"First, I assure you, my dearest sister, that you could not do better in order to succeed in your governance and direction than to keep yourself closely united to God by perfect obedience as you live out your Rule.
Because, if your good example does not speak along with you, the remonstrance you make will be fruitless. One cannot give to others what ones does not have oneself.
So you must be zealous about your own perfection and closely united to God so that your good example will attract your sisters to their own duty."
- St. Jane de Chantal
Filling Your Spiritual Cup
By Lisa Trapani Stacy, Director of Christian Service
Life is full of routines, we all have them. One of my daily routines is to make a cup of coffee before leaving the house. I like my coffee a certain way, hot, very sweet and with cream. It is my perfect cup of coffee. It makes me very happy to share that perfect cup. Whether the person I am sharing it with likes it the same way or very different, it is in the sharing that we find the most joy. However, that cup must be full to be able to share it.
This image of my coffee cup being full is the image that comes to mind when I read this quote. However, I believe St. Jane de Chantal is referring to the metaphorical spiritual cup that we all hold. The cup that needs to remain full is the one with the goodness of our Lord and our unity with him.
I recall a few years ago sitting in a chapel, feeling hollow.My ministry with the youth was going well; I was leading retreats, and accompanying our young people in their journey towards Christ. So why was I feeling so vacant? I was doing what I thought was all the right things.As I sat there, tears running down my face, a priest friend of mine came, sat next to me, put his arm around me, and asked what was wrong. After explaining it to him, he simply said, "Your own cup is not full, you cannot give to others what you do not have. Don't be so busy filling everyone else's cup that you forget to fill your own." Obviously, words I will never forget.
The coffee is the Lord's love, the way you prepare it & share with others is your authentic self. We would not want to give to others something that was not of good taste. They would not want it again. As with our ministries, we do not want to share anything less than our best because we want them to taste the true goodness of the Lord.
God calls us all differently to minister to others and we must respond with a resounding, "Yes!" To do so fill your spiritual cup with your own perfection, your authentic self, who God created you to be. God calls us to be apostolic, to share the love of the Lord.How can we share something we do not have? We must keep our cup full, so we can share with others.
As you sit down to your routine cup of coffee or tea in the morning, let us be reminded that the true cup that we are called to keep full and share is our spiritual cup. This is the cup that brings us to eternal life. If we can fill our spiritual cup daily with our perfect example of our authentic self and with the blessings of our Lord, then we have our perfect spiritual cup with plenty to share. What a way to start each day!
Prayer of St. Francis de Sales
Lord, I am yours, and I must belong to no one but you.
My soul is yours and must live only by you.
My will is yours, and must love only for you.
I must love you as my first cause, since I am from you.
I must love you as my end and rest, since I am for you.
I must love you more than my own being, since my being subsists by you.
I must love you more than myself, since I am all yours and all in you.
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Special thanks to Cecilia Kane '16 for the banner photo.