Day by Day with St. John Baptist de La Salle

August 1st

Darkness and Doubt

I realise that you are in great suffering and I deeply share in your difficulties, but you should not, it seems to me, grieve so much. The profound darkness which you experience is the means which God gives to draw you more surely to himself. You know quite well that

·the more darkness and doubt you experience in your life,

·the more you will live by faith;

and you know that it is faith alone which should motivate the lives and actions of those who belong to God.

If out of twenty actions, there is only one that is good or even only partly good, still it will be so much done for love of God.

(Letters)

Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind, and just. (Ps 112:4)

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August 2nd

Why Reprove?

The result of a wise correction is that those receiving it are disposed to correct their faults, whereas when correction is administered through passion and without God in view, it serves only to turn the disciple against his teacher, and to arouse in him feelings of ill will and revenge which sometimes last a long time.

It then, you want your corrections to have the results they ought to have, administer them in a way that can please God and those who receive them. Take care, above all, that it be
charity and
zeal for the salvation of the souls of your pupils
that lead you to correct them. Show them so much kindness when you give corrections that, though you may cause them pain, they not only will not be angry at you, but will show you gratitude for the good you have done for them.

(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their lives.
(Prov 22: 6)

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August 3rd

Godly Speech

The man whom Jesus Christ cured was both mute and deaf. There are three kinds of mute persons.

The first are those who do not know how to speak to God. The reason for this is that there is no communication between God and them. We learn to speak to God only by listening to him. To know how to speak to God and to converse with him can only come from God, who has his own language which he shares with his friends and confidants.

The second kind of mute persons are those who are unable to speak about God. There are a great many people like this, who rarely think of God and hardly know him, because they are full of the thoughts of the world and worldly amusements. They are as little able to speak about God as newborn children.

The third kind of mute persons are those who cannot speak for God. The gift of tongues is the ability to speak in order to attract souls to God, to procure conversion, and to tell each one what he needs to hear.

Because you are in charge of instructing children, you should make yourself expert in the art of speaking
to God,
about God and
for God.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-11th Sunday After Pentecost)

Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone. (Col 4:6)

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August 4th

St. Dominic(1170-1221)

Compassion For The Poor

One of St. Dominics’ main virtues was his compassion for his neighbour, and especially for the poor. This virtue led him to do penance for the sins of others as well as for his own. It likewise led him
to sell all his property to assist the poor, and
when he was unable to assist them any further,
he wept with compassion.
Seeing a woman who was in great sorrow because her son had been captured by the Moors, he offered to sell himself as a slave, or to exchange places with her son.

You know you are responsible for the instruction of the poor. Imitate the tenderness of this saint toward them and strive to overcome nature when it suggests that you should show more consideration for the rich than for the poor.

Jesus Christ will look upon the good you do to the poor as done to himself.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Give to the poor and you will never be in need. (Prov 28:27)

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August 5th

Our Lady of the Snow

Beyond Compare

It would be of little use to us to be persuaded of our obligation to have a special devotion to Our Lady if we did not know what this devotion includes. Because she is superior to all creatures, we should have a greater devotion for her than for all the other saints. We show our devotion to the saints at certain times and on certain days of the year but the devotion we should have for Our Lady should be continual.

This is why it is of Rule in our Institute

(1)not to let any day go by without reciting the rosary

(2)to celebrate all her feasts with great solemnity

(3)to consider her as the principal patroness of our Society, placing ourselves under her protection at the end of our morning and evening prayers

(4)to invoke her in our most pressing needs as being our first advocate before God after Jesus Christ.

Let us be convinced that all we do to honour Our Lady will be very richly rewarded by God through her.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

She is your mother.(Jn 19:27)

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August 6th

The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Shine Forth

Although the purpose of the Son of God in coming into this world was to suffer for us, yet he was pleased to give some glimpses of his glory, for a short time to three of his apostles. With this in view, he led them to a solitary place on the high mountain.

