To call Camillus, a Contemplative almost sounds like a contradiction.  One doesn’t normally associate St. Camillus with contemplation.  Just like one would not necessarily think of St. Peter or St. Paul as contemplatives.  Camillus is seen more as a powerhouse of activity and yet the energy fueling his activity comes from deep within his being, a being fixed on Jesus as his compass or his GPS (Global Positioning System).

Camillus was both a thinker and a feeler, a doer and an imaginative person.  He knew how to climb the mountain into the heights of contemplation and how to descend into the valley of tears, darkness, death and guilt.

Camillus was like riding in a carriage with two horses with each pulling in the opposite direction.

Camillus could be busy all of the time, seven days of the week, 24 hours of the day.

He knew that people could drain him, and so he needed to defend himself against physical and emotional exhaustion by going before his favorite crucifix and pouring out all of his troubles and listening for Jesus’ words such as “this is my work, not yours,” which is what he heard on one occasion when he was so frustrated with his own followers.

Camillus, the man, was a dynamo of activity whose heart beat in union with the sick and dying, but he too had to flee to a mountain top to get away from all the commotion and demands of the sick who were needy and critical at times.

Camillus insisted upon being at the side of the dying even if they spat in his face.

At times it seemed Camillus got irritated at religious who spent too much time before the Blessed Sacrament or in the chapel.  It was like they were trying to escape from their responsibilities, their duties.

They were in effect loafers under the guise of praying and that just irritated him to no end. 

Camillus was a mover and shaker in his time.  He was also practical and down to earth. 

Contemplation of the crucified Jesus was the fuel that drove him.  Physical stamina was a gift he had, and he put it to good use.  He was the Good Shepherd caring for his sheep, the lost and hurting wherever he might find them

He, too, knew rejection and dejection and knew them from inside because he had experienced them.  He, too, had walked the way of loneliness but knew where to find solace before the crucifix.

If he didn’t take time out for contemplation, he could have been running around on “empty” and would have wound up going in circles.  He needed to get prayer replenished by the scriptures and by the sacraments.

The Church recognizes the twofold aspects of the religious life.  In a post-concilian document that is after Vatican II, stated that “in the case of religious of apostolic life, it will be a question of promoting integration between interiority and activity.  Their first duty, in fact, is that of being with Christ.  A constant danger for apostolic workers, is to become so much involved in their work for the Lord as to forget the Lord of all work.

In a later document “Perfectae Caritatis” it is said “In order, therefore, that the members may first answer their call to follow Christ and to serve Christ himself in his members, their apostolic activity must have its source in intimate union with him.  It is such that the very love for God and their neighbor is fortified.

Even the Code of Canon Law says “Apostolic actions must always flow from an intimate union with God and at the same time must consolidate and favor it.”

In reading over some of St. Camillus’ letters, it seems as though he is often in a rush and so cannot write too much.

He often prays at the end of his letters: May the Lord make you a saint.  We might add, and how about yourself.

Most of the letters that I read were of a practical nature, nothing lofty or too heady or theological.

Camillus stayed close to the ground, and some might even say, based on some things St. Camillus said like “I am not pleased to see someone in the hospital chapel under the pretext of not wanting to be distracted from deep interior prayer, remaining as though enchanted, in a trance and unable to move themselves.  I am not pleased with this union because the highest perfection, as long as we have the time, consists in doing good to the poor, to help them and to become God to God since there will be plenty of time for us to contemplate him in Paradise.”  (St. Camillus’ Thoughts by Antonio Crotti)

On other occasions, he would say that a person cannot persevere in good without the practice of prayer, and it is necessary to pray always and never grow tired.  Woe to that religious who is content only with the hour of mental prayer in the morning (St. Camillus’ Thoughts pg. 26).

And elsewhere he said, “It is necessary that we never lose sight of God but always contemplate the Creator in the creature.” (St. Camillus’ Thoughts pg. 14)

Loftiness was not something that Camillus indulged in.  He was a man up and about nearly all of the time because he saw the needs of the sick and dying with a sharp eye.

Mysticism was not Camillus’ cup of tea, and yet he always made a connection between the sick and Jesus himself.  If he ever felt irritated, I suspect he followed the saying that there are two times one should keep their mouth shut, the first when you are under water and the second when you are angry.

Camillus’ Ten Commandments can’t help but be a means for contemplation.  Like his 1^st Commandment, Jesus says honor the dignity and sacredness of my person.  That commandment in itself can’t help but carry us into the spiritual realm.

The 2^nd Commandment “Serve me as an affectionate and tender mother, with all your imagination, with all your power and with all your time.”

As Mary rushed to the aid of her cousin Elizabeth, so Camillus urged us to think creatively about how to serve the needs of the sick and dying.

The 3^rd Commandment was to remember to forget yourself.  Plunge in, don’t hesitate or calculate.  That doesn’t mean we should be impulsive like St. Peter in jumping the gun but it does mean that we should be selfless and be focused on serving the legitimate needs of others.

The 4^th Commandment says “Do not take the name of charity in vain.  Speak of your preferences for me with your feet, with your knees and above all with your hands.”  In other words, don’t let it be all words, let it take on reality in the here and now.

That is the challenge we all face as care givers to the sick and dying and especially those of us who are Camillians.

May the Lord help us to live up to our calling. Amen.