A message from Salesian Life and Campus Ministry:

"Bees make delicious honey and it is their chief work and most valuable product, but for all the wax that is also made does not cease to have value and to render their work laudable.  A loving heart ought to endeavor to fervently bring forth works of high value so that it may powerfully increase its own charity; still if it sometimes produces works of lesser value, it will not lose its reward. God is pleased with them." Saint Francis de Sales

May is here and with it, our confidence that true spring is emerging. For many, a new month brings new routines and schedule shifts. Often this translates to adding to dos to an already long list. In the midst of busy days and full calendars, we can look to Saint Francis de Sales for advice and spiritual guidance. Saint Francis draws on nature to teach us about God’s ever present love in our busyness.

God opens our hearts to his love and charity in our daily encounters as we interact and go about our days. We, like busy bees, make both honey and wax! One a sweet reward of work, and the other a useful product. It is during the making of both honey and beeswax that Saint Francis encourages us to slow down, extract the sweetness of the present moment, no matter what the task, and remind ourselves of God’s presence. It is in the ordinary, not just the extraordinary moments, that we have an opportunity to practice our Salesian virtues and grow in God’s grace, while at the same time delivering a sweetness, a balm, or the way to light.

As we buzz through the remainder of the school year, let us remember that all of our work, both sweet and waxy, yields a worthwhile outcome.  

Sources:

Adapted from Treatise on the Love of God, Saint Francis de Sales