It was while he was in seclusion and during prayer that Jesus was transfigured. The conversation which he held with Moses and Elias concerned his passion and death which he was going to suffer in Jerusalem.

When he was transfigured, the change which appeared in him was only external. This is not the same with us. The change which must take place in us is internal. We must be entirely transformed

·by the light and fullness of grace and

·by the possession of the Spirit of God.

If any exterior change be noticed in us, it must be as a result of the radiance of the happiness which we experience in the bottom of our heart, because then we will be taken up with God alone and with what we should do for love of him.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. (Mt 5:16)

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August 7th

St. Cajetan(1480-1547)

Work Hard

What Scripture tells us about the ancient Patriarchs can also be said of St. Cajetan, namely, that his days were full and that he died full of days. As soon as he was ordained he devoted himself to the saving of souls such that the day and the night did not seem long enough. He spent all day administering the sacraments, visiting and encouraging the sick, and in other acts of piety, while the greater part of the night was devoted to penance, study and prayer.

Since you are obliged to work for the salvation of your neighbour bring to the exercise of your work the same preparation that St. Cajetan brought to fulfill his ministry well. Therefore,
study your religion,
read good books,
apply yourself to prayer with fervour.
You must learn the truths of religion thoroughly by study, for your ignorance would be criminal, since it would cause ignorance in those whom you instruct.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

We were not lazy when we were with you. Instead, we worked and toiled; we kept working day and night so as not to be an expense to any of you. (2 Thes 3:1-8)

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August 8th

I Am Sorry

It is important to make an act of contrition by asking God’s pardon for all our sins and by making a firm resolution not to commit them any more. This act is able to gain the remission of all our sins according to what David says in Psalm 31:

“I said, I will confess to God my faults, And you have forgiven, O my God, the guilt of my sin.”

This act,

·having been made from the depths of the heart,

and

·with a true determination to abandon our sins,

will make God forget them. They will be even hidden from Him.

That is why, then, in making this act we must above all apply ourselves to asking God for true contrition. After that, we will have this confidence that God will not despise in prayer a contrite and humble heart.
(Mental Prayer)

You are stained red with sin but I will wash you as clean as snow. (Is 1:18)

August 9th

The Milk of Human Kindness

In today’s Gospel Jesus Christ proposes to us an example of Charity.

Charity is kind. Indeed, it is not by
scolding,
murmuring,
complaining about or
quarreling
that we show our love and union. It is by speaking in a kind and affable way. A kind word, says the wise man, turns away wrath, while a harsh reply stirs up fury.

For this reason Our Lord said to his apostles: Blessed are those who show kindness toward others, for they shall possess the land. This means the whole earth, because those who possess the hearts of others do possess the whole earth, which is what persons whose temperament is kind and moderate easily achieve. They gain entry so well into the hearts of those with whom they speak and relate that they win them over little by little.

Ah! what a great advantage it is to learn well and to practise well the lesson given us by Our Lord: Learn of me, for I am kind and humble of heart.

Never speak to anyone except with kindness, and if you fear to speak otherwise, keep silent.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-12th Sunday After Pentecost)

Love one another warmly as Christian brothers, and be eager to show respect for one another. (Rom 12:10)

August 10th

St. Lawrence

Come What May

St. Lawrence showed clearly that his desire for martyrdom was genuine. This he did by expressing joy under torture. The emperor had him tortured with pincers and iron claws, and red hot iron plates were applied to his sides. But seeing that he remained unmoved and even joyful in the midst of his sufferings, the emperor had him stretched out on a gridiron, to roast his body, by a slow fire, in order to see if by such means he would shake his constancy. But this fire, on the contrary, made him rejoice all the more so that when half of his body was roasted, he told the tyrant to have him turned over on his other side, so that being roasted properly, he could make a good meal.

What can we say of such constancy?
Will it provide us with an incentive to encourage us to love suffering?
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. (Jn 12:24)

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August 11th

Your Personal Responsibility

Consider that the account you will have to give to God will not be inconsequential, because it concerns the salvation of the souls of children whom God has entrusted to your care, for on the day of judgment, you will answer for them as much as for yourself.

