Day by Day with St. John Baptist de La Salle
December 1st
Know Your Own
A new teacher must act in such a way that children may always leave school satisfied. In this way, they may neither have anything to complain about to their parents nor have anything that might cause their parents pain.
A teacher should not intimidate the timid children, who rarely fall into faults or who do so without any malice.
A young teacher should carefully study the
spirit,
customs, and
inclinations
of the students, in this way becoming more likely to succeed in dealing with them in a manner likely to be acceptable.
(Conduct of Schools)
Do your work, not for mere pay, but from a real desire to serve. (1 Pet 5:2)
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December 2nd
Mental Prayer
We must practise application to mental prayer because it is a conversation with God, and has the effect of making the soul occupy itself entirely with the things which pertain to God’s service.
Hold in high esteem the holy exercise of mental prayer, since it is the foundation and support of all the virtues as well as the source of light and grace.
Do not seek emotional consolations in mental prayer, but attach yourself
·to what is of faith,
·to what tends to the detestation and destruction of sin,
·to detachment from created things,
·to the imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ and
·to the practice of the virtues he practiced.
Strive to imitate him as perfectly as possible.
(Collection)
Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. (Lk 11:1)
December 3rd
St. Francis Xavier(1506-1552)
Star of the East
It is unbelievable how many souls St. Francis converted to God, once he had filled himself with the spirit of God before going off to preach the holy Gospel. It is estimated that he converted several hundred thousand in the Indies and in Japan. He baptised several princes and even several kings. He spent his time
preaching,
catechising,
confessing, and
visiting hospitals.
Nothing, no matter how humble it was, was beneath him when it was a question of converting souls. This saint had especially such a great zeal for the instruction of children, that he went about in the streets ringing, a little bell to call them to catechism.
Do you wish to convert your disciples and easily win them over to God? The more you make yourself little, the more you will touch the hearts of those whom you instruct, and to engage them to live as true Christians.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. (Mk 16:15)
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December 4th
Inspecting & Correcting Writing
Write Well
It is necessary that teachers inspect all the writers every day and, in the case of beginners, even two or three times a day. The teachers must observe
·whether the students’ bodies are in a correct position;
·whether they hold their pens properly;
·whether they are trying to do well;
·whether they are writing too fast;
·whether they are making their lines straight and
·whether they are placing all their letters in the same position and at a proper distance.
While inspecting and correcting the writing of some of the students, the teacher will be careful both to keep all the other students always in sight and to observe all that takes place in the class. The teacher will watch particularly over those who most need watching, that is the beginners and the negligent.
(Conduct of Schools)
Be sincere and serious in your teaching. (Tit 2:7)
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December 5th
Prepare the Way
St. John the Baptist proposed to the Jews six ways to prepare a path and an entry into their hearts for Jesus Christ.
First, he required of them a true horror of sin, reproaching them with being a generation of vipers.
Second, he urged them to fear the Last Judgement - Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Third, to help them escape the rigour of that judgement, he incited them to do penance.
Fourth, he wanted them to do good works, without which their penances would be of no avail.
Fifth, he declared that they had no right to glorify themselves as having Abraham as their father unless they acted as Abraham did.
Sixth, he gave them to understand that they could not be saved, whatever good works they might perform, unless they practiced the good works proper and becoming to their state of life.
Take these counsels to heart yourselves and follow them carefully.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-2nd Sunday of Advent )
He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. (Mt 3:11)
6th December
St. Nicholas, Bishop
Jesus In the Poor
The love St. Nicholas had for the poor was surprising, for it led him to explore all possible means to provide for their needs. It was this which led him to go secretly by night, on three different occasions, to provide the sum necessary for the dowry of three young girls whose father was prepared to prostitute them because he did not have the means to get them married.
You are under the obligation to instruct the children of the poor. You should, therefore, cultivate a very special tenderness for them and supply their spiritual needs as far as you are able. Faith, which should animate you, should
·lead you to respect Jesus Christ in their persons, and
·make you prefer them to the wealthiest children on earth
because they are the living images of Jesus Christ. By the care you have for them, show how truly dear they are to you. Ask St. Nicholas to obtain for you from God some share in his love for the poor, and especially a great zeal to procure purity for them, a virtue so difficult to preserve in a time as corrupt as ours.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these members of my family, you did it for me. (Mt 25:40)
December 7th
St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan(ca340-397)
Touch Hearts
When he became a bishop, this saint’s eloquence, which was natural, became heavenly. It served him so well in the conversion of souls that no one was able to resist him. With God’s help he had the power to convert St. Augustine, to transform him into one of the greatest doctors of the Church. This was the reason why the heretics feared him and did not dare challenge him, because he alone was able to refute all of them. For he joined to his
eloquence and piety
a marvellous
power and firmness.
