January 20, 2026
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
Tomorrow again, we will consult Jesus Christ, as our master, from a new point of view. We will study: 1st, the divine principle from which all His acts proceeded; 2nd, the vicious principles from which too often ours proceed. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to do nothing nor say anything by movement of nature, but by dependence on the spirit of God, by love of God alone and the pure desire to please Him without seeking our personal satisfaction; 2nd, to enter into ourselves before, during, and after our principal actions; before, to free ourselves from nature and unite ourselves to the spirit of God; during, to preserve ourselves in this disposition; after, to see if nature has not mixed itself in. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the word of St. Paul: The character of the children of God is to be led by the spirit of God.
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ doing so divinely all His actions, small or great, that nature entered into them for nothing. The spirit of God was alone the principle, the inspirer, the mover; it was the soul of them, so to speak. Let us admire, praise, and bless the complacencies that the heavenly Father took in actions thus done; and let us pray Jesus Christ to give us the intelligence and the courage of this way of acting.
FIRST POINT
Divine Principle from which all the Acts of Jesus Christ Proceeded.
In everything that Jesus Christ did, said, or thought, always a divine principle animated Him; the spirit of God was like the soul of His soul. “Of Myself,” He said, “I do nothing; of Myself I can do nothing; it is not of Myself that I have come. I speak not of Myself; what I do, it is the Father living in Me who does it. If He goes into the desert, it is the spirit of God who leads Him there; if He evangelizes, it is the spirit of God who guides Him and inspires His words.” Whatever He does, it is always by the movement of the spirit of God that He acts. Behold the model of a truly Christian life. It is not enough to be and to act in the state of grace: it is necessary moreover to act by the spirit of grace, like those mysterious animals of which Ezechiel relates that the sole impetuosity of the spirit directed them in their course. One must not anticipate, but wait and immediately follow the impulsion of the spirit of God, for things to do or to say, for the time and the manner of doing and saying them. In duties that are to our taste, we must taste only the will of God who orders them. In everything we must serve only as instruments to the operation of God, and remain ourselves indifferent under His hand, so that He may apply us to what pleases Him. By this, our least actions will become like so many divine actions, since there will enter into them more of the action of God than of ours. They will be more meritorious than all that a fervor mixed with self-will can inspire of great; and if we are apostolic men, the spirit of God speaking by our mouth will work prodigies of conversion. Let us examine if it is thus that we act.
SECOND POINT
Vicious Principles from which Too Often Our Acts Proceed.
1st. One acts by lack of reflection: it would cost too much to pay attention to the principle that makes us act. One goes forward without reflecting, perhaps offering one's action to God, but in a disposition of heart that often belies the word of the mouth; and one does not reproach oneself for it, because one thinks only of the exterior of the act, without rendering account of the interior, which makes all the merit.
2nd. One acts by natural activity. One lets oneself be carried away by this activity, when it would be necessary to restrain and mortify it, to leave time for grace to act and to inspire us, to do everything with calm and moderation, without precipitation as without slowness.
3rd. One acts by taste and pleasure. One throws oneself with ardor on what pleases, and one is all ice for what displeases, as if one should taste anything else in one's actions than the will of God who orders them, as if one should not be disposed to interrupt everything or to abandon everything as soon as the will of God calls us elsewhere.
4th. One acts by self-will: this is what spoils our best actions and takes away most of our merits.
Let us examine if our actions do not often proceed from one of these bad principles. How many times, while saying that we want to please God, do we not want to please Him only according to our taste, or at least without renouncing any other pleasure than that of pleasing Him! God alone does not suffice us, and it is not His good pleasure alone that makes us act.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
Note on the Recovery of Missing Meditation
Important Note on This Meditation (First Week after Epiphany: Tuesday)
This meditation (Tuesday of the First 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.
This recovery ensures continuity of the work while respecting the historical source material.