Day by Day with St. John Baptist de La Salle

March 1st

Eye Contact

One often knows, says the Wise Man, what is in the depths of the soul by observing what appears in the eyes (Eccl 19) Thus, one of the first things you should attend to in your exterior deportment is to keep control over your eyes and regulate your glances.

If you wish to be considered a person of humility and moderation, you should try to keep your eyes
calm,
peaceful and
controlled.

If it is proper to look at anyone, do this in a natural manner, gently and decently. It is most impolite for you to scowl at anyone, for this is a sign of contempt.

Since the mind is naturally inclined to want to see everything and to know everything, it is very necessary to watch over yourself and to refrain from these mannerisms.

Often address God in these words of the Royal Prophet: My God, turn my eyes aside and let them not rest on useless things. (Ps 118:37)
(Christian Politeness)

Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong.
(Hab 1:13)

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March 2nd

The Right Tone

In speaking, make it a point to use a gentle and related tone of voice. It is not polite to talk too loudly or to shout as though speaking to deaf people.

One thing you should be careful about when speaking is not to let anything
harsh,
bitter, or
disdainful
creep into your voice, no matter to whom you are speaking. You should always speak with refinement and good will.

There are some people whose way of enunciating is hard and brusque, and this manner of speaking is very rude. To overcome this defect, always speak gently, paying attention to yourself and showing much kindness for others.
(Christian Politeness)

Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude toward everyone. (Tit 3:2)

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March 3rd

Unanswered Prayer

Consider that since God has promised to grant our prayers if they are well said, there can be no doubt that we will receive all that is contained in the Lord’s Prayer if we place no obstacle in the way, since it is
the noblest,
the most excellent,
the easiest, and
most efficacious
of all prayers. What obstacles do you think you place in the way?

Perhaps you do not really want what you are praying for; you pray only with your mouth and merely utter so many words. Is not this a great obstacle to gaining the answer to your prayer?
(Collection)

These people, says God, honour me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me. (Mk 7:6)

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March 4th

No Room for Complacency

Our Lord was transfigured while praying on a very high, lonely mountain. This teaches us that God pours out his consolation on souls who devote themselves a great deal to prayer and who love this holy exercise. Those

·who are half-hearted and lazy,

·who have little love for prayer,
should not be surprised if they are not among those whom God favours in a special way. They do not enjoy an intimate union with him, because they do not give themselves to the exercise that unites us with God, in which we learn to enjoy God and to have even on this earth a foretaste of the joy of heaven.

When God makes use of consolation to strengthen souls and to give them a chance to rest a little after undergoing trials and tribulations, they should accept this little refreshment with a simple view of God’s good pleasure, without being complacent about the personal enjoyment they find there.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts-
2nd Sunday of Lent)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.
(Ps 34:8)

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March 5th

Healing in the Blessed Sacrament

We can consider God present in the church because Jesus Christ is always residing there in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

When we find ourselves in some particular and extraordinary need, or in some violent temptation, it is a great and powerful means, in this need, and to conquer the temptation by which we are strongly assailed, to address ourselves to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist, is a doctor who heals all our ills. In whatever state I may be,
·of dryness in prayer,
·of trouble and
·of temptation,
I have only to present myself before him to find relief from my pains. Whatever difficulty or temptation I may have, I have only to come into God’s presence and I will be comforted and relieved.

(Mental Prayer)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear:
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
(Ps 27:1)

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March 6th

Maxims?

We call a maxim, those passages from Holy Scripture which contain some of the truths necessary for salvation. They are words addressed to the soul telling us what to do or not do, what to esteem or despise, what to seek or to avoid, what to love and what to hate, and so on. The New Testament is full of such passages.

Some maxims are clearly expressed and easily understood, such as:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray to God for those who persecute you and who calumniate you, ”
in Matthew Chapter 5.

Some are obscure and difficult to understand, such as:

“If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, far from you,”
in Matthew Chapter 5.