You do not need eloquence of this sort, but you do need to share in his zeal in order to labour usefully in your work of saving souls. Often ask God for the grace to touch hearts, as he did; this is the grace of your state.
It would be of little use to those whom you instruct if their minds remained blinded and hardened.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. (Ezek 11:19)
December 8th
The Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin
The Glory Of Our Race
From all eternity God destined the most Blessed Virgin to be the mother of his Son, and so formed her in soul and in body that she was worthy to hold him in her womb. This is why he preserved her from anything that could be the least displeasing to him. As it would have been a disgraceful thing for the Mother of God to have had anything to do with sin, God, by an entirely special privilege, exempted her from original sin.
In order to make the Blessed Virgin entirely pure at the moment of her conception, God also preserved her from the inclination to sin. As he is holiness itself, he had no desire to unite himself with a creature soiled by the slightest fault.
Honour the Most Blessed Virgin today, then, as the purest of all creatures.
·Beg her to obtain for you from God to be entirely freed from the corruption of the world throughout your life.
·Look upon her as the masterpiece from God’s hands.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
You are wholly beautiful, my love, and without a blemish. (Song 4:7)
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December 9th
Faith in Action
The first effect of faith is to lead us efficaciously to the
knowledge,
love, and
imitation of Christ,
and to union with him.
·Faith leads to the knowledge of Christ, since eternal life is knowing him (Jn 17:3).
·Faith leads to love of Christ, since anyone who does not love him is a reprobate (1 Cor 16:22).
·Faith leads to the imitation of Christ, since the predestined ought to be conformed to him (Rom 8:29); and
·to union with him, since we are to Jesus Christ like branches to a vine, dead when separated from him. (Jn 15:5-6)
(Collection)
Where is your faith? (Lk 8:25)
December 10th
New Teachers
2. Agitation and Restlessness
Although it is not recommended to be as stiff as a statue in school, neither is it good to be too fidgety or too flustered. The two extremes must be avoided. The one causes teachers not to be sufficiently vigilant and to lack firmness; the other robs them of all authority and brings down on them the contempt of students.
New teachers must learn to control a natural tendency to be hasty and too quick to react. They must not at every moment modify
their expression,
their posture,
their position,
constantly turning the head from side to side; unable to keep the same position for a moment.
(Conduct of Schools)
Come to me, all you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. (Mt 11:28)
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December 11th
He Came to Set Me Free
It is my sins, Lord, which brought you to this state of poverty, of humiliation. It is my pride, and my love of luxury and vanities which humiliated you to the point of being born in a stable and laid in a manger.
It is to overwhelm and destroy
·my cupidity,
·my insatiable desire for goods and riches,
·my immoderate love of comforts and pleasures,
that you endure so rigorous a poverty.
After consideration of these truths, could I wish to do evil again?
Jesus, worthy of love, by the virtue and the grace of your adorable birth, destroy in me all sin, and all inclination to sin and mercifully forgive all those which I have been so unfortunate as to commit.
(Mental Prayer)
The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done. (1 Jn 3:8)
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December 12th
Adore Him
We make an act of adoration by recognising God as our Creator and sovereign Lord. And by keeping ourselves in a profound respect in His holy presence, conscious
·of our baseness and even
·of our nothingness,
·of our dependence on God,
·of our unworthiness,
to enjoy the advantage and happiness of His holy presence.
You are adorable everywhere O my God, since you fill heaven and earth. I am your creature, and thus I must recognise your infinite greatness and your sovereign majesty.
The angels who accompany you everywhere adore you there. It is, therefore, very proper that I, a mere creature, join myself to them to carry out my duties to you.
(Mental Prayer)
Honour and majesty go before him; power and glory fill his sanctuary. (Ps 96:6)
December 13th
Only a Voice
St. John the Baptist wished to leave to Jesus Christ all the honour of converting souls, the task at which he himself laboured so constantly. He said, therefore, that he was only a voice crying out in the desert. He thus showed that the substance of the doctrine he taught was not his own and that it was indeed the Word of God which he preached; as for himself, he was only the voice which proclaimed it. In the same way that a voice is a sound which strikes the ear and makes it possible for a word to be understood, so it was that John prepared the Jews to receive Jesus Christ.
The same thing is true of those who instruct others. They are only the voice of the One who really disposes hearts to accept Jesus Christ and his holy teaching. The one who disposes them can only be God.
