Francis Fernandez: Curbs or Caprices

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:25-33

“We cannot reconcile a love for God which means following him closely with attachment to material goods. Those two loves cannot be contained in the same heart. Man can direct to God the material things he uses as a means to his final end – which is God – for a means is precisely what they are. But he can also, unfortunately, place all his hopes of fulfillment and happiness in material riches, in the unbridled desire to hold on to favorite goods, to seek out greater luxury, to enjoy maximum comfort, to foster ambition, and give rein to avarice…

Today can provide a good occasion for examining ourselves courageously in the intimacy of our prayer. What is the true motivation of my actions? What is my heart really set upon? Have I really tired to be detached from earthly goods, or on the contrary, do I suffer and complain when I am short of something I could be doing with? How quick am I to react against the slightest incitement to self-seeking and ease, promoted very often by the advertisements of the consumer society?

Am I sparing in my personal needs, do I put curbs on my extravagance, do I avoid frivolous and unnecessary purchases? Sometimes we can create false necessities which we could well forgo if we wanted to, if we were determined to do our best not to give in to the whims and caprices which so easily solicit our greed. Do I really look after the material things of my home and the implements and goods I use? Have I the clear realization that I am only a steward over these things, and will one day have to give an account of them to their true master, God our Lord?

Do I cheerfully accept whatever inconveniences me and the lack of means at my disposal? Am I generous in giving alms to those who are in much worse circumstances? Do I contribute to the support of good causes, depriving myself of things I would like to have? Only in this way will we live with the joy and freedom necessary if we are to be disciples of our Lord in the midst of the world.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 438-439.

As I was reading this book that I am loving so much, I was struck by the series of questions that Fernandez put before me, so I shared them with you.

Read the post again and sit in whatever question the Lord leads you to linger. Do you need to put up curbs or guard against any caprices today?

The time to prepare to give an account for your stewardship is today. The time to give is today. The time to steward wisely is always today. Steward like there is no tomorrow.

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Matthew 19:20

“God’s call to us to follow Him closely demands a positive response at all times, because in His many invitations He asks of us a docile and generous lifelong correspondence. Therefore we should stand frequently in God’s presence – face to face with Him, without anonymity – and ask him as did the young man. What do I still lack? What does my Christian vocation desire of me today in any circumstances? Whoever really wants to find them succeeds in knowing clearly the paths that lead to God.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 437.

My wife has a fortnightly post called, Spigot. Subscribe here. It’s wonderful.

Today her post coincides with this one so I direct you to read it. Each post she does has a one word theme, and “broken” is the theme of her post. That thought syncs well with “What do I still lack?”

God wants us to enjoy “a docile and generous lifelong correspondence” with Him.

He wants us to stand frequently, daily, with Him. On the way, He shows us things, areas where He wants to heal us and shape us into mature and generous stewards. So try this. Sit with this question. “What do I still lack?”

Ask the Spirit to speak to you. Listen closely, and act accordingly.

It’s good to be home, to sit quietly with the Lord. and experience the love of His presence, the kindness of His provision, and the generosity of His mercy. And I pray each of us receptive when He tells us what we lack.

But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6

“True happiness is possible only when there is generosity and detachment. Then life is full of joy. It shows itself in little things and at very definite moments of our life. Let us ask the Lord to help us with his grace so that he can always count on us for what he wants us to do.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 436.

I am traveling home today. I am so excited to be reunited with Jenni and see our dog, Grace.

And for some reason, when I typed this post, I thought of a funny memory from earlier in our marriage. It was one of our forgettable moments.

We traveled to Orlando for a conference. We were in our mid 30’s. We had a great time in a short break from a our small children back home. And we visited one of those timeshare presentations. You can guess where this is going.

We tasted joy in Florida and wanted to secure that experience for our future so we bought into the timeshare. But we had a window of time to back out if we regretted the decision.

For us, we experienced immediate regret because we did not have the money to pay for it and we would have to take on great debt. So, we reversed the decision with no penalty.

What’s my point today?

When we plan something, perhaps a trip, and experience it with generosity and detachment. Our lives are filled with joy. It’s so amazing we want to own it, package it, bottle it, repeat it for the rest of our lives.

A biblical illustration of this was the Mount of Transfiguration. The guys had so much fun they wanted to built dwellings and stay there. But that’s not how life in God’s economy works.

When we try to do that, we actually become slaves to whatever we tried to own, package, bottle, and repeat. When that happens God can’t count on us. We are too busy with our own stuff.