You must be convinced of this, that God will begin by

·making you give an account of their souls

before

·making you give an account of your own.

For when you took responsibility for them, you committed yourself at the same time to procure their salvation with as much diligence as your own.

Have you up to the present looked upon the salvation of your students as your personal responsibility during the whole time that they are under your guidance? You have exercises that are arranged for your own sanctification, but if you have an ardent zeal for the salvation of those whom you are called to instruct, you will not fail to perform them and to relate them to this intention.

You can be assured that if you act this way for their salvation, God himself will take responsibility for yours. Take on this spirit for the future.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret. (Eccl 12:14)

August 12th

Good Example

It is mainly in communities where good example is most notable that have the most power and efficacy. All those who live there together encourage one another to practise what is most holy and most perfect in the Gospel maxims, because when someone does something good, others feel ashamed not to do it. Moreover, according to an axiom of the philosophers, both the practice and the love of what is right are easily communicated in community to those who have a little good will to do what is right.

Let each of you, therefore, be
encouraged and
motivated
by the example of the more fervent among your brothers.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Keep on imitating me, my brothers. Pay attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you. (Phil 3:17)

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August 13th

St. Cassian

A Most Important Work

The zeal shown by St. Cassian cannot be praised too much. The Emperor Julian the Apostate, had forbidden any Catholic to teach youth. St. Cassian nonetheless thought that he could not take on a work more useful for the Church than that of a schoolteacher. He devoted himself with all possible care to instruct children, and while teaching them reading and writing, he trained them in piety.

The emperor, for his part, was working to destroy religion by destroying schools, and this saint was trying to establish religion through the education of the young.

How often it happens that work which people consider lowly produces much more good than the most brilliant work. Look upon your work as one of the
most important and
most excellent
in the Church, for it is one most able to strengthen it by giving it a solid foundation.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. (Col 1:28)

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August 14th

Come Holy Spirit

It is fitting to beg Our Lord to give us His Spirit in order to make mental prayer only by his guidance. In order to be filled with His Spirit, it is necessary to renounce
our own spirit and
our own thoughts,
so that we will entertain within ourselves during mental prayer, only those which it pleases this Holy Spirit to inspire and communicate to us during this time.

Let us so act that we may put into practice what St. Paul says, that it is the Spirit of God who prays in us. We cannot have of ourselves any good thought as coming from ourselves.

I shall say, therefore, with the Church:

“Come, Holy Spirit, and bring down upon us, from the height of heaven, a ray of your light.”
(Mental Prayer)

No one can say “Jesus is Lord.” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 12:3)

August 15th

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Among Women

The greatest favour that the Most Blessed Virgin received after her death is that she was taken body and soul to heaven. It was quite proper that God grant her such a favour, for without doubt it would not have been fitting that the flesh from which the flesh of Jesus Christ came should suffer corruption. It was, moreover, worthy of God’s goodness that the very special purity of the Blessed Virgin be rewarded by so great a favour.

The special grace we should ask of the Blessed Virgin on this day is

·to be removed and freed from the corruption of the world, and especially

·to have great purity,

which is the true incorruptibility that we should obtain for our bodies. Since the Blessed Virgin possessed this virtue in all its perfection, she can help us very much to preserve it.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. (Rev 12:1)

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August 16th

Temptations To Impurity

The ten lepers who presented themselves to Jesus Christ are figures for us of temptations to impurity, because leprosy is a disease which makes the body unclean and corrupt. The manner in which Our Lord cured the lepers shows us the most sure remedies that we can use to be rid of this trouble.

The lepers cried out in a loud voice to beg Jesus to have compassion on them. This reminds us of what Our Lord says in another place of the Gospel, that the first remedy for impurity and for the temptations that lead to it is to have recourse to prayer. These clamourous, insistent voices are a figure of the fervour and the insistence with which we should pray to obtain the cure of this infirmity.