Let us humble ourselves then, considering
·that we are nothing but a voice, and
·that of ourselves we cannot say anything that will do the least good for souls or
·make any impression on them.
For we are a mere voice, only a sound which becomes nothing once it has echoed through the air.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-3rd Sunday of Advent )
When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. (Jn 10:4)
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December 14th
The Holy Name
In his circumcision Jesus Christ submitted to the law that all male children be circumcised on the eight day after their birth.
The Eternal Father having informed the Blessed Virgin by the angel that she should call him Jesus, on this day she and St. Joseph gave him this name, which means Saviour. It was quite proper that, when Jesus began to suffer and to shed his blood for our sins, this name should be given him, the name so admirably suited to the ministry he had been assigned.
Is it only in vain that you have the name of Christian and minister of Jesus Christ in the work you do?
·Do you live in a manner that befits these glorious names?
·Do you instruct those for whom you are responsible with the zeal God asks of you in so holy a work?
·By your good conduct make yourself worthy of this distinguished role.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
There is no other Name given to humankind all over the world by which we may be saved. (Acts 4:12)
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December 15th
Be Doers of the Word
It is with good reason that Jesus Christ complains in today’s Gospel that the Jews did not believe his words in spite of the fact that he told them nothing but the truth and spoke to them as his Father enjoined him to do, for this was a sign that they did not recognise him as the Son of God.
Just as the one who pretends to know God but does not observe his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, so too, the one who does not do what his confessor tells him, shows by his conduct that he does not recognise him as such.
So, too, according to St. John,
what proves that we are in God
is whether we keep his words.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
He who comes from God listens to God’s words. You, however, are not from God, and that is why you will not listen. (Jn 8:47)
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December 16th
Take Up Your Cross
It is not enough to adore the cross, says one Father of the Church, but we must carry it. Nor do we need to go very far looking for it. The cross, says the author of the Imitation, is always ready wherever we are and wherever we may look: above, below, outside, and within. On all sides, the same author says, you will find the cross.
·Is the cross you carry the cross of Jesus Christ?
·How do you recognize this?
Pay attention to this: if these crosses turn you away and make you complain, they are the crosses of thieves.
Prepare yourself today, then to love the Cross, since you will always have it.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
As for me, however, I will boast only of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by means of his cross, the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.
(Gal 6:14)
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December 17th
Ways to Faith
There are chiefly seven means of acquiring the spirit of faith and of conducting ourselves by this spirit.
The first is to have a profound respect for Holy Scripture.
The second is to animate all one actions with sentiments of faith.
The third is to have in view in all things the orders and the will of God.
The fourth is to have great control over our senses.
The fifth is to exercise great vigilance over ourselves so as not to perform a single action, if possible, from natural impulse, through custom, or any human motive.
The sixth is to pay as much attention as possible to the holy presence of God, and to renew our attention from time to time.
The seventh is to banish from our minds all vain thoughts and ideas that might withdraw us from these practices.
(Collection)
For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it.(Eph 2:8-9)
December 18th
New Teachers
5. Familiarity
Familiarity breeds contempt. Once a teacher is not respected by the students, whatever the teacher may say or do fails to impress them. All teaching and instruction then have little weight and produce no good effects. The students become insolent, and end up by making a joke of the teacher.
New teachers shall not give students anything out of favouritism nor make them do anything inspired by that same spirit. They should not tolerate the faults of students because of timidity or because of the familiarity they have contracted with them.
A teacher can speak to students in a relaxed and friendly manner
·without being familiar with them and
·without allowing them to lose the respect they owe a teacher.
(Conduct of Schools)
Let the younger ones among you respect the authority of the elders. (1 Pet 5:5)
December 19th
Practice Makes Perfect
Jesus did not come so much to teach us the holy truths of Christian morality as to engage us to practise them faithfully.
Still it is common enough to see Christians and even members of religious communities, who do not accept these practical truths and who contradict them in their hearts, sometimes even in their external conduct, as when someone tells them
·that on Judgement Day they have to account for a useless word,
·that we must pray without ceasing
·that we must enter heaven through the narrow gate; and
·that there is a command addressed to them to love their enemies, to pray to God for those who persecute them and to do good to those who hate them.
How many are there who believe that these teachings are merely counsels of perfection? Yet Jesus Christ taught that they were necessary practices and the way to achieve salvation. Take care not to fall into this gross error, which might lead you astray from the true path to heaven.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
You must be perfect - just as your Father in heaven is perfect! (Mt 5:48)
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December 20th
Penance?