God wants to attach only to Him and then bless us with one unexpected blessing after another. It takes His grace to live this way. May He give each of us more grace to live lives of generosity and detachment.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:24-27

“God calls everyone: sick and healthy; people with outstanding talents and those of lesser ability; those who are rich and those who are poor; the young, the old, and the middle aged. Each man, each woman should be able to discover the particular path to which God calls him or her. And he calls us all to holiness, to generosity, to detachment, to self-giving. To every one of us, He speaks in the depth of our heart: come, follow me. We cannot give a lukewarm response to Christ’s invitation. He has no use for disciples who are half-hearted, who place conditions on their discipleship.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 435-436.

This word “conditions” in today’s reading really stuck with me. If you missed it, read it again.

And in reading Matthew’s Gospel this morning, I noticed that just before challenging the disciples to follow Him without conditions and to deny themselves and take up their cross, we hear this warning.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. With that statement he was saying to beware of their teachings.

The Pharisees had a grip over the people that served their own purposes. It seems that Jesus wants us to watch out for voices that aim to control or manipulate us. He wants our devotion to God alone.

This reflects a devotion without conditions and willing to do whatever God commands.

What does your service look like? Do you work at your job because it’s comfortable? Do you serve there because you like to control the conditions and make things to your liking?

Today, is day 16 of my trip. It’s a beautiful new day here with the sun shining brightly (see view from my hotel room).

I am thankful for my supportive wife, Jenni, back home and for God’s grace which sustains me. Three people asked me yesterday, “Where does your boundless energy come from? I replied, “My daily office with Jesus.”

I preach two times in Seoul today. Pray for an outpouring of God’s Spirit on me and all who listen.

Tomorrow, I fly all the way back to Denver. Pray for safe and uneventful travel. Thanks.

And whatever you do, remove any conditions to your discipleship. Those who try to save their lives will lose them. And only those who loves their life for Christ’s sake will find it.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21

“The Master said to him, with a particular tenderness: you lack one thing. Only one! With what expectancy must the young man have waited for the Master’s answer! Without a doubt, it was the most important one he was to have in his whole life. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come follow me.” It was an invitation to give himself entirely to the Lord. The young man had not expected this. God’s plans do not always coincide with ours, with those we forge in our imagination, in our dreams. God’s plans, in one way or another, always demand detachment from everything that enchains. If we are to follow Christ, our soul must be free. That young man’s wealth constituted one big hindrance to his accepting Jesus’ demand, the greatest demand of his life.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 419.

As the Lausanne Congress wraps up, each of us as participants has been called to commit to collaboration with God and each other. This collaboration aims to give ourselves “entirely” to the Lord in service with each other.

What about you? If the Lord looked compassionately into your eyes, what would He say? For many of us, Jesus might proclaim: One thing you lack.

Some, like the rich young man, we must set aside the security of money to find a security more reliable in God. For others, we must set aside our comfort or our fears, our plans or our agenda.

God wants us all to “detach from everything” that enchains us. We must do this not because we are some ascetic treating God’s good gifts as bad. We do this because we want to attach to Him, the highest good for us.

You don’t have to be at the Lausanne Congress to make this commitment. Pause today, consider any attachments that you may have. Of these Jesus says, “One thing you lack.”

Surrender them to God. Collaborate fully with His plans and purposes which are always for your good and for His glory. This is the pathway to giving yourself entirely to the Lord.

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Romans 8:13

“When we live in the present, we give our attention to real things and to real people. This means that we mortify our fancy and waste no time on inopportune and fruitless recollections. Imagination can withdraw us into another world, far away from the only world designed to be the scene of our sanctification. Very often our imagination can occasion a squandering of precious time, and make us miss many real opportunities of doing good. Lack of inner mortification, of our imagination and of our curiosity, is one of the great enemies of our sanctification.”

Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 419.

Mortification marks the pathway to life. The Koreans have shown the way. In less than a century they went from destitute poor to economic superpower.

They moved from Godless society to God-fearing people.

Yet, in a powerful presentation of the history of the church on Thursday night in Seoul Incheon, they repented of “fancy and waste”.

The prosperity has inebriated the church making her materialistic and selfish.

It marked a powerful admission and challenged everyone in the audience to join them in confession, fasting, and prayer. Too often we squander both time or resources.

We miss opportunities to do good because we have not practiced mortification.

In today’s Scripture, we see the you (singular) tense of the King James Version as a message to all of us. Each of us must die to the flesh to find the path of life.

How does this idea speak to you. It reminds me daily to keep in step with the Spirit.

When we do, we do not fulfill the desires of the flesh, and best of all, we do not miss any opportunities to do good. Let us mortify the flesh friends. Put it to death.

So that the life of Christ, as evident in the Korean church, might prevail us.