We cannot ask this of him too often nor with too much earnestness, because this malady is very dangerous and has very unfortunate consequences. If you sometimes feel tormented by impure thoughts,
do not cease imploring God
until you are completely delivered from them.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-13th Sunday After Pentecost)

Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled. (Tit 1:16)

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August 17th

Control Your Senses

The senses are the door through which sin usually enters the soul, and this is why the saints were most careful to curb them.

You should watch so carefully over your senses that you will refrain from using them in whatever has the least appearance of sinfulness, rejecting all that has a look of evil about it.

Furthermore, it is important that you do not allow your senses to dwell indiscriminately on every object that presents itself. Otherwise, you will contract the habit of indulging your sensuality and you will find it very difficult to correct this.

You must of necessity use your senses, but as these may easily be misused, it is most necessary to discipline them.

·The more you do so,

·the more you will enjoy interior peace and

·the more you will know the presence of God.
(Collection)

Be moderate in all that you do and you will be without illness. (Eccl 31:22)

August 18th

Comparisons Are Odious

It is exceedingly rude to speak of yourself all the time, comparing your behaviour with that of others. It is never appropriate to compare yourself with others, or even others with one another; such comparisons are always odious.

Some people are so full of themselves that they are always telling those with whom they converse

·what they themselves have done, or

·what they are doing,
letting them know how highly prized their every word and action should be. For you to carry on this kind of conversation would be most disagreeable and burdensome to others.

To brag or to speak highly of yourself is something which violates decorum, besides being the mark of a small mind. A wise person never speaks about himself except to answer a question. Even then he does so with great moderation and modesty.
(Christian Politeness)

I am Wisdom, I am better than jewels; nothing you want can compare with me. (Prov 8:11)

August 19th

Ill-Bred, Self-Willed,

Delinquent Children

There are some children to whose conduct their parents pay very little attention, sometimes none at all. From morning until evening, they do only what they please.

·They have no respect for their parents.

·They are disobedient.

·They grumble at the least thing.
Sometimes these faults do not come from an evil disposition of heart or mind; they come from having been left to themselves. If they are of a bold and haughty spirit, they should be given some charge or responsibility in school to inspire them with a liking for school. But along with this they must be corrected and brought into line, never allowed to act as they please.

(Conduct of Schools)

So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up. (Heb 12:3)

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August 20th

St. Bernard(1090-1153)

Virtue Will Out

St. Bernard was brought up so well by his mother that in a short time he acquired a solid piety, and displayed all sorts of virtues. These made him known through the whole Church, winning for him the respect of everyone. So high was the esteem he enjoyed that as Abbot of Clairvaux he was followed by a great crowd of people who came to place themselves under his direction.

This made him so venerated by bishops, princes, and the people that no one undertook any important project without coming to him for his advice and judgment.
The more he tried to keep hidden,
the more people came to him.

Virtue cannot hide. When it is seen it draws all hearts. The example it gives makes such a strong impression that those who see it, or hear about it, are led to imitate it.

Is this the effect that your good behaviour and piety produce in your students? It is the main means you should use to win them over to God.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

I am the Lord your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. (Lev 11:44)

August 21st

Come What May - Pray

Frequently spend time in prayer, and during periods of dryness try to find your consolation in it, for it is there you will find God most surely. In periods of dryness and darkness when you feel no attraction, remain constantly faithful to prayer.

Be all the more faithful to prayer when you feel,

·on the one hand, God deep in your heart drawing you to it, and,

·on the other, the devil making every effort to dissuade you from it.

Your prayer is good just as you are making it. God is in your prayer, making it for you. All you have to do is from time to time disown with peace and tranquillity of heart all the distractions you experience. Put yourself completely in the hands of Our Lord, so that he may come and live in you.