St. John makes known to us that the principal disposition we should bring to the reception of Our Lord is
penance and
separation from all sin.
We must, then, give our greatest effort to this, because penance washes and purifies a soul of the sins which sully it.
Not only does penance obtain for us the remission of our sins, it also preserves us from sin, which is the greatest blessing we can enjoy in this world. As the Church sings, it was by this means that Saint John the Baptist was able to preserve himself free from the slightest sins.
Let us frequently ask God for the grace to cleanse ourselves so perfectly that no trace of our sins will remain; and on our part let us contribute to this by the penance we perform for our sins.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-4th Sunday of Advent )
Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. (Lk 3:8)
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December 21st
St. Thomas, Apostle
My Lord and My God
St. Thomas was not willing to believe on the report the apostles gave him, that Jesus had risen and he told them he would not believe until he had seen him. People criticise the incredulity of St. Thomas on this occasion, and they are right, because no doubt he should have put faith in what he was told by the other apostles who had seen Jesus Christ.
Still, the majority of Christians are even more unbelieving than St. Thomas.
For Jesus said in the Gospel: Blessed are the poor, and they consider them unfortunate.
Jesus says that it is necessary to do good to one’s enemies and to pray to God for them, and they think only of getting revenge, and doing harm to those who have injured them in some way.
Jesus says that it is necessary to carry one’s cross daily, and they seek all possible ways to escape suffering.
Is that to have faith and to believe in the Gospel when they act this way?
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? (Lk 24:38)
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December 22nd
Too Gentle / Kind
Another Extreme
At the other extreme, the following are examples of the teachers’ weakness which leads to negligent and lax conduct by the students.
In order to preserve the friendship of the children, a teacher shows too much affection and tenderness to them. This involves granting something special or giving too much liberty to the more intimate. This does not edify the others, and it causes disorder.
On account of the teachers’ natural timidity, the children are addressed or reprimanded so weakly or so coldly that they do not pay any attention.
A teacher easily forgets proper deportment, which consists principally in maintaining a gravity which encourages respect and restraint on the part of the children. This lack of deportment manifests itself either in speaking to the students too often and too familiarly or in doing some undignified act.
(Conduct of Schools)
Was there ever a child who was not punished by his father? (Heb 12:7)
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December 23rd
Grow in Humility
If you wish to make great progress in the practice of this virtue, carry out the following directions:
When reproved for some fault, you have not committed,
thank those who do this
with the same gentleness and humility
as if they were doing you a favour.
Always take the lowest and most inconvenient place, in spite of any repugnance you may feel.
You must be convinced that there is none who is not more virtuous and more spiritual than you.
If you can engrave these sentiments on your heart and live by them, I think you will have found an efficacious means of drawing down God’s mercy on yourself.
(Letters)
My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart. (Ps 51:17)
December 24th
Vigil of the Nativity of Jesus Christ
No Room
The Mother of Jesus, not finding anyone willing to offer her lodging in Bethlehem was obliged to withdraw to a stable. While she was there, she brought forth her firstborn child into the world.
You often receive Jesus Christ in your heart but is he not there as though in a stable, finding there only dirt and corruption, because you have affection for other things rather than for him.
For how long has Jesus been presenting himself to you and knocking at the door of your heart, in order to make his dwelling within you and you have not wanted to receive him? Why? Because he only presents himself under the form of
a poor man,
a slave,
a man of sorrows.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me.
(Rev 3:20)
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December 25th
The Nativity of Jesus Christ
Born Poor
Today Jesus Christ is born poor in a stable. The Most Blessed Virgin brings him into the world in a place where she finds no comfort and where there is no other bed to put this newborn Child except a manger. Behold the palace and the bed for presenting Jesus our Saviour on his entry into the world!
The poverty that Jesus practices so eminently at his birth should commit us to have a great love for this virtue. Let us not be surprised, then, when we lack something, even necessities, since at his birth Jesus was lacking everything.
If you do not resemble the newborn Jesus in his poverty and humility, you will be little known and little employed. You will be
neither loved
nor appreciated
by the poor, and you will never be for them a saviour.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Happy the man who cares for the poor and the weak: if disaster strikes, Yahweh will come to his help. (Ps 41:1)
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December 26th
St. Stephen, First Martyr
Pure Faith
It is said of St. Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles that he was filled with faith. He certainly showed this, for he always guided himself and acted by the spirit of faith.
This saint was not satisfied to be filled with faith; he wanted to share the fullness of his faith with those of his own nation. This he did by making known to them, with the testimony of Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ, whom they did not know; how he had come to give them the means of salvation and to die for them.
