Every Friday is Fenelon Friday, where we drink from the very deep well of my favorite 17th century French Bishop in the Catholic Church. (Everyone should have a little Fenelon with their coffee in the morning…) Francois de Salignac de La 
Mothe-Fenelon (born 1651) was a mentor to a number of younger men on the court of Louis XIV. In fact, he was given the responsibility of raising the young man who would proceed Louis XIV to the throne of France (the King’s grandson). Many of Fenelon’s writings are actually letters he wrote to some of these young leaders as they sought to walk the life of faith in the face of opposition and adversity. Fenelon’s teachings were met with resistance within the Catholic Church because they aligned more with Reformation teachings than with Catholic dogma at times, and his hope was that once his student became the King of France, he would be instrumental in the reformation of the Catholic Church and bring a real witness of Jesus Christ to France. Those hopes were dashed in 1712 with the premature death of the King’s grandson. Fenelon died not long after that in 1715 at the age of 63, but his teachings live on and continue to influence 300 years after he died.
Preserving Peace with Others
To be really pleased even with the best persons, we must be satisfied with little and we must bear with much. The most perfect people have many imperfections. We also have imperfections, and great ones. Our faults, joined to theirs, make our bearing with each other very difficult. But bear one another’s burdens, and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ. we must make a charitable allowance in this matter. Frequent silence, habitual recollection, prayer, detachment from ourselves, renunciation of all the carefully crafted criticisms, faithfulness in abandoning all vain judgments of a jealous and fastidious self-love - all these things tend very much to preserve peace and union with God. We spare ourselves much trouble by this simplicity. Happy are those who pay no attention to self-love, and who pay no attention to the criticism of others.
Content yourself with leading a simple life according to your circumstances. For the rest, obey the Lord and bear your little daily crosses. You need them, and God gives them to you only out of pur mercy. The great thing is to make light of yourself sincerely, and to consent to be made light of by others if God permits it. Nourish yourself with him alone. St. Augustine says that his mother lived only by prayer. We also are to live by prayer and die to all the rest. We can live to God only by a continual death to self.
Francois Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon, Talking With God, pp.133-134.
I think it’s that first sentence that always trips me up. To be “satisfied with little, and bear with much” - ugh… that just doesn’t satisfy my flesh like I often want it to! To bear with much must mean that we give much grace, overlook faults and harsh words, listen more than talk, wait patiently for the Spirit to do His work… I know that God has shown me “forbearance” in so many countless ways… withholding the judgment and scrutiny my words and actions have so rightly deserved. But when it’s my turn to show someone forbearance, sometimes it takes every ounce of energy I can muster! O God, may I live these wise words of Fenelon,perserving peace with others, not giving to the cravings and longings of my self-love which seeks to preserve my position, reputation and standing. But caring only for Your glory as it is revealed when your children live in peace with each other because of Christ’s work on the cross for all of us.
