Rector’s Reflections Tuesday
2nd July 2024
A Spiritual Classic form the Seventeenth Century
I finished yesterday’s reflections with asking what Francis might have to say to us on the nature of “true” devotion.
Here are some of Francis’s thoughts on this topic, taken from Chapter 1of the 1st Part of the Introduction to the Devout Life:
“True and living devotion, dearest reader [the original text has “Philothea”] , presupposes the love of God. It is indeed nothing else but a true love of God…..It is for this reason that he [or she] who does not keep all the commandments of God can neither be considered good nor devout; for to be good, he [or she] must have charity, and to be devout he [or she] must have in addition to charity a great vivacity and promptitude in the works of charity”.
Francis is making 3 key points. To start with, he is saying that living a devout life is all about loving God. It follows that “true” devotion is “nothing else but a true love of God”. How challenging these words are! Can it be said that love for God is at the core of our lives, directing all that we do? And if we dare to say that there are at least occasions when we do indeed try to place love for God at the centre of our lives, is our love for God a “true” love? How might we distinguish a “true” love from a “false” love: Perhaps the distinction turns on whether our love is genuinely about what is best for the person we love (“true love”) or whether it’s basically a self-centred ego-trip which is all about what suits ourselves and our own agenda (“false love”). Is our love for God a “true” love? Perhaps our love for God is in practice a mix of “false” and “true” love, and the pursuit of holiness consists in doing what we can to weed out the elements of “false” love as far we can. Francis was interested in the subject , and he wrote a meaty Treatise on the Love of God , which was published in 1618, ten years after the 1st edition of the Introduction to the Devout Life.
Having centred the spiritual life on a “true love of God”, Francis reminds his readers that this means that they must try and keep all of God’s commandments. We are not truly loving God if we take a pick and mix approach to God’s commandments, keeping those which we like or find easy, and ignoring those which we find more challenging. In Francis’ words: “ he [or she] who does not keep all the commandments of God can neither be considered good nor devout”. Yes, it’s tough message. But we know it makes sense. We can hardly expect someone who commits murder to claim sanctity on the grounds that they have never committed adultery.
Finally, Francis says some challenging words about doing good deeds (which he calls “works of charity”). Most if not all of us would agree that it is highly commendable to do good deeds. It is a way of showing love for our neighbour in practical ways. Surely this is enough? Francis says that it is not enough simply to do good deeds; we also need to think about how we do them. Do we do them “carefully, frequently, and promptly”? Do we have a “great vivacity and promptitude in the works of charity”?
At this point you may be thinking to yourself that all this is making living a devout life much harder than we thought. So it is something suitable for everyone, or only for those with the time and inclination? Does it take special gifts to live a holy life? Or is it something within everyone’s reach?
We shall see what Francis has to say on this topic in tomorrow’s reflections.