From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   What is the significance of the stone being rolled away?   
      
   What is the significance of the stone being rolled away? It would have   
   taken several people to roll away such a stone. And besides, the   
   sealed tomb had been guarded by soldiers! This is clearly the first   
   sign of the resurrection.  Bede, a church father from the 8th century,   
   comments: "[The angel] rolled back the stone not to throw open a way   
   for our Lord to come forth, but to provide evidence to people that he   
   had already come forth. As the virgin's womb was closed, so the   
   sepulcher was closed, yet he entered the world through her closed   
   womb, and so he left the world through the closed sepulcher." (From   
   Homilies on the Gospels 2,7,24) Another church father remarked: "To   
   behold the resurrection, the stone must first be rolled away from our   
   hearts" (Peter Chrysologus, 5th century).   
      
      
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   April 7th - St. John-the-Baptist de la Salle   
   (1651-1719)   
      
   John-the-Baptist de la Salle was born in Reims, France, the son of   
   noble parents. His mother, who was especially devout, trained him in a   
   piety that prompted him to seek the priesthood. At the seminary in   
   Paris, he excelled in learning as well as spirituality; and after   
   ordination in 1678 he never missed celebrating daily Mass except when   
   ill.   
      
   La Salle would normally have become a prominent diocesan functionary;   
   but in 1679 he lent a hand to a layman, Adrian Nyel, who had come to   
   Reims to open a school for poor boys. Canon La Salle became interested   
   in Nyel’s project, and especially concerned about the seven young   
   laymen he had engaged as teachers. He saw that these men lacked   
   training and motivation, so he took them into his own home, where he   
   established a house rule and tutored them in spirituality as well as   
   educational methodology. The seven responded poorly, and some even   
   left Reims; but others more promising replaced them, and La Salle   
   began to invite younger men to enter his group and thus grow up under   
   his tutelage.   
      
   As a result, from 1682 on to 1717, Father La Salle was gradually   
   forming, spiritually and pedagogically, the religious order ultimately   
   called the Brothers of the Christian Schools. One rule he established   
   was that while these teaching brothers took the vows of poverty,   
   chastity and obedience, none of them should ever go on to the   
   priesthood. Theirs, he intended, would be a humility that aspired to a   
   total educational vocation, undistracted by priestly obligations. To   
   them he gave a pioneering teaching plan wisely adapted to the varying   
   talents of each pupil, but including thorough training in both secular   
   and religious knowledge. At most schools for boys then, instruction   
   was still given in Latin. St. John ordered that his teachers use only   
   the vernacular.   
      
   Although LaSalle’s teaching brothers at first worked in elementary   
   schools, they gradually expanded into secondary and college-level   
   education. This was typical of the founder: all along he had followed   
   the inspirations that God had given him, step by step. He had also   
   accepted without murmur all sorts of trials and setbacks. He   
   summarized this attitude in his last words, “In all things I adore the   
   will of God in my regard.”   
      
   The schools of the La Salle brothers spread from France into many   
   other countries, including the U.S.A. The brothers not only became   
   schoolmasters to thousands of their own pupils, but also set an   
   example to many other Catholic teachers. Furthermore, the concept of a   
   religious community of teaching brothers caught on, and several   
   similar orders were established. Eleven of these were founded in   
   France, including the Viatorians, the Marists, and the Holy Cross   
   Brothers. In Ireland, Br. Ignatius Rice launched in 1802 the Christian   
   Brothers of Ireland. (Today they are called the Congregation of   
   Christian Brothers). Religious orders of nuns were also influenced by   
   the saint’s example.   
      
   St. John Baptist de la Salle had thus discovered a unique apostolate.   
   No wonder Pope Pius XII in 1950, fifty years after his canonization,   
   declared him heavenly patron of all schoolteachers.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The Devil never runs upon a man to seize him with his claws until he   
   sees him on the ground, already having fallen by his own will.   
   --St. Thomas More   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
   And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.   
   But they, dividing his garments, cast lots.  (Luke 23:34)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer for healing   
      
   Our Father, our Holy heavenly God: The One and Only One, True and   
   Living, Supreme Being, Healer of our bodies and spirits. In your words   
   healing is variously described. Some in reference too our bodies. But,   
   in many ways refer to our spirit. For it is necessary that our spirit   
   be right. Else we fail in our prayers to You. You know my needs, that   
   are reflected in my prayers. You do know my future. So I leave my   
   needs in Your care, period. Seldom do You answer in the way I might   
   expect. Always, You do answer for my good. As You have promised, my   
   life is complete as I move from hurting into relief. And do anticipate   
   my future, in You, is secure. Thank You, Praise You, with all my love,   
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)