What is devotion? St Francis de Sales tells us, "Devotion is the very real love of God." Jesus says, "Whoever loves me, keeps my commandments." Thus, devotion is not simply to keep the commandments, but to rejoice in following the law of God, to find one's great joy in the keeping of the commandments.
Yet, even as the body has many parts (as St Paul reminds us in the second reading of today's Mass), so too every member of the Church has his own particular vocation and state in life. Devotion means fulfilling God's commandments in the particular details of each one's circumstances and state in life.
We all want to become more devout, we all want to more joyfully fulfill God's commandments. But how do we grow in holiness? Who will guide us? I propose to you, as your personal spiritual director, St Francis de Sales, and his classic book, "Introduction to the Devout Life."
If you have not already read "Introduction to the Devout Life," I would encourage you to set everything else aside and read this book. Read from it every day, read it two hundred times! I have found no other book to be as helpful to me as a priest, and St Francis de Sales has been for me a dear friend and spiritual father.
In this sermon, I give an overview of the book, and also offer a few points to help you appreciate the book all the more.
Listen online [here]!
