By Tom Thomas –
“It is not necessary to teach others, to cure them or to improve them; it is only necessary to live among them, sharing the human condition and being present to them in love.” St Charles De Foucauld
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the world.” This is what Mt 5:5-9 tells us. In today’s fast paced dog-eat-dog world these values seem almost counter cultural.
And yet, we have examples before us, great men and women of God who showed us how by being meek, they led many to Him, and indeed inherited a great spiritual blessing. One such great soul, has in fact been called a perfect example of practising the Apostolate of Meekness by Holy Father Pope Francis. In the General Audience on 18th October 2023, the Holy Father dwells on the life of St Charles De Foucauld, who wrote he found his life’s calling, saying “I have lost my heart to Jesus of Nazareth.” A profound statement for a man who started life as a spendthrift, dashing soldier and explorer from a wealthy family, becoming so undisciplined that the arm discharged him.
Finally, he finds no satisfaction in the worldly life and is led to the Lord through the intervention of a kindly Priest Fr Henri Huvelin, visits the Holy Land and decides to go into the remote desert living with the Tuaregs as their brother, the life of Nazareth, far from any other Christians. Without preaching words, his life becomes a living witness, modelled as a humble and meek servant of Jesus, he embraces being amongst the poorest brothers of different faiths his life-long Mission. These are some of the most difficult conditions for anyone to live in, almost unimaginable for one brought up in the lap of luxury. Pope Francis writes about him in his Encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti “drawing upon his intense experience of God, made a journey of transformation towards feeling a brother to all”.
The transformation of St Charles De Foucauld was not easy but achieved by spending hours daily in front of the tabernacle, sometimes even a dozen hours a day. and reading the Gospels in depth. Holy Father encourages us to follow the example of this saint and waste time in adoration. Then we can truly know our life’s mission which as St Charles de Foucald says “Every Christian is an apostle.” St Charles paid with his life in the desert, and earthly life lost to bullets, but his stellar Christian life continue on for us through his writings. They are recommended reading to really understand in depth the transformative experience of conversion he experienced. He writes, “I think there is no saying in the gospel that made a deeper impression on me and more transformed my life than this one: “Whatever you did to one of the least of these you did it to me”.
It is also worth pondering over the words of his Prayer of Abandonment which he introduces by saying “It is the last prayer of our Master, of our Beloved . . . may it be ours. . .. May it not only be the prayer of our last moment but that of all our moments.” This is a prayer that one can say at all moments in one’s life, especially in those moments of abandonment and loneliness.
‘Father, I abandon myself into your hands, do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands, I commend my soul;
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart;
For I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself:
To surrender myself into your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence. For you are my Father.’
St Charles De Foucauld, you charted many unknown territories with your skill as an explorer in the days before you knew Jesus. Now your life shows us the way to Him. We thank you for the perfect example of Christian meekness you have demonstrated to us by your life in the desert, being one with all – becoming a universal brother*. Help us to emulate your example. Amen.
A Point for Reflection:
When you are faithful in (silent meditation) you will slowly experience yourself in a deeper way. Because in this useless hour in which you do nothing “important” or urgent, you have to come to terms with your basic powerlessness, you have to feel your fundamental inability to solve your or other people’s problems or to change the world. When you do not avoid that experience but live through it, you will find out that your many projects, plans, and obligations become less urgent, crucial and important and lose their power over you. They will leave you free during your time with God and take their appropriate place in your life. – Abbot John Eudes Bamberger
*The Universal Brother: Chares de Foucaud Speaks to us Today by Little Sister Kathleen of Jesus, New City Press $19.95