There are several such passages in the New Testament which are not to be taken literally.
(Mental Prayer)

For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt 16:25)

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March 7th

Food and Drink

It is so natural for people to seek pleasure in eating and drinking that Saint Paul, teaching early Christians to perform all their actions for the love and glory of God, felt obliged to mention eating and drinking specifically.

One of the harshest as well as one of the most insulting criticisms, however unjust, that was made of Our Lord was to say that he was a lover of wine and good cheer (Mt 11:19). This is one of the most insensitive things one can say of a refined person, and with reason, for nothing more clearly shows the base quality of a person’s mind.

The first effect of excess in eating, according to the words of Christ himself, is that
it dulls the heart.
The baleful consequence of too much drink, according to Saint Paul, is that
it leads to impurity. (Phil 3:19)
(Christian Politeness)

So give me only as much food as I need. If I have more, I might say that I do not need you. But if I am poor, I might steal and bring disgrace on my God.
(Prov 30:8-9)

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March 8th

The House of God

We can consider God present in the church because it is the House of God as our Lord says in Mt 21:13, “My House shall be called a house of prayer.”

This is why Jesus Christ when He entered the temple of Jerusalem, showed a holy indignation at the presence of buyers and sellers there. Abandoning his habitual gentleness for the moment, he drove them out, upsetting the tables of the money changers and of those who sold doves. What a striking thing! Jesus looked upon these sales and purchases as profaning the temple.

What respect, therefore, should we not have for our Christian Churches in which is offered every day the same Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and God Himself, as a victim to His Father.

By this sacrifice he
purifies and
sanctifies
these churches, making them holy with an external holiness that is not ordinary.
(Mental Prayer)

I was glad when they said to me,
Let us go to the Lord’s house.
(Ps 122:1)

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March 9th

Don’t Overdo It

·Do you act with moderation between too much and too little, even in the practice of virtue?

·Do you perform your actions without overhaste and without undue anxiety?

·Are you not, for instance, too hasty to finish what you have begun, and troubled when commanded to do what you find disagreeable?

Never be sad or cast down with the kind of dejection the world experiences.

Be equally careful to avoid excessive joy, which gives rise to immoderate laughter, raillery, unbecoming jokes, and so on.
(Collection)

Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough. (Prov 21:5)

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March 10th

The Gospel Touchstone

In reading the Gospel you must study the manner and the means that Jesus Christ used to lead his disciples to practise the truths of the Gospel.

Sometimes he proposed as a happiness everything that the world holds in horror, like poverty, injuries, insults, slander, and every kind of persecution for the sake of justice, even telling his disciples that they should be glad and rejoice when such things happen to them.

At other times he inspired horror for the sins into which people ordinarily fall, or at other times he proposed virtues to practise, such as gentleness, humility, and the like.

He also made them understand that unless their justice surpassed that of the Scribes and Pharisees (who bothered themselves about externals only), they would not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Lastly he wanted the rich and those who have their pleasures in this world to be regarded as unfortunate.

It is according to these practices and all the others of Jesus Christ that you must teach the Christian youth entrusted to you.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God’s power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles. (Rom 1:16)

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March 11th

Confess It

Jesus Christ delivered a man possessed by a dumb demon, that is one that prevented the victim from speaking. This is a figure of those who remain mute in their relationship with their confessors.

When you are sick you can scarcely be cured if you cannot explain what is wrong, so too if you do not expose the wound in your soul to your spiritual physician, you run the risk of remaining ill for a long time.

It is pride or
human respect,
that ordinarily prevents us from revealing our interior difficulties to our confessor. Pride, because we are ashamed to expose the depths of our soul and because our self-love suffers keenly when we have to admit certain weaknesses. So, it seals our lips, persuading us that we would dishonour ourselves if we spoke sincerely to a confessor who would then get a bad impression of our behaviour.

