SPIRITUALITY

This virtue is meant to correct certain misgivings which could include obedience. Far from banning generosity and dedication obedience supposes them to be present. In our Founder we greatly appreciate his courage in launching out into the reconstruction of the Church, manhandled as it had been by the French Revolution; he was fully involved in the education of the young (schools, colleges), in the revival of the Catholic faith through the missions which were proposed in the parishes and which were a kind of retreat lasting two or three weeks; here too he took as his model the Heart of Jesus in his great surge of love: “Here I am without delay, without reserve, without backward glances! Great generosity but well controlled! Generosity which deals with duties, preferences in the present situation; great generosity which finds a worthy sphere in which it can be displayed, give glory to God whether in Mary’s womb, in the crib, in the modest house in Nazareth, as in the magnificence of heaven, at the right hand side of the Father”. (DS 42). “Forward march”, “flying camps”, are recommendations meant to indicate this devotion. Another expression by St Michael which we greatly appreciate “The greatness of charity must be practised within the limits of our mission” (DS 312). Our Founder is not a man to take half measures; he wants total commitment. He is not bothered with the nature of the mission, or the position; what is important is the interior disposition of the individual and the courage with which the action is undertaken. “God’s work must be undertaken joyfully, strongly, day by day, not worrying about the successful outcome nor about the next day”. (DS 234). He was a man who said YES without hesitating, without conditions, without doubting. But at the same time he was a man of the happy medium; his YES was accompanied by great generosity, and also with great sensitivity and with an acute sentiment of providential limits” “No delaying and no rushing ahead, no reserves and no extravagance, no looking back and no stubbornness.” (Corr. Letter 1, 39)

Today, such a virtue is to be encouraged in a world where commitment is sometimes hesitant, where everything has to be paid for, leaving no room for gratuity. We are sometimes surprised when we see the exaggerated place accorded to payment; there is little room left for gratuity. Revision lessons are expensive; services rendered in the civil service are fixed-price services. What is to become of this world if everything has to be paid for! What an example we are giving to the young?
Sometimes, such devotion is accompanied by high sounding advertising; generous donations are published and NGOs flourish. So devotion can be spoilt by pride and the need to be thanked! And Jesus’ word of warning is always news: “When you give alms your right hand must not know what your left hand is doing” (Mt 6,3). When devotion is distorted by this sort of need, it becomes dangerous. There are those who have a natural need to help others, sometimes in God’s name or in the name of Justice. They act with more and more generosity, winning thereby proofs of affection from those they have helped. Their good nature becomes their enemy! Because their generosity is the result of their need to feel appreciated and loved and not from the wish to help others to gain freedom, causes their downfall” (Jean Vanier). The danger which lies in wait for devotedness can be avoided if discretion is part of the scene. There too our Founder finds in the Incarnation that quality which is often lacking in our world today. “Jesus spent 9 months in the womb of his mother, 30 years in Nazareth before beginning to preach his Gospel and dying on the cross for our salvation. He was waiting to do his Father’s will” (DS. 284).

1. In our different commitments how do we experience “the depth of charity”? Putting ourselves forward or leaving it to others to put us forward – Are these not the sort of risks which we have come across?

2. Allowing others to assume their responsibilities requires that we stay within the limits of our position: What experiences have we met with in this particular situation?

3. Discretion no longer seems to be worth anything at a time when publicity means so much. How do we practice this evangelical virtue?

The virtues of the Sacred Heart - Conclusion:
The lesson which God wants us to learn is to forsake power by making ours the love which doesn’t impose itself but offers itself to be adopted positively by mankind. “That is how God loved us”! God’s desire is to attract us in all liberty by making us partners with him. If God is a God “dissolved in love”, living from all eternity in the love of the Trinity, that is how God is showing what interpersonal relations should be like; we cannot be satisfied with only contemplation; we are invited to imitate him.
Furthermore, for us the Incarnation is an example of a movement of generosity driven by a love freely given for mankind. It is to the blossoming of our whole being that he invites us. We lose nothing by giving ourselves to others. On the contrary that’s where we fully realise ourselves when we give others the opportunity to blossom. From the Heart of Jesus to the heart of the world, therein lies our way to happiness.

Laurent Bacho, scj