A Priest once complained to Blessed Francis of the thorns besetting his
path in life, of the difficulties of his holy calling, of the anxieties
inseparable from it, but chiefly of the intractableness of stiff-necked
Christians, who refuse to submit to the easy yoke of Jesus Christ, and to
do what their duty requires. The Bishop replied that their obstinacy was
not so much to be wondered at as the weakness of their Pastors who were so
easily discouraged and impatient, just because they saw that the seed sown
by their labours did not forthwith produce the plentiful harvest they
desired.
"The peasant is not blamed for failing to reap an abundant harvest, but
only for not carefully cultivating his field, and for not doing all that
is necessary to make his land productive. Discouragement is a mark of
excessive love of self and of zeal unaccompanied by knowledge.
"The best lesson for those who have the care of souls, is that which the
Apostle gives to all in the person of one: _Preach the word: be instant
in season and out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and
doctrine._[1]
"In this text the word _patience_ is the key to the whole mystery, for
patience has its perfect work when it is accompanied by charity, which is
patient, kind, and is the virtue by which we possess our souls in peace."
The charge of souls means having to bear with the weak, for the strong
are able to go on by themselves in their progress towards what is good.
Our holy Bishop explained this by two beautiful similitudes: "The plumage
of birds is heavy, and yet without this load they could neither raise
themselves from the ground nor hover in the air. The burden borne by holy
souls is like a load of cinnamon, which, by its perfume invigorates him who
carries it. So souls which are weak serve to make their Pastors, who bear
the burden of them, rise on wings towards Heaven, and on earth to run in
the way of God's commandments."
The other comparison Is this: "Notice," he said, "a shepherd driving a
flock of sheep: if one of them breaks a leg the shepherd at once takes
it on his shoulders to carry it back to the fold, and this single one
is certainly a heavier load than all the rest together, who go along of
themselves. In like manner souls which of themselves advance in the way
of God afford little occasion for their Pastors to exercise care and
vigilance. It is of the faulty and intractable they have chiefly to think,
St. Bernard says that the care of souls is not a care of the strong, but of
the infirm, for if any one helps thee more than he is helped by thee, know
that thou art not his father but his equal."
Even the prophets complain of men of obstinate and rebellious hearts. To
work among them is to go down to the sea in ships and to do our business in
great waters, for these waters are God's people with whom we have to deal.
[Footnote 1: 2 Tim. iv. 2.]