What an ill-founded fear! For in such cases what happens is just the opposite of what we had imagined.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-3rd Sunday of Lent )

People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. (Mk 2:17)

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March 12th

Simply Be With God

The application to the presence of God by simple attention consists in being before God in a simple interior view of faith that He is present. Remain thus for some time, say ten or fifteen minutes according to how you feel yourself occupied by and interiorly attracted to it.

There are several souls so interiorly free, so free from affection for created things, that God gives them this grace. They rarely, if ever, lose the presence of God.

But a soul does not ordinarily succeed in enjoying this privilege,unless

·it has preserved its innocence all its life, or

·it has been faithful to God for a long time and

·is thoroughly purified from sin and even

·completely stripped of its own inclinations and

of all human self-seeking. And unless, finally, it no longer has its own will but the will of God working in it.

(Mental Prayer)

“... it is no longer I who live, but Jesus Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

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March 13th

Table Manners

The Wise Man gives us a number of important suggestions about the manner in which we should behave at table if we are to eat with propriety and with decorum (Eccl 31).

He tells us that we should not give in to intemperance as soon as we are seated,

·scrutinizing the food with avidity

·as though we would like to devour everything in sight

·without leaving anything for the others.

He forbids us to eat hurriedly. It is impolite to eat with avidity, for this is the way a glutton would act.

He insists that we partake of what is served like a temperate person, eating only with restraint and moderation.

He exhorts us to defer very much to others at table.

He adds, to persuade us to follow these rules of refinement and sobriety, that whoever eats little will enjoy healthful slumber while insomnia, colic, and indigestion are the lot of the intemperate.
(Christian Politeness)

Eat what is set before you like an educated person and don’t be a glutton, lest you be detested. (Eccl 31:16)

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March 14th

Inspirations

You realise how important it is to follow the inspirations that come to you from God. They are precious and it is to them that God ordinarily attaches his graces. He does not mean for them to be given to you for no purpose. So those inspirations that God gives us are to be valued, and he grants his graces only insofar as we are faithful in following them.

Listen to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and
not so much to
your dislikes and difficulties.

You may be sure that you will not make progress in the way of love except insofar as you are faithful not to harden your heart to the inspirations of grace. You know what the Holy Spirit says by the mouth of the Prophet,

“If today you hear his voice, take care not to harden your heart.”

Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you in the depths of your heart.
(Letters)

... and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my own dear Son - listen to him!”
(Mk 9:7)

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March 15th

Living the Gospel

It is not enough for us to avoid contradicting the moral precepts of the Gospel. If anyone wishes to follow me, says Our Lord, let him renounce himself - that is, let him renounce his own spirit and his own will - let him carry his cross daily, and follow me. Who, indeed, does not contradict this saying of Jesus Christ, if not in word at least in heart?

For us, let us probe the depths of our hearts. Are they truly penetrated with what Jesus Christ said: Blessed will you be when people falsely say all sorts of evil against you? How many there are who violate rules on many points, as though they were obliged to observe only the rules which they find convenient. As St. Dorotheus remarks, as soon as one begins to say,

“What does it matter if I say this word, what crime do I commit in doing this or that?”,

one ends up smothering all remorse of conscience even on the most essential points.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. (Mt 5:19)

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March 16th

Please Him Only

We are in this world only to love God and to please him. As Our Lord says, our love for God should be so great that we love nothing but God or for God.

If we truly love God, everything we do we should do for his glory. If you seek to please anyone other than God, you would not deserve to bear the name of servants of Jesus Christ, since a servant must do everything for the service of his master. This was the advice that St. Paul gave in his day.

“Whatever you do, in word or in deed, he says, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Such should be the whole consolation of a Christian in this life: to act for the God who made him, and to whom he owes all the good that he can do in this life.

Has it been your sole aim, as it was St. Paul’s, not to live or act any longer except for God? In the future, act, as St. Paul says,
in a manner that will be worthy of God,
striving to please him in all things.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Mt 22:37)

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March 17th

A Safe Path

You encounter so many obstacles to salvation in this life that it is impossible to avoid them if you are left to yourselves and your own guidance. This is why God has given you Guardian Angels

·to watch over you,

·to prevent you from falling by tripping against some stone, that is, some obstacle to your salvation.

How much easier it is for children to fall over some precipice, because they are weak in mind as well as body, and have little understanding of what is for their own good. Therefore they need the light of watchful guides to lead them on the path of salvation, guides who have an adequate understanding of things concerning piety, and a knowledge of the ordinary faults of young people. Thus they will be able to help them to be aware of pitfalls and keep away from them.

This is what God has provided in giving children teachers whom he has charged with this care, to guide the children through all the dangers they meet in the world.

Ask God today for the grace of watching so well over the children confided to you, that you will take every possible precaution to shield them from serious faults.
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

You are my God, teach me to do your will.
Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.
(Ps 143:10)

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March 18th

Leave It To God

In your times of trouble, when you have had recourse to those who are appointed to guide you and they have been unable to provide a suitable remedy for your difficulty, God wants you then to remain completely abandoned to his guidance, awaiting from him alone all the help you need. Follow the example of this crowd of people who had come following Jesus Christ and who waited patiently for him to provide for their nourishment.

You should, in fact, be convinced that God will not allow you to be tempted and burdened beyond your strength. When men can do nothing to help you,

·then it is that God himself does everything for you,

·wonderfully showing at one and the same time his power and his goodness.

This is why you should abandon yourself to God as the people who followed Our Lord, to be delivered from your trials by means God judges most profitable for you without troubling yourself trying to achieve peace by your own efforts, which will often be useless.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-4th Sunday of Lent )

My God is my protector, and with him I am safe. (2 Sam 22:3)

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March 19th

St. Joseph

Tender Loving Care

The Gospel makes us admire in St. Joseph the care he had for the Child Jesus, which he showed

·in the promptness with which he took him to Egypt when God told him to do so;

·in the precaution he took on leaving Egypt not to take him to Judaea for fear of Archelaus, and

·in the sorrow he felt at having lost Jesus when they were returning from Jerusalem.

Two things inspired this great solicitude St. Joseph felt for Jesus: the commission the eternal Father had given him and the tender love he had for Jesus.

You must have a similar great attention and affection for preserving or procuring the innocence of the children entrusted to your guidance, and to keep them away from whatever might interfere with their education or prevent them from acquiring piety. For you have been made responsible for these children just as St. Joseph was for the Saviour of the world.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you. (Lk 2:48)

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March 20th

Good Order

Weigh Your Words

Silence is one of the principal means of establishing and maintaining order in schools. For this reason, every teacher will enforce it rigourously in all of the classrooms and will permit no one to speak without permission.

Teachers will always use a moderate tone when they give any instructions, as well as on all other occasions when they need to speak to all of the students together. They will never speak
either to any student in particular
or to all in general
until they have carefully thought about what they have to say and unless they consider it necessary.
(Conduct of Schools)

Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. (Jas 1:19)

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March 21st

Beauty

A person who is not skilled in painting, and who sees a beautiful painting, cannot judge its excellence and its perfection because this person does not know in what this consists or what it is that makes the painting beautiful in the eyes of the connoisseur. That is why this person is obliged to seek instruction from a skillful painter who can teach the reasons why this painting is excellent and what constitutes its beauty.

Whereas one who understands the art of painting, as soon as a well-painted picture is seen, needs neither reasoning nor deep and frequent reflections to appreciate its beauty. Such a person simply admires its beauty and remains for a long time considering its perfection without getting bored or thinking that a long time has passed. In fact,
the more it is considered,
the more it is found beautiful and pleasing to the eyes.

