Spirituality of Struggle
Feast of St. Francis Xavier Saturday, 3 December 2005 Is there a better day to contemplate on the truth of Christian spirituality regarding “struggle”? By this word I mean how we are confronted by the realisation of our own inadequacy in dealing with all sorts of problems, challenges, trials, misfortunes, difficulties and all their synonyms that might beset us in daily life. The story of St. Francis, the missionary to the Far East, who did not succeed conventionally in his lifetime, is one of a struggle to persevere. The Far East is not to be won over without great struggle, as ancient roots lie deep. It is an old problem, but each day, and each moment as we experience it, all the wisdom of the sages and collective human knowledge seems forgotten as we are plighted by this great wall that blocks all our senses. To the secular minded, it is a war of the senses, where faculties of intellect and genius is summoned to besiege the problem and over come it. It was St. Francis de Sales of Ann...