A great communicator

     On this feast of the patron of writers and journalists, I feel compelled to post.  Saint Francis de Sales is that patron, and his entire life was dedicated to communicating the love of Christ.  He is and could be a great model for the New Evangelization that we are addressing in the Church.  As I mentioned in a post last week, our priests gathered to begin discussions on this topic.  The New Evangelization has a focus on those who have heard the message of the gospel but who have forgotten or strayed or given up or been otherwise occupied - thus a great number who profess Christianity but not Christ.

     Francis de Sales made it his mission to re-evangelize the people of his home district who had gone over to Calvinism.  His preaching was dynamic and effective, but more importantly his message was given in love and respect.  He taught that whoever we are and whatever our station in life, we can become holy by being more ourselves, reflecting upon the gift of God in our lives and using those gifts well and celebrating that Call to the best of our ability.  You don't have to be a priest or monk or Religious to be holy ... it is the universal Call that flows from Baptism.  His preaching to those who had embraced Calvinism was not to win converts, but in the most loving and supportive way to share the truth of the gospel and the necessity of the catholic family with those that he genuinely loved.  I saw a quote of a Calvinist minister of the time who had said that if there ever was a "saint" it was Francis, whose holiness was rooted in his love of Christ and his fellow man.

     One of the things that I strive to do in Journey Thoughts is to speak in love and affirmation, to call to holiness and inspire a trust in the mercy of God.  The world needs that message desperately. 

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     From October of 1986 through January of 2000 I served as pastor of All Saints Church in Masontown and its mission church of Saint Francis de Sales in McClellandtown.  It was a great assignment.  Saint Francis mission was about five miles down the road, a small frame church of about 60 families with one Mass on a Sunday morning.  They were dedicated to their little church, and hardworking people.  They had never celebrated their feast, and I remember starting a cover dish dinner at the local fire hall near the feast day - to great success and enjoyment.

     As things go, Saint Francis de Sales Church became a "chapel of convenience" for awhile, before being suppressed and the parishioners brought into All Saints.  The little church building, which served as a home to the parishioners, is now a home to a family in the area, and I understand was creatively adapted into a residence.  Many good memories.