8 Vol. LX, No. 1 Magnificat there at once. And the Gospel says – the words are crucial – King Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. My dear brothers and sisters, beware! Is it for the glory of God that you become troubled? Normally, the glory of God does not trouble anyone. It fills men with zeal, but it does not trouble them. When we are willing to follow our King, we are not troubled. When the soul is troubled, that does not come from God. If the trouble is not from God, then where is it from? From the ego, the me. When the ego is offended, humans get troubled. Herod is troubled, all Jerusalem is troubled. The King has just been born, they are troubled. The Son of God comes into this world, they are troubled, because they are not disposed to follow Him. Conversely, when we are disposed to follow our King, to take the Royal Road, we are not troubled. The Kings were not troubled because they were upright souls. They went to find Jesus in the simplicity of their heart, without any devious thoughts. When we are motivated by all sorts of devious thoughts, when we take crooked paths, we are led by our pride. We are not disposed to follow our King. We are troubled by all sorts of little withdrawals into ourselves, often unacknowledged. These are almost always little vanities that we do not want to give up. When you feel trouble invading your heart, do not look to the side, and rather than blaming it on others, examine your heart well, under the eye of God: “My God, if I am troubled, it is because something in me is not in conformity with You, my King.” Our King gives us beautiful lessons, and it is interesting to point them out. In this royal year, you will go over His lessons. Here is another example from our dear Jesus: The Gospel9 tells us that one day, 9. Cf. Rev. Can. Alfred Weber, The Four Gospels in One (Éditions Magnificat: Mont-Tremblant, 2006), pp. 174-177. Narrative taken from St. Matthew 14:13-36; St. Mark 6:30-56; St. Luke 9:10-17; St. John 6:1-21. Jesus had spoken at length to the multitude about the Kingdom of God. The day had begun to decline, evening was at hand. Jesus had pity on the people, and He said to the Apostles: “They are hungry. Have you anything to give them to eat?” They found a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish. And with five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus fed the multitude. The Gospel relates that there were about five thousand men, not counting the women and children. There were a lot of people! Add at least as many women, and it amounts to ten thousand. And add as many children and we reach fifteen thousand. It is very likely there were many more, but let us keep this conservative figure of around fifteen thousand people. The crowd was enthusiastic. Jesus spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, as He knew how to do so well. He multiplied the loaves. The reaction of the multitude was to have Him proclaimed king. “See what He does! He is indeed the Son of David foretold by the prophets; He is the One we have been waiting for.” It is plainly written in the Gospel: the multitude wanted to proclaim Him king. Then Jesus tells His Apostles to leave: “Go, return to the other side of the lake.” Meanwhile, Jesus dismisses the crowd: “It is a little too late for ceremonies. You may withdraw.” He Himself retires to the mountain, and He prays. What a lesson! This is not the kind of King He wants to be, His Kingdom is not of this world.10 God permitted this entire scenario to teach us, we who are so vain. Most humans seize the slightest occasion of vanity to raise themselves up and enhance their image. We find profit in the least little vainglory, we feed on it. There are a few exceptions to this temptation, notably the Saints, including our deceased saints. I was telling our friends about Father Sylvio,11 10. Cf. St. John 18:36. 11.Father Sylvio du Cœur de l’Immaculée, O.D.M. (19342021), born Sylvio Salvas, who passed away in the odor of sanctity in Guadeloupe, where he was a missionary.
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