Francois Fénelon - Talking With God

TALKING WITH GOD

FRANOIS FNELON

Foreword by Robert J. Edmonson, CJ

REVISED TRANSLATION

EDITED BY HAL M. HELMS AND ROBERT J. EDMONSON, CJ

PARACLETE PRESS

BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS

Talking with God

2009 First Printing

Copyright 2009 by The Community of Jesus, Inc.

ISBN 978-1-55725-645-4

Scripture quotations designated NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations designated RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission.

Scripture quotations designated NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations designated KJV are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations designated VULGATE are from the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fnelon, Franois de Salignac de La Mothe-, 1651-1715.

[Selections. English. 2009]

Talking with God / Franois Fnelon ; translated and edited by Hal M. Helms and Robert J. Edmonson.

p. cm. (Paraclete essentials)

Includes bibliographical references (p. ).

ISBN 978-1-55725-645-4

1. Spiritual lifeCatholic Church. I. Helms, Hal McElwaine. II . Edmonson, Robert J. III . Title.

BX2350.3.F46A25 2009

248.4dc22

2008052678

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Paraclete Press
Brewster, Massachusetts
www.paracletepress.com

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

CHAPTERS

D o you find yourself longing for a two-way relationship with God? My own journey with the heavenly Father has taken me from hearing others talk about God, to listening to God, to talking to God myself, and eventually to begin opening my heart to an ongoing dialogue with God. Along the way, I have been challenged and encouraged by the writings of Fnelon.

Decades after first discovering the penetrating counsels of Franois Fnelon, I continue to discover how timeless is their guidance. My work as editor and translator of The Complete Fnelon required hundreds of hours poring over Fnelons letters, meditations on themes from Scripture, and studies on important days in the church year. In doing so, I once again marveled at the example Fnelon set in his own life.

While today we read about the lifestyles of the superrich and the growing disparity between the wealthy and the poor, we can only gasp at the grotesque extravagance of the seventeenth-century French court at Versailles under the Sun King, Louis XIV. Inconceivable opulence, accompanied by rampant immorality and abysmal ethics, amidst the grinding poverty of the masses, helped sow the seeds of the hatred toward aristocrats that would explode during the French Revolution.

And yet, in the midst of the self-indulgence of the French court, a small group of courtiers were attempting to put the Christian life into everyday practice. Many of them took as their spiritual counselor Franois Fnelon, the tutor to the kings grandson and a cleric who devoted his life to bringing himself low before God. Fnelons letters of spiritual counsel to members of the court were gathered and have been treasured for centuries.

Fnelons unswerving faithfulness to God brought him into conflict with the king and led to his banishment to the northern diocese of Cambrai, where as archbishop he devoted himself to improving the lot of the clergy and the faithful. Letters asking for his counsel continued to flow to him, and his discerning replies helped feed an undercurrent of spiritual life that circulated through the court.

Fnelons letters asked no more of his correspondents than he required first of himself: unflinching acceptance of the divine Surgeons knife, as God touched unyielded places in his heart and brought them into conformity with Gods will. And Gods plan, Fnelon reminds us, is always good. Far from the concept of God solely as divine Judge, a sort of Zeus casting thunderbolts, Fnelon saw God as a loving Father who knows what we need before we ask him. Dear God, he wrote, see my ingratitude, my inconstancy, my infidelity. Take my heart, for I do not know how to give it to you. Give me an inner distaste for external things; give me crosses necessary to bring me back under your yoke. Have mercy on me in spite of myself!

This collection of Fnelons letters was compiled by the late Hal M. Helms, himself a seasoned pastor and counselor to many, and further modernized for this edition. The wisdom it contains is as current today as it was hundreds of years ago. In simple, direct language Fnelon asks us to talk with God, with the simplicity and familiarity of a little child sitting on its mothers knee. I commend it to you. I urge you to read it unhurriedly, prayerfully, repeatedly. Let its timeless counsel penetrate your heart. As you do so, you will join millions of others before you who have found peace and strength for their journey through the childlike simplicity of talking with God.

Robert J. Edmonson, CJ

H ow does one hear God? The Bible speaks over and over again about listening and hearing his voice. The psalmist said, Our God comes, he does not keep silence. Hear, O my people, and I will speak. Yet for the most part, do we expect to hear him speak to us?

Fnelon has been a trusted counselor for myriads of Christians for more than three centuries. He came to believe strongly that God is a living, active presence and voice in the Christians life. He did not hesitate to give the wisest word he knew to those who asked his advice. He was frank in sharing his own difficulties and struggles as life dealt him unexpected and difficult blows. But out of that crucible of suffering and misunderstanding, he listened for Gods word, Gods will, Gods message to him.

More often than not, God is speaking to us in the socalled circumstances of life. If we look at them on a merely human plane, we may become confused, discouraged, and totally disillusioned with life. Self-pity and accusation of others may be our daily bread. If we look at them as being part of Gods loving dealing with us, weaning us away from what is false, binding us more firmly to what is eternal, we begin to hear Gods word coming through these conditions.

This compilation of Fnelons letters and words of counsel can encourage us as it has generations before, to listen and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.