Some Instruction From Dom Gueranger About the Full Meaning of Our Easter Joy
Dom Guéranger was an abbot of great reknown - once upon a time. Most Catholics likely have never heard of him. That's a shame. Fortunately, these days, with the internet, you can search for him. When you find him, if you're not familiar with him, take some time to get up to speed. If you're a serious Catholic who knows you've been cheated of your patrimony these last 50 years or so, you won't regret it.
This esteemed abbot has written some clear instruction about the full meaning of our Easter joy. We'll get to that in a moment. But first, to encourage you to become more familiar with him, a few words about why knowing people like Dom Guérnager is worth your while.
As a working man, from time to time, you may have taken the time to learn something about someone who's famously succeeded at what they do. A couple of names that might have attracted your attention if you're a business man might be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, maybe Warren Buffet. If you're an athlete, you've got a whole palette of folks, active or retired, who've had books written about them. Same for just about any other field. People read about folks like this because they figure they might learn something from them. And that could help them be more successful in their chosen work.
On a more immediate, intimate level, maybe there's someone at your place of business whose work impresses you. For example, if you're a teacher, you notice that a particular colleague seems to be really good at getting students' attention, getting them involved in their lessons, etc. How does he or she do that? Knowing something about how they do it makes sense, doesn't it? Maybe you can use some of their techniques to help you with your students.
I've read a few books about successful people in business. And I've met a few folks over the course of my work life whose way of doing things attracted my attention. In some cases, I made it my business to find out how they managed to do what they did so well. Sometimes what I discovered was helpful, sometimes not so much. But the point of it all was to learn and improve my own work.
This sort of curiosity doesn't necessarily have to be all about material success. Think about it. If you commit to working for the greater glory of God each day, that entails your putting forth your best efforts all the time, doesn't it? So if you can improve those efforts, that's perfectly consistent with trying to diligently work for the glory of God.
Okay. Having covered the worldly and spiritual reasons for recognizing and learning more about people who do what they do exceptionally well, let's get back to the exceptional Dom Guéranger.
Here's something we quoted in a post for the Sunday after Easter. The venerable Dom addresses the whole issue of Easter joy that we've been talking about in recent posts. If you missed it then, take a few moments to read it carefully now. You'll see how important Easter joy really is from the perspective of our spiritual lives:
"The illustrious Benedictine, Dom Guéranger, in his work on the liturgical year, tells us that the practice for this holy season mainly consists in the spiritual joy which it should produce in every soul that is risen with Jesus. 'This joy is a foretaste of eternal happiness, and the Christian ought to consider it a duty to keep it within him, by ardently seeking after that life which is in our Divine Head, and by carefully shunning sin, which causes death. Our Holy Mother the Church is urgently now bidding us rejoice. You who before Easter were sinners, but have not returned to the life of grace, see that you die no more. And you to whom the Paschal solemnity has brought growth in grace, show this increase of more abundant life by your principles and your conduct.'"
If "joy as a foretaste of eternal happiness" doesn't grab your attention, throw some cold water on your face and read that again. It's our desire for eternal happiness that causes us to want to keep Easter joy within us. What better motivation could you imagine?
Now, what follows from this joy? Wouldn't it be the desire for God's grace to work in and through us in all our thoughts, words, and deeds? What will demonstrate the presence of grace within us? Our principles and conduct manifest this.
As we go about our work today, ideally with a joyful spirit, let's be sure our conduct - our thoughts, words, and actions - reflect our Christian principles. To be clear, we mean every thought, every word, every action.
And at the end of the day, as we evaluate how successful we were in our efforts, let's thank Dom Guéranger for his solicitous remarks with a joyous, heartfelt...
This esteemed abbot has written some clear instruction about the full meaning of our Easter joy. We'll get to that in a moment. But first, to encourage you to become more familiar with him, a few words about why knowing people like Dom Guérnager is worth your while.
As a working man, from time to time, you may have taken the time to learn something about someone who's famously succeeded at what they do. A couple of names that might have attracted your attention if you're a business man might be Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, maybe Warren Buffet. If you're an athlete, you've got a whole palette of folks, active or retired, who've had books written about them. Same for just about any other field. People read about folks like this because they figure they might learn something from them. And that could help them be more successful in their chosen work.
On a more immediate, intimate level, maybe there's someone at your place of business whose work impresses you. For example, if you're a teacher, you notice that a particular colleague seems to be really good at getting students' attention, getting them involved in their lessons, etc. How does he or she do that? Knowing something about how they do it makes sense, doesn't it? Maybe you can use some of their techniques to help you with your students.
I've read a few books about successful people in business. And I've met a few folks over the course of my work life whose way of doing things attracted my attention. In some cases, I made it my business to find out how they managed to do what they did so well. Sometimes what I discovered was helpful, sometimes not so much. But the point of it all was to learn and improve my own work.
This sort of curiosity doesn't necessarily have to be all about material success. Think about it. If you commit to working for the greater glory of God each day, that entails your putting forth your best efforts all the time, doesn't it? So if you can improve those efforts, that's perfectly consistent with trying to diligently work for the glory of God.
Okay. Having covered the worldly and spiritual reasons for recognizing and learning more about people who do what they do exceptionally well, let's get back to the exceptional Dom Guéranger.
Here's something we quoted in a post for the Sunday after Easter. The venerable Dom addresses the whole issue of Easter joy that we've been talking about in recent posts. If you missed it then, take a few moments to read it carefully now. You'll see how important Easter joy really is from the perspective of our spiritual lives:
"The illustrious Benedictine, Dom Guéranger, in his work on the liturgical year, tells us that the practice for this holy season mainly consists in the spiritual joy which it should produce in every soul that is risen with Jesus. 'This joy is a foretaste of eternal happiness, and the Christian ought to consider it a duty to keep it within him, by ardently seeking after that life which is in our Divine Head, and by carefully shunning sin, which causes death. Our Holy Mother the Church is urgently now bidding us rejoice. You who before Easter were sinners, but have not returned to the life of grace, see that you die no more. And you to whom the Paschal solemnity has brought growth in grace, show this increase of more abundant life by your principles and your conduct.'"
If "joy as a foretaste of eternal happiness" doesn't grab your attention, throw some cold water on your face and read that again. It's our desire for eternal happiness that causes us to want to keep Easter joy within us. What better motivation could you imagine?
Now, what follows from this joy? Wouldn't it be the desire for God's grace to work in and through us in all our thoughts, words, and deeds? What will demonstrate the presence of grace within us? Our principles and conduct manifest this.
As we go about our work today, ideally with a joyful spirit, let's be sure our conduct - our thoughts, words, and actions - reflect our Christian principles. To be clear, we mean every thought, every word, every action.
And at the end of the day, as we evaluate how successful we were in our efforts, let's thank Dom Guéranger for his solicitous remarks with a joyous, heartfelt...
Happy Easter Dom Guéranger!
And you just know he'll hear us!
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