Dear Fran, You\u2019ll never become a mature Christian (or a mature person, for that matter) if you don\u2019t learn to control your emotions.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean eliminate them; I don\u2019t mean repress them; I mean control them, train them, the way you control a powerful horse with a bridle and bit.\u00a0 Some people tend to get angry easily, some people tend to get sad easily, some people tend to be giddy all the time \u2013 whatever our tendency is, we all need to learn balance, maturity, and self-control.\u00a0 Otherwise, we can never become docile to the Holy Spirit (because he often asks us to act on principles that go deeper than emotions), and without that docility, we get stuck in spiritual infancy.\u00a0 Today\u2019s saint is an example of almost every Christian virtue, but the pivotal point in his journey towards holiness came when he mastered his emotions. You are probably familiar with the story of St Francis \u2013 most people know more about him than about other saints.\u00a0 He was from the central Italian town of Assisi (still one of the gems of Europe, by the way, I hope you get a chance to see it some day), the outgoing and fashionable son of a successful cloth merchant.\u00a0 He cared little for business and less for studies, and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to having a good time with his friends and enjoying the luxurious pleasures that his plentiful pocketbook easily supplied.\u00a0 As he grew to manhood, he became enchanted with the chivalrous ideals of his age, and did his best to embark upon a career as a knight.\u00a0 But sickness intervened, as did the interior nudging of divine grace.\u00a0 He aborted his plans to go off and fight in the wars, and returned to his normal life, but God was at work in his heart, and he was fast falling in love with the heavenly kingdom.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know where that love affair would lead him, but he recognized early on that it required him to discipline his hitherto self-indulgent tendencies.\u00a0 At this juncture, he was riding one day through the plain beneath Assisi when he encountered a leper whose disease was so advanced that the mere sight of his horrific sores violently repulsed Francis.\u00a0 He recognized immediately that this was not a mere chance encounter.\u00a0 Gathering what strength he could to overcome his repugnance, he dismounted and approached the beggar.\u00a0 The poor man stretched out his disfigured hand to receive an alms, and Francis gave him one.\u00a0 At the same time he embraced the leper and kissed him.\u00a0 He had successfully mastered his feelings of revulsion in order to perform a Christian act of charity.\u00a0 Thus began the incomparable and immortal (he founded the Franciscan Order) career of the saint whom history unanimously calls \u201cthe closest image of Christ after Christ himself.\u201d Believe me, my young niece; I know how difficult it is to build up that kind of self-dominion.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do it alone, in fact.\u00a0 But you are not alone \u2013 God is the first one ready and waiting to help you.\u00a0 Stay close to him in prayer and by reading the Gospels and visiting him in the Eucharist, and he will strengthen you for the hardest of fights \u2013 the battle against the tyranny of your own unruly emotions. Prayerfully yours, Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Fran, You\u2019ll never become a mature Christian (or a mature person, for that matter) if you don\u2019t learn to control your emotions.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean eliminate them; I don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n