Brothers,
In Chapter Two of I, John Baptist de La Salle, entitled, "The Seed Years," we are given an account of de La Salle's radical sacrifice in which he gave up everything for the sake of educating the poor of France. Acting as St. La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "I gave up my salaried position to a poor pirest, and I gave away my money to feed teh hungry. From that time on, I got much closer to the children they taught. I could now truthfully say, 'We Brothers'" (25). Here, we get a sense of how important self-sacrifice is in the life of a Christian. Only when one "takes up his cross"--or dedicates himself to a cause greater than himself--can he truly begin to experience God's kingdom of love on earth.
That said, I would like you to discuss one theme (a unifying idea or subject of a given text) portrayed in "The Seed Years". Support your discussion with back-up from the text; use quotes and format them properly (as modeled for you above)! Notice above how I discuss the theme of self-sacrifice as being an important part of the Christian's call to duty and relate it to De La Salle's life using a quote from the chapter.
Please be thorough and thoughtful in your response. This blog should be at least one paragraph in length, but may very well exceed that length, especially if you get involved in your discussion of the theme you choose. Always ask yourself "how" and "why" when discussing the points you make about a particular theme. When you insert quotes, you must interpret what the author means by them.
This is due Tuesday, March 17, 2009 by class-time.
Brother Rob Peach, FSC
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26 comments:
Stephen Stuthers
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 13,2009
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" we encounter La Salle's generousity in which he starts a second school and helps pay the salary of the teachers. He gives up a lot of his life trying to help poor boys educate themselves. He eventually opens a couple of schools all over the world. Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby,FSC, writes, "I hired the teachers fir the school and helped out the pastor, a priest friend of mine, with their salaries. The next thing i knew i was sort of a leader" (Kirby 23).
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" I believe the major theme is John Baptist de La Salle following the steps of Jesus. Just as Jesus gave up so much for all of us de La Salle also does. Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, " I gave up my salaried position to a poor priest, and I gave away my money to feed the hungry.". He does this to put himself at the same level of all of the other brothers just as Jesus put himself at our level by becoming man. De La Salle started many schools for the poor children to give them the opportunity to have brighter futures just as Jesus gave all of us the opportunity to go to heaven. De La Salle trained many teachers to instruct all of his poor children just like when Jesus taught his apostles to teach the word of God and spread the good knowledge to the world. John Baptist de La Salle was on his way to becoming a very great and holy man of God.
Micahel Uranker
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 15, 2009
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" we encounter La Salle's contributions to education in which he recruites quality teachers and gives them pride in their work. He gives them religious motivation, and a sense that they are called by God. Speaking as the person of de La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "If I were asked what was my greatest contribution to education, I'd have to say that it was recruiting quality teachers".
Michael Sestric
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011. 06
March 15, 2009
In this chapter of the book sacrifice seems to be a reoccuring theme. There are a couple different types of sacrifice demonstrated in this section.
St. La Salle at one point in his life brings teachers from one of his schools to live in his home with his brothers. Acting as St. La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "None of them was really angry about the teachers' coming into our home, but they weren't exactly happy about it either"(24). This is not only a sacrifice for St. La Salle it is also a sacrifice for his brothers. Though they are not openly willing to have the teachers live in their home they deal with it because they know that De La Salle is on a mission to improve education. They not only sacrificed for God, but for their brother as well.
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed years" you see that La Salle is acting as a Jesus figure in the way that he helped poor boys and educated them through his own willingness to sacrifice money and possetions. He does this because he feels that the best way for himself to help others was through education and religious motivation. Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby,FSC, writes, "My adviser told me to fish or cut bait, to get into the work completely - or to get out"(Kirby 25).
Cam Brown
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 17, 2009
In the second chapter of "I, John Baptist De La Salle," one of the main themes is De La Salle's determination to teach those who are in need. He endures many struggles but does not give up his cause. He sacrifices his salary, his home, and even his reputation to bring forth the word of through teaching. He nearly gives up his life, but he does not yield to the suffering he endures. God shows his everlasting presence through De La Salle.
