The Mom Weekly Volume 84: March 18, 2025
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the website here.
Notes
I had a 75 percent finished draft of a meditation on a Rich Mullins song, but there is no way that me on Monday evening (when I am writing this) could reasonably get it to anywhere in the ballpark of 100 percent. That’s because of the last few days of moving, which have been fun, but also draining! Similar to “how many motors do you have?” I have about 7/100 brain cells working.
So I went looking in the “vault” for a good second week of Lent writing. I just scrolled through a bit, and skimmed this one and thought, here we go! Not for the first time do I thank my younger self for taking the time to write a reflection so today’s me could have a break.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
St. John Vianney, pray for us (From the Vault, February 2010)
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils,” write C.S. Lewis in his preface to The Screwtape Letters. “One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
The Screwtape Letters—imaginary letters from an elder demon to his demon-in-training on ways to tempt a human— is one of my favorite Lewis works. I have it on my reading list for Lent, and while I hadn’t read the book in a long time, (I hadn’t opened it this Lent, which is still very young…), the book, and this quote in particular, kept coming to mind last night as I watched (along with members of our parish) a drama about the life of St. John Vianney performed at our local cathedral.
While everyone else around me—including some I love and hold in friendship—enthused about its drama and quality, I have to confess it I was underwhelmed. In fact, I was put off, to say the least, by the way the devil became a character—arguably the most compelling—in the creative vision of the artist, who I believe is sincere and loves God and His Church.
I hesitate to critique someone who I believe is in good faith trying to tell an exciting story about the life of this great saint, but I think it missed the mark by a wide margin. I think others may have had a different reaction to experiencing this drama, but I wanted to put out my thoughts as an alternative vision. The devil is too strong of a character in this drama, and it can lead us to what Lewis calls “an unhealthy interest.” Is that worse than disbelieving? No, because there is an enemy to our souls. But ultimately we have nothing to fear because we belong to Jesus.
St. John Vianney, the beloved Cure of Ars, was known for hearing confessions for up to 16 hours a day. He had a gift for “reading” souls. There are so many good stories about St. John Vianney–the one of him consoling a wife whose husband committed suicide by saying, “His soul is safe in purgatory, and you should pray for him. From the bridge to the water, he repented.” And yes, there were the stories of him being tormented by demons and kept awake, but they were just part of his life, of his good work and tireless effort on behalf of his flock. His life was really for Jesus, not simply against the devil.
Before this drama, if I had one word to describe St. John Vianney, I would have said, and still say, “confession.” But I think many people leaving that drama would say—and properly based on the dramatization, because it was the center of the “struggle” in the play—”devil” . That’s a bad exchange, and one I think would not be pleasing to St. John Vianney.
It took a long discussion with Sir when I returned from the play last night, some reflection time, and comparing it with my lived experience and knowledge of St. John Vianney, to order my thoughts.
What I would encourage for others—even related to this kind of religious drama that we are perhaps encouraged to accept uncritically -is that one can and should still filter out what is not helpful to a healthy spiritual journey, just like one would when reading a novel or seeing a movie. Some may find it edifying and helpful, but many may not, and there is nothing wrong in that, and in admitting that.
This is one artist’s vision for a dramatization of the life of St. John Vianney, not “the life of St. John Vianney.” We are free to leave behind what is unhelpful, in the same way we can be attracted to the lives of certain saints and not to others. There’s a lot of room—for our own personality to shine forth in the experience and life of our faith. It’s not called the Catholic (which means “universal”) Church for nothing. And thank the Good Lord for that.
Marriage Article of the Week:
The happiest couples use 2 phrases when talking about money, says self-made millionaire–CNBC
Excuse the dumb headline, but this is a solid article featuring Ramit Sehti, who wrote “I Will Teach You to be Rich” and “Money for Couples.” These are quite helpful books about automating your savings and more. I met him at the 2019 FinCon and was impressed with how he explains money mindsets and the importance of planning.
The two phrases are
“What’s our rich life?”
And “in this family, we….”
The meaning of “What’s our rich life?” is: understanding what matters to you and what doesn’t, and then aligning your spending with that. Basically, what would make us happy to spend money, time, and resources on? And how can we make sure to do more of that?
And “In the this family, we …” means having a family culture that values certain things—and therefore spends money on them—and doesn’t value others. I can think of a few for our family! In this family, we think seeing and visiting family members is worth a good bit of our time and resources. In this family, we give extra money to charity during Lent and Advent. In this family, we believe the 1995 BBC “Pride & Prejudice” is superior by many degrees to any other version. In this family, we believe everything tastes better after a hike. 🙂
This is actually a fun thought experiment. Give it a try!
An Action Item: Celebrate St. Joseph’s Day Tomorrow!
Here’s my recipe for savoiardi, that I posted last year. I am making them right now, and they are being enjoyed!
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