‘We were meant to live in joy. This does not mean that life will be easy or painless. It means that we can turn our faces to the wind and accept that this is the storm we must pass through. We cannot succeed by denying what exists. The acceptance of reality is the only place from which change can begin.’ Words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his bestselling ‘Book of Joy’ co-authored by the Dalai Lama.
In every age God raises up saints in stormy times with a special gift of joy and today’s Saint is such a man. Philip Neri was a priest in the 16th century known for his humour, compassion and joy. Hoping to go to India, Philip was guided instead to re-evangelize a corrupt and decadent Rome. He is remembered as the "Apostle of Rome" and for his teaching that ‘a joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one’. Philip Neri was born in Florence in 1515. At the age of eighteen he went to Rome, and earned his living as a tutor. He undertook much-needed charitable work among the young men of the city, and started a brotherhood to help the sick poor and pilgrims out of which came the Oratorian foundations spread across the world up to this day.
People flocked to Philip Neri for advice. Fearing hero worship, he went out of his way to do ridiculous things as a reminder that any help he could give came from beyond him. On occasion, when he was a speaker somewhere, he shaved half his beard off to look a fool and remind his hearers not to respect someone who was no wiser – and no less sinful – than they were. The point of his many pranks was to combat pride, or melancholy, as well as that hero-worship which he never fully overcame as we keep his feast today! Very many of the saints, not just St Philip, have a terror of being looked up to. They know their imperfections better than anyone else, and being revered by other people is doubly bad. It is bad for the others, who should be revering God instead, and for themselves, because they might be tempted to believe their own image and believe themselves to be worthy.
Philip gave this advice: ‘First let a little love find entrance into their hearts, and the rest will follow. To preserve our cheerfulness amid sicknesses and troubles, is a sign of a right and good spirit’. He lived in joy and is known as the Saint of joy in the spirit of Psalm 16 verse 11: ‘in God’s presence there is joy for evermore’. Living in joy is a sign of living close to God. It is said that when some of his more pompous penitents made their confession to him Philip imposed deflating penances on them, such as walking through the streets of Rome carrying his cat. When a novice showed signs of excessive seriousness, Philip stood on his head in front of him, to make him laugh.
How do we emulate St Philip? We should not be afraid to make fools of ourselves so as to make plain we live as much in need of mercy as the next man or woman.
We can’t all stand on our heads or carry cats but we can experience the love of God through prayer, scripture and sacrament.
In that way we can live with an outward, joyous focus turned away from inner melancholy.
‘Two men looked through prison bars. One saw mud and one saw stars’.
At the prayer of St Philip may we look more to the Lord, welcome his radiance, love and joy and become more and help cheer up the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment