I. Charism - La Salle.org

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IV. DISCOVERING, LIVING, SHARING THE GIFT OF GOD
teachers means being assiduous to being in the house, in a community
which requires residence, being director of the house, taking
care of the schools and of formation, if not of the education of
the teachers destined to run them. The manner of putting the questions
suggests the solutions: “Are these two employments compatible
If they are not, I must give up one or the other. If these two
duties cannot be reconciled, I must opt for one or the other.” This
discernment would be a clear reflection on his life and on his commitments.
The criteria for discernment appear at N º 9: “The greater glory of
God, the greater service of the Church, my own higher perfection
and the salvation of souls.” Three of these criteria are turned
towards the Mission. Ministry: the greater glory of God (which has
a Jesuit ring to it); the service of the Church: care of the schools; the
salvation of souls: being Director of the house, educating the teachers.
One single look inwards: “my perfection” or how to be good.
At the end, Monsieur de La Salle declares that he is determined: “to
give up my canonry in order to devote myself to the care of the
schools and to the education of the teachers destined to run them”.
N º 10 presents another element of discernment: its confirmation by
peace of conscience when the choice is made: “I carry this response
in the depths of my conscience and I hear it when I consult it”.
John Baptist de La Salle has covered quite an itinerary: from a discourse
on evangelical poverty, on abandonment to Providence, he
has come to a decision: to make up his mind, to give himself over
to another state and finally to a precise commitment; the care of the
schools, the education of the teachers. All this with clear-sightedness
about himself and about others: “what I am and what they are”
as well as with clear-sightedness about the work of God: the destiny
of the establishment of the Christian and gratuitous schools. He
moves from discourse to existential commitment: from “I have