Lasallian Spirituality PDF

This first domain of Lasallian Spirituality, SEEING IN THE EYES OF FAITH involves the ability to regard life experiences and everyday realities in the light of the Christian Story and Vision and so bring a faith perspective to one’s thoughts, words and actions. As Christians, we believe God is prese...

This first domain of Lasallian Spirituality, SEEING IN THE EYES OF FAITH involves the ability to regard life experiences and everyday realities in the light of the Christian Story and Vision and so bring a faith perspective to one’s thoughts, words and actions. As Christians, we believe God is present and active in ordinary human experiences. Seeing with the eyes of Faith is about discerning what God is saying to us in these experiences. We do this by reflecting on our experiences in the light of the Christian Story and Vision. Christian Faith, according to Pope Benedict XVI is not “the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” … Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10). This encounter with the person of Jesus Christ is an encounter with the Love of the Father. The 14th chapter of the Gospel of John shows us the conversation of Jesus with His disciples revealing the special relationship of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity: Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”cf John 14: 6-21. Christian Faith as an encounter with the person of Jesus is at the same time an encounter with the person of the Father who loves us and created us in His image and likeness. Living out this faith is likewise an encounter with the Holy Spirit, the promised advocate. This faith has been passed from the Biblical times down on to our time, because of the instrument of God’s salvation which is the Church. The Church, faithful to her call to be the living community of disciples of Jesus Christ, has preserved the faith and transmitted this faith to all nations. Together with the words and deeds of Jesus recorded in Sacred Scriptures, the Church continues to preserve the Sacred Traditions left behind by Christ and His Apostles and through the living teaching office of the Church rightly called Holy Magisterium, the Church continues to repropose the Gospel to all the nations of the World in the todays times. These three then: Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition & Holy Magisterium constitutes what we call as the Deposit of Faith. HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT BELIEVING? Someone who believes is seeking a personal union with God and is ready to believe God in everything that he shows (reveals) about himself. [YouCat #22 , CCC# 150-152] At the beginning of faith, there is often an emotional disturbance or uneasiness. The person senses that the visible world and the normal course of things cannot be all there is. He feels touched by a mystery and follows the traces that point to the existence of God and gradually finds the confidence to speak to God and finally to unite himself to him in freedom. In John’s Gospel it says, “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known” (Jn 1:18). That is why we must believe Jesus, the Son of God, if we want to know what God would like to communicate to us. Believing, therefore, means accepting Jesus and staking one’s whole life on him. WHAT DOES MY FAITH HAVE TO DO WITH THE CHURCH? No one can believe alone and by himself, just as no one can live alone and by himself. We receive the faith from the Church and live it out in fellowship with the people with whom we share our faith. [YouCat # 24, CCC #166-169, 181] Faith is the most personal thing a person has, yet it is not a private matter. Anyone who wants to believe must be able to say both “I” and “we”, because a faith you cannot share and communicate would be irrational. The individual believer gives his free assent to the “we believe” of the Church. From her he received the faith. She was the one who handed it down through the centuries and then to him, preserved it from falsifications, and caused it to shine forth again and again. Believing is therefore participation in a common conviction. The faith of others supports me, just as the fervor of my faith enkindles and strengthens others. The Church emphasizes the “I” and the “we” of faith by using two professions of faith in her liturgies: the Apostles’ Creed, the →CREED that begins with “I believe” (Credo), and the Great Creed of Nicaea- Constantinople, which in its original form starts with the words “We believe” (Credimus). How did John Baptiste De La Salle lived the life of Faith? Faith is of primary importance in the life of our founder, St. John Baptist De La Salle. His invitation for us to… “Remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God” is a constant element in the Lasallian Spirituality. This Awareness of God’s holy presence enabled him to make major decisions in his life even at a young age. His biographers pointed out that even at the early age of 7, the young John Baptist has already felt and responded to God’s invitation for him to serve God as a priest. At 11 years old, he received the tonsure which is a public sign that He is consecrating his life in the service of God, and at 15, He has already accepted the ecclesiastic duty of being a Canon of the Cathedral of Rheims, a role which shows without a doubt his total dedication to be a servant of God. All these are in direct contradiction to the norms of his days where his fellows are busying themselves establishing their other youthful fields as dictated by their status in life. If we take into account his parentage: His father, Louis De La Salle who was known to be an influential counselor of the King of France, and the president of the royal court in Rheims while his mother, Nicolle Moët de Brouillet, was the daughter of another king's counselor, whose family was famous throughout the Champagne region for both their vineyards and their influence, the young John Baptist would have been significant either in the financial or political arena of the city of Reims. However, De La Salle had his youthful eyes set upon his one goal: that of serving God as a Priest. He clearly saw the hand of God, leading him towards the formation to the Priesthood, as he joined the seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris. His dreams would take a slight detour however, when in 1671 his mother died and a year after his father died as well. He was around 21 years old when he and his siblings became orphans and He has to suspends his seminary training so that He can take care of the affairs of his family IRS1 Lasallian Spirituality Handouts page no. "19 of "100 and secure the family inheritance for him and his four brothers and two sisters. This family setback however, did nor stopped him from pursuing his dream of serving God as a priest, for he continued his training and eventually received the sacrament of Holy orders when He was 27 years old. Seeing with the eyes of faith, De La Salle turned his seemingly random encounters with persons into a graced moment where He would recognized that God is directing him towards a path of greater service and mission to the Lord, through his people. One such moment was his encounter with Adrien Nyel at the doorstep of the convent of the Sisters of the Child Jesus. Adrien Nyel was a layman, requesting his help in establishing a school for the poor boys in the city of Reims. De La Salle did not see the grand design or the master plan of God for his life. What he saw was the simply the small signs where God is leading him.