The Reformation was 50 years old when St. Francis de Sales was born in 1567. He was the son of an aristocratic family in the duchy of Savoy, which bordered France, Italy, and Switzerland. He was educated as a lawyer and was set to become a senator and married to an heiress of Savoy when he declared his intentions to become a priest. Although initially opposed by his father, the bishop of Geneva obtained for him a high position in the diocese, which satisfied his father. At the age of 35 he became bishop of the Diocese of Geneva, which had become Calvinist during the Reformation.
Calvinism taught that God predestined those who were going to heaven and those who were going to hell before the universe was created. According to John Calvin, God's sovereign will could not be stopped and no one could oppose what God had chosen for us. This heresy against the gift of free will is what Francis faced, but he did so with kindness, learning, zeal, and holiness, so much so that he has been titled Doctor of Charity. He also wrote extensively making him the patron saint of writers and journalists.
God gives all of us the gift of heaven through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection. But God does not force us to love him. Nor does he force us to sin against him. We have free will that allows us to respond to his love with love, or hate. It is a great gift to be free, to be able to love, to be able to do God's will. With this gift we may win others to Christ by our love of him and of them as St. Francis de Sales demonstrated.
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