Google Search

Google
 

Monday, June 29, 2009

St. Frances de Sales advice for Gaming


Many of the Gaming study abroad students will take Professor Asci's course on Western Christian Spirituality where they will read St. Frances de Sales (1567 - 1622) seminal work on lay spirituality and wisdom in his devotional classic Introduction to the Devout Life.

This French saint, a master of savoir-faire, practiced the art of what St. Paul called the ability "to become all things to all people," adapting himself to the different temperments and individual natures of each person.

In fact, it is said that as a University student at the University of Padua, he vowed never to avoid a conversation with anyone, no matter how unpleasant or dull a person was: "I shall never despise anyone, not altogether avoid him, the more so in that it would give the impression of being proud, haughty, severe, arrogant, critical."

Like any great classic, this book provides perennial wisdom not only for adult lay persons but also for young students, especially students who are studying abroad and representing not only themselves, but more so they are giving face to America, to Franciscan University, and to Catholicism.

Let's get some advice from this great saint:

"Nothing is ever gained by harshness."

"To be too reserved and to refuse to take part in conversation looks like alck of confidence in others and some sort of disdain."

"If people visit you of if you are called out into society for some just reason, go as one sent by God and visit your neighbor with a benevolent heart and a good intention."

"be careful never to let an indecent word leave your lips."

"It is a sort of contempt of those you associate with to frequent their company in unbecoming attire."

If it were up to me, I believe I would make St. Francis de Sales, a co-patron with St. Francis of Assisi, of Franciscan University or at least the Study Abroad program in Gaming.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Forgiveness and the hand that never leaves


Austria has traditionally been thought of as the "crossroads of Europe" and indeed it is. So when the study abroad students come out to Austria, not only are they immersed in Austrian culture, but also the history, politics, traditions, culture, and ideas from all over Europe.

Moreover, each semester the students not only travel in Europe, but they also venture to other parts of Eastern Europe and former Soviet bloc countries. For example, each semester the students have the opportunity to participate on the school sponsored trip to Poland where they visit, the former Pope John Paul II's hometown, the concentration camps of Auschwitz, the famous Marian Shrine of Czestochowa, the city of Krakow, and the Shrine of Divine Mercy. On this pilgrimage, students have the opportunity to ponder and even touch, taste, and feel the life and work of the former Pope John Paul the Great.

In my readings about the life of John Paul II, I have always been fascinated by the story of his miraculous survival from the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca who short John Paul at 5 PM on May 13, 1981.

Why this time and date? 5 PM and May 13 seem insignificant when isolated, but if we travel to the other side of Europe, the puzzle becomes a little clearer. For this is the exact moment and day on which three shepherd children had first reported seeing the Virgin Mary in Fatima in 1917.

Agca's bullet missed John Paul's main abdominal artery by 1/10 an inch! Later Agca remarked that he was a good shot, he aimed true, and had his escape planned impeccably, and yet in the end, all was thwarted. What happened?

JPII said: "One hand fired the shot, and another guided the bullet." The other hand he said was the Virgin of Fatima, or Mother of Christ.

After the bullet was extracted from his body, he had it sent to Fatima where it was placed in the crown of Mary, the mother of God. Every semester, students go and pray in front of this statue where they recall God's Divine Providence, his tender loving hand, and the importance of forgiveness.

Ah yes, that fearful word, forgiveness.

JPII, in an example to the entire world, visited Agca in prison where he told him that he had forgiven him from his heart.

Many years later, in 2005 when he was hospitalized for difficult breathing JPII received many letters and notes. One was from Agca who wrote from the Rebibbia Prison wishing him good health and a quick recovery. Furthermore, when JPII died, one of the first requests to attend his funeral came from Agca. Naturally the prison officials turned him down, but it still a touching and moving story nonetheless.

As so you contemplate John Paul II (The Great), remember this story of forgiveness and of love, and of Divine Providence, it is good for us all to remember the hand and heart that never leaves you or any one of his beloved children.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen Please

Whenever we return to the States for our much awaited summer vacation, an extended respite at the in-laws is certainly a must and usually the first stop on our USA Tour.   My wife Niki is the oldest in a family of 8 children (their family license plate is Gr8Kids), so you can readily imagine that dinnertime is quite the kerfuffle.  Despite this enjoyable organized chaos, Grandma and Grandpa are careful to remind our two boys Ari and Dominic that " Only Ladies and Gentlemen at my table." Indeed, we are thankful for their encouragement. 

This idea of "ladies and gentlemen" is not a  a shibboleth of the Victorian Age  applicable only to children, but a virtue relevant for all ages and in all times and places.  It is indeed a civilizing force in all nations.  Amidst the too often confirmed stereotype of the "Ugly American," I too try to encourage "Ladies and Gentleman" in the 160+ students who attend the Franciscan University's Study abroad program in Gaming, Austria. 

John Henry Cardinal Newman (the most famous English convert to Catholicism), undoubtedly has the best and most famous definition ever formulated even if it is from an age which is past:

I invite you to read this passage slowly and often as it often acts as a sort of examination of conscience....it is one of my staples for RA (Resident Assistant) training.  

"It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him; and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself. His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature: like an easy chair or a good fire, which do their part in dispelling cold and fatigue, though nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or a jolt in the minds of those with whom he is cast; — all clashing of opinion, or collision of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment; his great concern being to make every one at their ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company; he is tender towards the bashful, gentle towards the distant, and merciful towards the absurd; he can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favours while he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by a mere retort, he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets every thing for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes, never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out. From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage, that we should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at insults, he is too well employed to remember injuries, and too indolent to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned, on philosophical principles; he submits to pain, because it is inevitable, to bereavement, because it is irreparable, and to death, because it is his destiny.  If he engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves him from the blundering discourtesy of better, perhaps, but less educated minds; who, like blunt weapons, tear and hack instead of cutting clean, who mistake the point in argument, waste their strength on trifles, misconceive their adversary, and leave the question more involved than they find it. He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but he is too clear-headed to be unjust; he is as simple as he is forcible, and as brief as he is decisive. Nowhere shall we find greater candor, consideration, indulgence: he throws himself into the minds of his opponents, he accounts for their mistakes. He knows the weakness of human reason as well as its strength, its province and its limits.
If he be an unbeliever, he will be too profound and large-minded to ridicule religion or to act against it; he is too wise to be a dogmatist or fanatic in his infidelity. He respects piety and devotion; he even supports institutions as venerable, beautiful, or useful, to which he does not assent; he honors the ministers of religion, and it contents him to decline its mysteries without assailing or denouncing them. He is a friend of religious toleration, and that, not only because his philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an impartial eye, but also from the gentleness and effeminacy of feeling, which is the attendant on civilization.[From The Idea of a University, 1852]