Nick Durkin
Bro. Robert Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 16, 2009
One theme portrayed in "The Seed Years" is piety. Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes,"I invited all the teachers, about half a dozen or so, to live in my own home. This move did not sit too well with my relatives."(Kirby 24)
This action showed piety because he invited people he did or did not know too well into his own home. He still let the teachers stay in his home even after his brothers thought he was losing it, and after one brother actually moved out. These actions showed his obedience to God's call for him, and his devotion to his service.
In chapter two of "I, Saint John BAptist de La Salle" I see the theme of courage. De La Salle has the courage to start a second school that he was taking, speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby,FSC, writes, "Now this second school I considered my own responsibility, because I hired the teachers for it and helped out the pastor,a priest friend of mine, with their salaries." This to me takes alot of courage to open a school and be the opener, provider, and principal. To me this shows how courageous De La Salle was to himself and the community.
Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "The title, the uniform, the ridicule and the hardships served to unite us all the more."(page 25). Here, we see the goodness of De La Salle's transition to the brotherhood. At first, he refused to give up the promising city-boy life he once lived and was reluctant to join, but now he feels like he's truly part of this band of selfless good-doers. His attitude has gone through the required transformation needed to live the hard but rewarding life that was ahead of him. Like most of us, he new of the hardships of giving up a normal life with normal fun things that we like to do, not to mention the complete devotion to Christ, but he rose up to the many challenges of this seemingly daunting task. It seems ridiculous to us that these loving people would be ridiculed for only trying to do good, but the only reason for this prejudice towards brothers is because they were different, weird, outcasts, whatever you wanted to call them the main point being that average people thought that they didn't belong in society. The consistent disrespect towards them only serves as a reminder of the absolutely awful journey of pure torture that Jesus went through. The brothers didn't have to completely replicate the hardships of Jesus, although they gave themselves up to him. Most of what they had to do was just the little things that make peace in the world that some of us unfortunately struggle to accomplish.
chad Goldman
Bro. Robert Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 16, 2008
In chapter two, "Seed Years", a common theme of the chapter would be sacrifice. La Salle gave up his family wealth and paid position as a priest to a lower wealth priest. His wealth went to poorer families. The respect he got from theses actions helped with his schools.
I believe the main theme in chapter two of I, John Bapist de La Salle is sacrifice. Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby,FSC, writes," I gave up my salaried position to a poor priest,and I gave away my money to feed the hungry. From that time on, I got much closer to the Bothers and to the children they taught. I could now truthfully say, We Brothers" (Kirby 25). This quote explains my point of La Salle's sacrifice because he gave up his lavish life style to the life of a typical priest in his day. But La Salle was no ordinary priest, he started his owns Christan schools. Where the Christan brothers and hired teachers taught and helped run these schools. John Baptist de La Salle also invited the brothers and teachers to live in his own house, this also shows how La Salle was willing to sacrifice his own home to the bettering of his community
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years", a reoccuring theme is sacrafice St. John Baptist de La Salle shows. Brother Leo Kirby, FSC writes, " I could now truthfully say, 'We brothers.' There was no turning back: I was burning bridges behind me." (25). When he was reminded that life was harsh for teachers, and the teachers started complaining that de La Salle was not truly involved, he decided to join the lower class. The other teachers said that he could talk about trusting in God's Province because he is still getting a salary and has his inheritance to fall back on. They did have a point, so he gave his position to a poor preiest and have his entire inheritence to the hungry. This was a big decision for him to make because once he made this transition into poverty, there was no turning back. This transition was better for him in the long run, and he still set schools all over the country, and was truly a Brother. He was totally dependent on Providence, and had complete faith in God, that He would support he and his cause. God did support him, and he successfully created revolutionary schools that taught teachers, set up even more schools throughout large cities, and basically completely changed schools and the Brothers for the better.