(Letter)

The Lord hears my weeping; he listens to my cry for help and will answer my prayer. (Ps 6:8-9)

August 22nd

Humility in Action

Look upon humility as the foundation of all the other moral virtues, without which there can be no true piety, since piety, without humility, is usually mere hypocrisy or an illusion.

Shun human praise and approval. Never say the least thing that might raise you in the good opinion of the world. When you hear anything said to your advantage, remember that the honour is due only to God.

At the same time, humbly endure contempt and rebuffs as being most just. Always select what is least when choice is allowed. Do not be too eager to speak, and when you speak,

·do so in a simple and unaffected manner,

·without trying to improve what others say or

·interrupting them, and

·talk in a low voice.

(Collection)

No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin. (Prov 18:12)

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August 23rd

The Kingdom First

It is to you especially that Jesus Christ addresses these words of today’s Gospel. Seek first the Kingdom of God. You should seek only to establish within your soul this reign of God both in this life and in the next.

You nourish the life of your soul with God’s life by occupying yourself with his holy presence as much as you are able. Seek only
to do his will,
to love him, and
cause him to be loved by others.

This should be your entire preoccupation on earth; to accomplish this should be the goal of all your work. Hence, help those whom you teach to look upon sin as a shameful sickness which infects their souls. Inspire them with a love for virtue, and see to it that God does not cease to reign in them.

Often recall to mind the purpose of your vocation, and let this arouse you to do your part to establish and maintain the kingdom of God in the hearts of your students.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts

-14th Sunday After Pentecost)

God is king of all the earth, Sing praise with all your skill. God is king over the nations; God reigns on his holy throne. (Ps 47:7-8)

August 24th

St. Bartholomew, Apostle

Gospel Values

In order to fill himself entirely with the Gospel truths, this saint always carried the Gospel of St. Matthew with him. This was the treasure in which he placed all his confidence. As he was humble, he attributed the results of his preaching to the living and effective word of God much more than to anything he could say by himself. He knew that this divine word alone is able to make the division between the flesh and the spirit, so necessary to bring about the entire conversion of a soul.

How fortunate you are to carry the holy Gospel with you at all times, for in it is found
all the treasures
of the knowledge and wisdom
of Jesus Christ.
Be faithful to this practice. It is from this holy book that you must draw the truths which you must teach your disciples every day, in order to give them the true Christian spirit. Nourish your soul daily with the holy truths contained in this wonderful book.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit.
(Mk 13:11)

August 25th

St. Louis, King of France(1214-1270)

Holiness in High Places

St. Louis, King of France, was as eminent in virtue as in dignity. First of all, he had an extreme horror of sin, which his mother had instilled in him from the time he reached the use of reason.

He even had such a great spirit of religion that he heard two Masses on his knees every day, deeply penetrated by the spirit of faith.

He recognised and adored Jesus Christ in the poor, and invited three of them to dine with him every day besides feeding one hundred and twenty others with the same food given to his servants.

Do you have as much horror of sin and as much of the spirit of religion as this holy king? Examine yourself often on these two points. Without them your soul will be like a city

·without walls and

·without fortifications,

always open to the attacks of your enemies.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. (Mt. 25:34)

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August 26th

Keep your Accounts in Order

Since God has called you to your ministry in order to procure his glory and to give children the spirit of wisdom, you will give an account of how well you have instructed those who have been under your guidance.

You will give account to God

·whether you have been exact to teach catechism;

·whether you have not neglected some students because they were the slowest, perhaps also the poorest; and

·whether you did not show favouritism toward others because they were

rich, or
pleasant, or
naturally possessing more lovable qualities than the others.

Do you believe, perhaps, that you are responsible for your disciples only during the time of school, that your vigilance need not extend to their behaviour outside of school, that they not associate with bad companions during the entire time they are under your guidance?

