What I Give You

You’re familiar with acronyms: abbreviations formed from the initial letters of other words. One of my favorites is BIBLE (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). One that I shared with a former college student who was late to my lecture is LIFE (Learning Is Fun and Exciting). That same student responded with her own acronym: CLASS (Come Late And Start Sleeping). And for the season of Lent, I am fond of the acronym WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get).

WYSIWYG was originally used to describe computer printouts that matched the computer screen exactly. Lent can be a time when we evaluate how WYSIWYG we are. Does our heart match the output of our actions? Is the faith we profess visible in the life we live? In Part III of the Introduction to the Devout Life, Saint Francis de Sales writes, “If the Dear Lord dwells within your heart, He will live in your every action.”

We want to be WYSIWYG. We want our lives to reflect what we believe in every way. But what if we come to the realization that they do not? In his Treatise on the Love of God, Saint Francis reminds us, “If we do not find our soul’s progress and advance in the devout life to be such as we would like, let us not be disturbed, let us abide in peace, so that tranquility may always reign in our hearts.” Saint Francis counsels patience with ourselves as well as sincere contrition and the firm resolve to do better.

In this tranquility, we find that the Grace of God will enable us to try again and again and again to get closer to our desire to live our faith, to be WYSIWYG. Lent is a time to recommit and say, “Jesus Christ, What You See Is What I Give (WYSIWIG), my entire heart.”

Father Robert Rutledge, OSFS

Pastor of Holy Infant Catholic Church, Durham, NC