After teaching the faith, St. Stephen also died for the faith. The Jews could not endure the reproaches and explanations he leveled at them about their ingratitude to God and their hardness of heart. They threw him out of the city and stoned him as a blasphemer. All he did during this time was to look to heaven to show God his gratitude for so great a favour.
Willingly endure all the trials you are given, and do not be troubled by any of them or complain of anything.
After the example of St. Stephen,
you must by faith consider all you have to suffer from your neighbour
as gifts coming from God.
Only pure faith can inspire such sentiments.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Lk 18:8)
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December 27th
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
The Beloved Disciple
St. John was so specially loved by Jesus that he is called the beloved disciple.
Here are the ways the Saviour showed him his special love:
·he allowed John to rest his head on his chest;
·he revealed to John the highest mysteries of his divinity and his humanity; when dying
·he chose him to take his place and be the adoptive son of his holy Mother.
If St. John was much loved by Jesus, he also loved Jesus very much. The first sign he gave of this love was that he gave up everything in order to follow him.
If St. John followed Jesus to Mount Thabor where he revealed his glory, he also accompanied him to Calvary, although all the other disciples had abandoned him.
He was also the first to be at the tomb of Jesus to make sure of the truth of the resurrection.
You are in a state where you need to be honoured by the friendship of Jesus. Apply yourself much to prayer, in which Jesus will teach you secrets that remain unknown to most people.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Leaning lack on Jesus’ breast he said, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ (Jn 13:25)
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December 28th
The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Unholy Massacre
Today let us honour the innocence of these holy children who had the privilege of dying before knowing evil. These holy children died as martyrs because of the cruelty of an evil prince who feared that one of them might rob him of his crown.
They gave witness
·to our religion and
·to the divinity of Christ,
not by speaking,
but by laying down their lives in his place.
These little children died not only as martyrs, but also by taking the place of Jesus Christ. Herod wanted to kill him, and looked for him everywhere. Not finding him, he resolved to kill the children assuring himself that Jesus would be among their number. Fortunate children, to have lost their lives in order to preserve the life of Christ!
We can have the same opportunity as they by giving our lives to prevent Jesus Christ from dying in us. Sinners, says St. Paul, crucify Jesus Christ anew. If then we do not want him to lose his life, we must do violence to ourselves so as not to fall into sin.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Do not put an innocent person to death, for I will condemn anyone who does such an evil thing. (Ex 23:7)
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December 29th
New Teachers
4. Antipathy for Certain Students
The Supervisor must make new teachers realise how important their obligation is to love all of the children with equal charity and how important it is not to show preferences for certain students when they exteriorly display an aversion for others.
It is even sometimes good to oblige young teachers to take greater pains with those for whom they feel antipathy,
·to call on them to read more often;
·to speak to them only in an affable and kind manner;
·to give them some reward, even if they did not fully deserve it; and
·to get close to them without emotional involvement.
(Conduct of Schools)
And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? (Mt 5:47)
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December 30th
Review of the Year
A Precious Gem
The first reason why there is sometimes little union in a community is that some wish to place themselves above others on the basis of some human reasoning. Our Lord says that the one who believes himself to be the greatest must consider himself as the least of all.
If you have experienced any ill feeling toward any of your brothers think of what St. Paul says about bearing each other’s burdens. Each one has his burdens, and ordinarily it is not exactly the one who has them who carries them, for he does not feel their weight. It is the other’s burdens he has to carry and so each one must carry
willingly and
charitably
the burdens of the others, if he wishes to keep peace with them.
Is this how you have acted during this year? Union in a community is a precious gem. If we lose this we lose everything. Preserve it with care, therefore, if you want your community to survive.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
The group of believers was one in mind and heart. (Acts 4:32)
December 31st
Evaluation
School being the place where you spend most of your time during the day, you cannot watch too closely over yourself in order not to lose any of the merit which you should draw from your work.
Have you not at times acted in a careless and negligent way? Have you not chatted with the children uselessly, asking them for news, or listening willingly to the news they told you? Have you not read books other than those that the children were reading whom you are responsible to instruct? In a word, have you not wasted time? In your profession it no longer belongs to you any more than servant’s time belongs to them.
Have you been exact during the year to follow the order of the lessons? Have you been concerned that your pupils be instructed in their religion? This is your principal obligation, although other matters should not be neglected.
Strip off the old man today and
put on the new man and
ask God to renew in you tomorrow the spirit of your state and your profession.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)
Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self which is created in God’s likeness. (Eph 4:23-24)