Are your accounts in good order and are you ready to give them? If that is not the case, put them in order without delay. If there has been any negligence in your conduct, take a firm resolution to correct yourself.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. (Lk 16:10)

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Aug 27th

St. Monica(ca 332-387)

An Unpleasant Person

St. Monica’s husband had an unpleasant and irritable disposition, and when her neighbours wondered how she could put up with him, she told them that they should not be surprised because from the moment she accepted him as her husband, she had submitted herself to him and respected him as much as she was able. Still, by her prayers and tears she converted him and led him to change his disposition.

This Saint teaches us that when we have to live or deal with someone who has a disagreeable disposition, we must do two things:

·first, arm ourselves with patience and be accommodating;

·second, often ask God in prayer to give the other person a more accommodating spirit

and grant you the grace to put up with him.

Is this how you act when you happen to be in such a situation?
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? (Mt 5:46)

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August 28th

St. Augustine(354-430)

Staunch Defender

Having become Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine devoted himself with all possible zeal to the guidance of his diocese. But God did not restrict his zeal to so limited a field. He was consulted by Popes and Councils. Everybody; even unbelievers, applied to him, and many of the latter were converted.

Yet, so holy a manner of life was strongly opposed and condemned by the heretics, who considered him as their greatest enemy, the one among the Doctors of the Church whom they feared the most. They said everything they could against him to ruin his reputation. But as his good name was founded on the solid base of piety and humility, they were never able to do him any harm. He had, in fact, an extraordinary humility, for he even left the record of his sins in writing to posterity.

In your work you do not have to war against heretics, but against the immature inclinations of children that urge them strongly to evil. You will not overcome these by merely natural learning, but by

·the Spirit of God and

·the fullness of his grace,

which you will obtain through prayer.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Keep on doing these things, because if you do, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Tim 4:36)

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August 29th

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

Without Fear or Favour

The courageous
and tireless zeal
demonstrated by St. John to do away with sin was finally the cause of his death. Herod, having taken the wife of his brother, Philip, St. John reproached him forcefully, which was why Herod arrested him and put him in prison. Yet he did not dare put him to death, because the people looked upon this saint as a prophet, and Herod himself considered him a saint and had much respect for him.

However, having given a banquet for the leading men of his court and the daughter of Herodias having danced before them and pleased them so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she would ask. Her mother at once advised her to ask the king for the head of John the Baptist, which he agreed to do on the spot, although regretfully. Such was the consequence of this great saint’s zeal and of his preaching.

Is this the reward you hope for in your work?
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

When you went out to see John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind? (Lk 7:24)

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August 30th

Renew Vocation Spirit

Today’s Gospel portrays the plight of those who have lost the grace of their state. Jesus Christ, drawing near to the dead man, touched the litter, and those who carried it stood still. Then he said to this young man, I bid you, get up. Immediately the dead man sat up, uncovered his face, and began to speak. Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.

These words make known the means to recover the grace of our vocation.
The first is to resort to prayer in order to bring Jesus near to us.
The second is to stop the flow of all the thoughts which have led us to the brink of the precipice.
The third is to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ who speaks to us through our superiors.
The fourth is to raise ourselves up to God as soon as we hear his word.

In this way, little by little, we recover the spirit of our state and begin again to fulfill the duties expected of us. Then Jesus will give us back to our mother, which is our community, to which we have committed ourselves.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-15th Sunday After Pentecost)

I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness. (Jn 10:10)

August 31st

The Mass

When you go to Mass do you go as to Calvary to renew what happened there, since it is the same sacrifice and the same Jesus Christ who is about to do for you individually what he did on the cross for all mankind.

The best way of attending mass is to unite ourselves
in spirit
with what the priest does
in fact.
Therefore, we should, if possible, be of one mind and heart with him.

The general confession at the beginning of Mass is very important. Examine whether your contrition at this time is such as to merit the grace of absolution.

You know very well that by rising for the Gospel you proclaim your readiness to fight and die in defence of the truths it contains.

Since you assist at Mass to make a sacrifice of yourself, why not offer yourself with the host at the Offertory? Do you make this offering truly, from the bottom of your heart?
(Collection)

Do this in memory of me. (Lk 22:19)