THE SIMPLE MESSAGE OF BLESSED FATHER SEELOS' LIFE

Blessed Francis did not make a great impression on the world at large; nor even was he remarkable, as ecclesiastical historians consider it, in the history of the Church at large. However, on the ordinary level of Catholic life he did much and he has much to offer and to say to the modern world, even though he died so long ago in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Simply put, his message goes like this: If you want to be happy, try to be holy; if you want to be very happy, try to be very holy. It's as simple as that. His very happy life was a perfect example of the midst of difficult and trying times, because he always tried to keep close to God and to the Blessed Mother; he always tried to be very holy.

The Church tells us that Blessed Francis practiced the Christian virtues in an heroic degree, but where are the heroics? There aren't any. That's the message of his life. Father Seelos tells us that you do not have to do the things that the world in general, or show-time, says are great and heroic. All you have to do is live your life, as God has ordained it for you, in the best way you know how and every day.

Everyone can do that: married or single; homemaker, office worker, carpenter, salesman - everyone. The heroics consist in doing it all the time and to please God. That's the way Father Seelos did it. He was just a simple priest who every day of his life tried to be holy, tried to do God's will wherever that might lead him, tried to do what he could for others, especially the most needy. He tried to be like Jesus all the time. And because he did this, he was happy, very happy, always happy.

That's his word to you: Be holy, be happy!

from "A Life of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos" by Fr Carl Hoegerl, C.Ss.R. (Liguori)

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