The alternative is not mediocrity. It’s death, fruitlessness, the squandering time and money, and slavery to fancy and waste. From all these, deliver us, O God.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

“Let us have a firm and general determination to serve God wholeheartedly, all our life long. Let us not ask to know any more than that there is a tomorrow about which we need not be unduly concerned. Let our concern be, rather, for the good we can do today. ‘Tomorrow’ will soon become ‘today’ and then we will give it our attention. We need to gather our provision of manna for today, and no more. We should never doubt that God will send another shower of manna on the following day, and the next one, and the next one, as long as the days of our pilgrimage will last.”

Francis de Sales in Letters, Fragments 131, 766.

Each of us reading this post has awakened to a new day. We rose from our beds refreshed (hopefully). God’s faithfulness remains new to us each morning.

So why, like the children of Israel in the Old Testament, do we try to store up for tomorrow rather than do good with what God supplies today?

The answer is clear. Our attention is in the wrong place. If our focus is not on what is in front of us, we miss the places God wants us to dispense generosity.

What is right in front of you today? It might be a child or grandchild. How can you be generous to that young soul? It may be person seeking advice. How can you assist them?

Let our giving today (and every day) relate to the people and the opportunities in front of us remembering that God will supply a shower of manna for each successive day.

As I interact with people from literally all over the world at L4, I am trying to give myself and my attention to them. Join me in doing this wherever you are.

People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16

“Spiritual childhood is not spiritual immaturity or foolishness or softness; it is a sane and robust way which, due to its ‘difficult easiness’, the soul must embark upon and then continue, led by the hand of God.”

Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975) in The Way (Strongsville: Scepter, 1992) 855.

The spiritual journey is one of “difficult easiness” thanks to the gracious and welcoming posture of our Lord Jesus Christ toward us.

But notice that Jesus was indignant toward the disciples. That’s a strong word. He’s indignant toward anyone and everyone who tries to hinder children from coming to Him.

This especially pertains to vulnerable children. This implies that as we mature, Jesus wants us to take a gracious and welcoming posture, not a hard one, toward younger souls.

When I think of a little child, one word comes to mind: dependent. My two granddaughters are dependent on their parents. They run to them, find security, and depend on their care.

As we get older, this becomes a “difficult easiness” for us. We gravitate toward independence in our flesh. Thats the difficult part. The easiness part relates to resting in His care.

Where do you find yourself today? I ask because the generous life requires us to resist the proclivity of our flesh and lean into this “difficult easiness” with confidence in His care.

If you find this challenging, then look at children. Watch them. Become like them.

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

“God lets Himself be seen by those who are able to see Him because they have the eyes of their soul open. Everyone has eyes, but the eyes of some are blinded as it were in the darkness and they cannot see the light of the sun. But the light of the sun does not cease to shine simply because these sightless ones fail to see it; rather is this darkness due to their own inability to see.”

Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli as cited by Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 379.

As I look for God in the sea of people at this Lausanne Congress, I see Him in the faces of His servants from places like Côte d’Ivoire, Pakistan, and Ghana.

I see His glory radiate from their countenances, His kindness from their words, and His goodness from their actions. These are not sightless people.

They have the eyes of their soul open. This fills them with faith to live, give, serve, and love generously. So, at this huge event, I have simply prayed for God to open my eyes.

His light is shining on the darkness of our days. If I miss it, Eugenio would say, it is not because the light is not shining but because of my sightlessness.

May God grant everyone reading this healthy eyes and clear vision, because, as Jesus makes clear in today’s Scripture, that impacts everything else.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2

“His Majesty desires and loves courageous souls… Do not let your soul and spirit shrink, for you may lose many benefits… Do not let your soul hide in a corner, because then instead of striving for sanctity you will simply come up with other imperfections and many more of them.”

Teresa of Ávila in The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself 13.2-3.

The header photo above gives you my view at L4, the The Fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul, South Korea. It’s a joy to participate in meetings with more than 5,000 influential Christian workers.

My small table is a slice of heaven. I am sitting with three men and two women from Saudi Arabia, Poland, India, Lebanon, and USA. Delegates at the event represent more than 200 nations.

Each one of these participants has a choice, as well as you, reading this somewhere around the world, has a choice today after reading this post.  You can choose to strive for sanctity with courage or you can let your soul hide in a corner.

Today, with David the Psalmist, I want to remind you of the benefits that come to us when we strive for sanctity. When we set ourselves apart and aim to live every single minute of every day for God.

Rather than make a list, soak in the entire Psalm today. Enjoy Psalm 103. And strive for sanctity with courage.

1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.