Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow on another word of St. Paul: after having said that Jesus Christ is all, he adds that He is in all; and from this word we will learn to see Jesus Christ: 1st, in all persons; 2nd, in all things; 3rd, in all our acts. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to treat our neighbor with the same charity as if it were Jesus Christ Himself; 2nd, to see and honor Jesus Christ in all things and in all our acts. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the word, the subject of our meditation: In all Jesus Christ.
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore the Holy Spirit showing us Jesus Christ in all things. A word of God, it has often been said, is worth more than all the discourses of men; it is indeed here that this word is true: it shows us Jesus Christ living and acting in all things, governing and directing all events, presiding over all our actions, and presenting Himself to us therein as our model. Oh! how adorable, how lovable Jesus is in all things! Let us render Him our homage in union with the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse: We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, and who art to come, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast reigned.
FIRST POINT
Faith Teaches Us to See Jesus Christ in All Persons.
It shows Him to us in superiors: “He who hears you hears Me; he who despises you despises Me,” says this divine Saviour. To resist authority is to resist God, says St. Paul. It shows Him to us in those who have the mission to instruct us. “We are the ambassadors of Jesus Christ; it is as if God exhorted you by our mouth,” said the same apostle. It shows Him to us in the ministers of the sacraments. It is He who baptizes by their hands, who absolves by their mouth, who consecrates by their ministry. It shows Him to us in the poor and the little ones. “I consider as done to Myself whatever is done to the least of Mine”: in the sick, the strangers, the prisoners, and all those who suffer: “I was sick, and you visited Me; I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was in prison, and you came to see Me.” Finally, in all men without exception, it shows us members of the Saviour; He lives in them, and they are His temples. If this doctrine were well understood, how people would love one another! how they would respect one another! No more quarrels and altercations, no more wounding words, no more slander; but always and everywhere charity with its amiable attentions, its delicate care, its proceedings full of gentleness and grace. Let us examine our conscience here; let us cry pardon for the past, and take resolutions for the future.
SECOND POINT
Faith Teaches Us to See Jesus Christ in All Things.
It shows Him to us in our body: it is He who moves it at our will; in the air we breathe, it is He who prepares it in suitable measure; in the sun, it is He who sends us the sweet light; in the flowers of the fields, the beauties of nature, the magnificence of the heavens, it is He who made all these wonders to embellish our exile; in the earth, it is He who makes it fertile; in the water, it is He who refreshes us by it; in the fire, it is He who warms us by its flame; in the animals, it is He who by them nourishes us, gives us clothing, recreates us and renders us a thousand services; in the rain, it is He who pours it according to the needs of the earth; in the succession of days and seasons, it is He who disposes them with such perfect regularity; in food, it is He who provides it to all that breathes, prepares it for us and serves it to us by His members, the other men employed in our service; finally, in all events, it is He who disposes them for our good with such care that nothing happens except through Him, not even the fall of one of our hairs; with such assiduity that, even when we sleep, He watches at our bedside; with such goodness that He makes Himself like a solicitude. If events are favorable, it is His goodness that spares our weakness; if they are contrary, it is still His love that, for our salvation, makes us carry the cross with Him. Finally, whatever happens, men are only His instruments; He is the sovereign master who directs all for our greatest good. In a higher order of things, He gives us His angels to guard us, His apostles to instruct us, His martyrs to protect us, His saints to edify us, His sacraments to unite us to Him, His spirit to animate us, His Church to direct us, and His graces to go, like the long arm of His mercy, seeking everywhere sinners to convert, the lukewarm to warm, the just to sanctify. Oh! how lovable Jesus is, and how ungrateful we are!
THIRD POINT
Faith Teaches Us to See Jesus Christ in All Our Acts.
If we rise in the morning, He is the sun of justice that we must salute upon awakening; if we dress, He is the garment with which we must clothe ourselves. If we pray, it must be in Him and through Him; if we read, He is the truth that we must adore hidden under the bark of the letters; if we recreate ourselves, it is in His company, since, as God, He is present everywhere; if we take our rest, it is on His breast and as in His arms. Finally, everything we do or say, we must do or say in His name, for His love and to please Him.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
Note on Recovery of Missing Meditation (Second Week after Epiphany: Thursday)
This meditation (Thursday of the Second Week after Epiphany) was lost in the original English publication by Benziger Brothers (1894 third edition), where pages 251–282 (and beyond) are missing from the available digitized copy.
The content has been recovered and translated directly from the corresponding section of the original French edition (Méditations pour tous les jours de l'année, by Rev. M. Hamon, 3rd edition equivalent, 1894), preserving the exact meaning, style, tone, and meditative structure of the 1894 English translation as closely as possible.