After a short sabbatical, Fenelon Friday is back, where we drink from the very deep well of my favorite 17th century French Bishop in the Catholic Church. 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 lived.
Self-Love
You are too self-conscious. You also let your feelings guide you too much. As soon as prayer stops bringing you deep comfort, you become discouraged. Do you want to find peace? Be less infatuated with yourself, and more concerned with pleasing God.
Self-love will let you become sentimental about yourself and overly concerned with your problems. You will find yourself spending all your time worrying about your troubles. Soon all this worry will cloud over the sense of God’s presence in your life, and then you will really be depressed. Paul said, “I do not judge myself.” Take his advice and you will do well. Give God a free reign to work within you, and then don’t spend all your time being introspective.
God will show you what displeases Him and all you have to do is simply turn away from what is unworthy of your Beloved. Stop being so taken up with yourself!
Your old nature wants to be perfect. It will push you in every way to be an outstanding Christian. Please avoid this trap. Simply follow the Lord. You do not need to see yourself as wise, strong, and virtuous. Just be a little child.
Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon, The Seeking Heart, p. 105.