With all due proportion, the same may be said of application to the presence of God in mental prayer.(Mental Prayer)

Let me see your lovely face and hear your enchanting voice. (Song 2:14)

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March 22nd

Teaching Religion: Some Means

Be Creative

Teachers will help students to apply themselves to the religion lesson. For this purpose, teachers will employ the following means:

(1) they will take care not to rebuff or to confuse students, either by words or in any other manner, when they are unable to answer properly the question which has been asked them;

(2) they will encourage and even help them to say what they have difficulty in recalling; and

(3) they will offer rewards from time to time to those who have been the best behaved and the most attentive, or sometimes to even the more ignorant who have made the greatest effort to learn well.

They will employ various other similar means, which prudence and charity will enable them to find, to encourage students to learn their religion more readily and to retain it more easily.
(Conduct of Schools)

Convince, reproach and encourage, as you teach with all patience. (2 Tim 4:2)

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March 23rd

Good Shepherds

Consider Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd of the Gospel who

·seeks the lost sheep,

·places it upon his shoulders, and

·carries it back to restore it to the fold.

Since you are taking his place, look upon yourself as obliged to do the same thing. Ask him for the grace needed to procure the conversion of their hearts.

You must devote yourself very much to prayer in order to succeed in your ministry. You must constantly represent the needs of your disciples to Jesus Christ, explaining to him the difficulties you have experienced in guiding them. Jesus Christ, seeing that you regard him as the one who can do everything in your work and yourself as an instrument that ought to be moved only by him, will not fail to grant you what you ask of him.

Guard against any human attitude toward your disciples; do not pride yourselves over what you do. These two things are capable of spoiling all the good there is in the performance of your duties. What have you in this regard that has not been given to you? And if it has been given to you, why are you boasting as if you had it on your own?
(Meditations for Time of Retreat)

Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then. Let other people praise you - even strangers; never do it yourself.
(Prov 27:1-2)

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March 24th

Fight the Good Fight

Jesus Christ came to this Earth to reign here, but not, as other kings do, to raise tribute, enroll armies, and visibly do battle against his enemies, for Jesus Christ assures us

·that his kingdom is not of this world,

·that his kingdom is within us.

So that Jesus Christ may reign in your soul, you must wage war under his leadership against the enemies of your salvation. For, since he wishes to establish his peace within you, you must overcome with him and by his help anything that is an obstacle, such as your passions and evil inclinations.

If you wish Jesus Christ to fight within you the enemies who want to keep him from reigning there, he must be able to raise an army of virtues that will equip your soul and enable him to be the complete master of your heart. You also need to fight valiantly under his standard, making use of the weapons he places in your hands.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Palm Sunday)

Put on all the armour that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks. (Eph 6:11)

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March 25th

The Annunciation

Highest Honours

Let us give thanks for the honour the Blessed Virgin received on this day, to become the Mother of God. This is the greatest honour any mere creature can ever receive. St. Ambrose declares that it was the excellence of Mary’s faith which procured this favour for her.

In this role she has become an object of veneration for the angels themselves, who, though much higher by nature, are nevertheless far beneath her in view of the dignity she received on this day.

Still, this dignity only leads her to humble herself and she has no other reply except that she is
the servant of the Lord.
St. Ambrose cannot help marvelling at such a response in the mouth of this holy virgin at the very moment when she is chosen to be the Mother of God.

Let us profit from such great example. May all the graces God gives us, no matter how remarkable they may be, incline us also to humble ourselves.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts)

He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed. (Lk 1:48)

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March 26th

What The Father Wants

It is admirable that at one time Jesus Christ hid from the eyes of his enemies, escaped from their hands, kept away from them because he knew that they were planning to put him to death, while at another time he went to the place where he knew that those who wanted to kill him would come looking for him. When they came for him, he stepped forward, and allowed himself to be arrested, bound, and let away, knowing that he would be delivered into the hands of sinners.

These different dispositions of Jesus Christ were conformable to the plans God had for him. As he himself said, the will of his Father was his nourishment, that is, the rule and as it were, the soul of his conduct.

