WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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The window of De La Salle distributing bread
to the poor is based on the 1901 painting

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by Italian artist Giovanni Gagliardi.

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With the cathedral of Rheims in the background,
De La Salle is represented here in the midst

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of what Lasallian scholars have described
as the moment in which he let himself be grasped

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and overcome by the offer of grace to become
one with and for the poor.

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The gospel was no longer to be only the starting
point of his preaching, it was to be the rule

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of his life.

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He renounced his prestigious position as canon
of the cathedral of Rheims and used the occasion

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of the terrible winter famine of 1684-1685
to distribute to the needy all of his personal

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wealth.

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It was now the poverty of the children who
came to his schools with which he associated

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himself, their insecurity in which he intended
to become a partner.

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This scene reflects De La Salle’s core teaching
about the vocation of a Lasallian educator.

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Your actions must be a lively expression,
wrote De La Salle, of what is written in the

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gospel.

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Show the students what a life inspired by
the teachings of Jesus looks like because

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example makes a much greater impression on
the mind and heart than words.

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Take a few moments to look at this window.

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The colorful and fancy dress probably gets
in the way of our imagining the real distress

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of these people, but do not fail to notice
the young boy in the bottom left of the window

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whose hunger is beings satisfied.

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Do you also see the woman with the red scarf
caring for the elderly woman too weary to

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stand, who is perhaps her mother?

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Might the humble gentleman kneeling before
De La Salle actually be the husband, or the

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father of this family?

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Might the two Brothers to the right of De
La Salle be wondering about this evening’s

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meal?

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Are the more well-off townsfolk to the left
of De La Salle looking on in admiration, or

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perhaps in disbelief?

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When I was hungry, you gave me food, said
Jesus in the gospel.

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Where teaching is offered free of charge and
entirely for the glory of God, wrote De La

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Salle, the misfortune and abandonment of the
children of the working class and poor is

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remedied.