Francis de Sales: Easter, The Agony and The Ecstasy

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love… If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love… I have said these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my Commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn.15: 9-13)

Jesus’ passion and death is the true school of love. Francis de Sales ends his Treatise on the Love of God writing of its power and importance to our own eternal destiny: “Now, in conclusion, the Death and Passion of our Lord is the sweetest and most compelling motivation that could possibly animate our hearts in this mortal life: and it is the truth that mystic bees make their most excellent honey in the wounds of this Lion of the tribe of Judah, his throat slit and torn to pieces on the mount of Calvary; and the children of the Cross are glorified in their wonderful problem, that the world does not understand: from death, comes the substance of our consolation; and from death, stronger than all, comes forth the sweetness of the honey of our love.” (TLG BK XIII; XIII) Living each day well demands a life of self-sacrifice and discipline and love. Jesus died on the Cross to open the gates of heaven to us, but they are narrow gates. To be judged worthy of heaven, we must love. Faith opens many doors, but it is up to each one to pass through them. Francis continues: “You must choose, O mortal one, in this mortal life, either love eternal, or death eternal; the ordinance of the Great God allows not for any compromise.” (TLG BK XII: XIII)

Heaven. Resurrection. Ecstasy. Glory. All are possible for all. But the choice remains ours. Pope Saint John Paul II, looking forward to the new millennium and his program for Church renewal in his encyclical, Novo Millennio Ineunte, wrote:

“As on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, the Church pauses in contemplation of his bleeding face, which conceals the life of God and offers salvation to the world. But her contemplation of Christ’s face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified One. He is the Risen One!… Two thousand years after these events, the Church relives them as if they had happened today. Gazing on the face of Christ, the Bride contemplates her treasure and her joy… Heartened by this experience, the Church today sets out once more on her journey, in order to proclaim Christ to the world… ‘He is the same yesterday and today and forever.‘ (Heb. 13:8)” (NMI #28) And what was Pope Saint John Paul II’s program? Holiness. Schools of Prayer. The Spirituality of Communion. The Path of the Gospel. “…until the heart truly falls in love.” (NMI #33)

And this is exactly the same program Saint Francis de Sales pointed out. Falling in love with God. This is what he wrote about in the Treatise. This is what he wrote about in the Introduction to the Devout Life. The long journey to holiness. This is what he preached, lived, and died for. This is his Easter message:

LIVE JESUS! I love Jesus! Live Jesus whom I love! I love Jesus, who lives and reigns from age to age! Amen.

HAPPY EASTER!