Strive after the example of your divine master to

·want only what God wants,

·when he wants it, and

·in the way he wants it.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Tues in Holy Week)

How I love to do your will, my God! I keep your teaching in my heart. (Ps 40:8)

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March 27th

Longing To Save Us

Jesus Christ was not content with having a life-long desire to die for us. When he saw the time of his death approaching, he testified to his joy. This is what made him say to the apostles when he celebrated the Last Passover with them. He knew that this was to be the last meal he would eat with his apostles before suffering and dying for us.

This was also what made him cry out, shortly before dying, that he was thirsty. The holy fathers understand this thirst as the longing for our salvation. this is also what made him say these words as he was dying, that all is consummated, because

what he had so longed for -

to suffer for our salvation -

had been achieved.

Thank Jesus for such goodness, and make yourselves worthy to receive the benefits of salvation by your own sharing in his sufferings.

(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts

- Wednesday in Holy Week)

I have wanted so much to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer!
(Lk 22:15)

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March 28th

Giving Himself Entirely

The love of Jesus Christ for us led him to institute this divine sacrament in order to give himself entirely to us and to remain always with us. He knew

·that immediately afterward he would suffer and die for us,

·that this offering of himself on the cross would occur only once, and

·that after his ascension into heaven he would no longer appear among us.

This was why, to give us a sign of his tender love and goodness before dying, he left to the apostles and to the whole Church in their persons, his body and blood.

To day, receive this gift with respect and thanksgiving. Give Jesus love in return for his love. May this love you have for him, and the desire you have to unite yourselves with him, lead you to have a great love for frequent Communion.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Holy Thursday)

Give us today our daily bread. (Mt 6:11)

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March 29th

Suffering For Love

No one can understand how great the sufferings of Jesus Christ were in his Passion. He suffered in all parts of his body; his soul was oppressed with such painful and extreme sorrow that he could not express it.

Jesus Christ suffered from all sorts of people.

·One of his apostles betrayed him,

another denied him,

all the rest ran off and abandoned him to the hands of his enemies.

·The high priests sent soldiers to seize him;

·the soldiers treated him outrageously;

·the people mocked him;

·a king insulted him and dismissed him with scorn, considering him as a lunatic.

·The governor of Judea condemned him to death.

·The Jews looked upon him as a malefactor, while all the passersby blasphemed him.

Can we contemplate the man-God in such a pitiful state without feeling horror for sin and a great sorrow for those we have committed? If we will not stop sinning, it means we want him to continue suffering.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Good Friday)

It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame. (Heb 6:6)

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March 30th

Badges of Honour

Adore the five wounds of Jesus Christ and consider that he has kept them in his sacred body as glorious trophies of the victory he won over hell and sin. Know, says St. Peter, that you have been redeemed from a life of vanity, not by silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

These sacred wounds can animate us to a love for suffering. In his glorious body he has preserved the scars of his wounds as so many ornaments and marks of honour.

You should likewise consider yourself honoured to suffer like him and for him. You should glory only in the cross of your Saviour. With St. Thomas put your hand into the wound of the side, not so much to strengthen your faith, but to penetrate even to the heart of Jesus. Draw from there into your own heart sentiments
of Christian patience,
of perfect conformity to God’s will, and
the courage which will lead you to seek opportunities to suffer.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Holy Saturday)

By his wounds we are healed. (Is 53:5)

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March 31st

Sing Alleluia

This feast is a day of joy for the entire Church; that is why we so frequently sing:

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is glorious because by it he overcame death and destroyed sin. It is advantageous for us because it is an assurance of our own resurrection.

The resurrection should also procure for you the benefit of making you rise spiritually by causing you to live according to grace. This means it will cause you to enter an entirely new and heavenly life.

To enter into these practices and to show that you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, love the things of heaven, not those that are on earth. Show by your conduct that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has produced these happy effects in you.
(Meditations for Sundays and Feasts
-Easter Sunday)

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
(Jn 11:25-26)