopo tanti mesi - e un annuncio:

A Berkeley, presso l'Istituto di Spiritualità Salesiana di California, si è iniziato un nuovo corso intitolato: «Francesco di Sales: Storio e Spirito - Francis de Sales, Story and Spirit». E, guardate un po’, gli alunni di questo corso del GTU stanno mettendo su un blog, come si faceva l'anno scorso all’UPS. Volendo, potete controllare quanto il gruppo di studenti pensano dell’opera di Francesco di Sales, cioè, della Filotea. Andate a controllare allo sito: «Philothea & Us».

After months of silence, here is a greeting and an announcement:

In Berkeley, at the Institute of Salesian Spirituality, a course is now underway which is entitled «Francis de Sales, Story and Spirit». And, just as we did last year in Rome at the UPS, the students of this course in California are discussing the writing and spirit of Francis de Sales through a thorough study of the Introduction to the Devout Life. Check out the blog that the class is putting together. It is called «Philothea & Us».

Joe