Conor Coleman
Bro. Rob Peach
REligion 011.06
March 13 2009
In the second chapter of "I, Saint John Baptist de la Salle," entitled The Seed Years, there are many important themes. For example, the theme of service, a characteristic of St. John Baptist which we can follow and apply to our own lives. Saint John Baptist de la Salle practices this quality through countless acts of selflessness such as opening two schools, renting a house for teachers to live in and eventually allowing to share his home with them, which caused hostility and anger to arise between his siblings and him, and even helping with the teachers' personal problems. Brother Leo Kirby, FSC, (writing as St. La Salle), writes "Life was harsh... Some teachers died of exhaustion; others left the work," (Kirby, 25). La Salle's unending devotion to his peers and students made his life harder, yet he persisted and helped better the world.
Jack Treado
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 13, 2009
In chapter two of "I, St. John Baptist de La Salle, a reoccuring theme is sacrifice. St. la Salle invites the teachers to live in his own home. This is a big sacrifice that him and his family must make, because now they must share their home with a bunch f strangers. One brother even moves out. Another large sacrifice St. La Salle makes is he gives away his job and his inheritance. "I gave up my salaried position to a poor priest, and I gave away my money to feed the hungry.,"(Kirby, 25). He does these kind acts so he can get on the same level as the teachers he works with. These acts of kindness are th foundations of the Christian Brothers.
In chapter two of "I,John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" the theme to me is if you give you will receive back. I say this because in this chapter we learn that La Salle's gratitude for other people leads him to building a second school. He did most of this by himself. La Salle says "Now this second school I consider my own responsibility, because I hired the teachers for it and helped out the pastor, a priest friend of mine, with their salaries." I say that if you shall give you will receive because La Salle provided this second school and had received much thanks and respect for it. This is one of the many examples of why La Salle is a saint.
Vaughn Franz
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 13,2009
In chapter two of "I, Saint John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" an important theme is change. In this chapter de La Salle experiences many changes in his life. He invited his friend Nyel to live in his house ,along with half a dozen teachers the year after.He also is starting to open new schools. One of the biggest changes that affected him and all of his teachers was the decision to call themselves Brothers and to wear different clothing. Speaking as the person of de La Salle Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "We decided to call ourselves Brothers... and to wear a type of clothing that distinguished us from both the laity and the clergy." (Kirby 24-25). Of all the changes he undergoes in this chapter none is greater than the sacrifice of his wealth and took on a difficult life for the Brothers. These changes effected de La Salle's life and made him into the priest who had founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
Matt Doherty
Bro. Rob Peach,FSC
Rel 011.06
March 16,2009
"The Seed Years" investigates St. John Baptist de La salle's beginning as an educator and a brother. Maintaining the schools and helping the poor was a rigorous challenge. The input St. John Baptist de La Salle gave to his greater mission was great. Self-sacrifice indeed fueled the aid that could be given to the poor of France. St. John Baptist de La Salle set an example in which good people use every day to help the needy all over the world. In "The Seed years" Selflessness appears to be the main theme. the following statement gives you an example of what type of sacrifices were made on a daily basis. "The life was harsh: the classes were large: the food was plain and meager: the furnishings were makeshift: the day was long with class duties and community prayers. Some teachers died of exhaustion: others left work."This idea that the few could help many or one could help all relates back to the teachings of Christ. Christ gave his life for our salvation. Good Samaritans and people like St.John Baptist de La Salle give their life's work to help others in a way only the son of God could inspire.
Alex Hooper
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel011.06
March, 16, 2009
In chapter 2 of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years" you can find a theme of St. John's generosity. An example of this is when he invites about a hslf of a dozen other teachers to live in his house. Acting as St. La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes "I invited about a half dozen or so teachers to live in my home. This did not sit too well with my relatives, I think they thought I was loosing my mind." (24)
The bigest teme in the novel "I, John Bapist de La Salle" is generosity. Like when John invited Nyel and his young copanion into his home in order to get there school started. Also he helps pay the teachers of the school. It seams like Salle has spent most of his life helping needy or less forchanent boys get there education.
Alex Slowik
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 16,2009
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de la Salle: The Seed Years" speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes," I invited Nyle and his young companion into my home and some of my priest friends and I helped them get the school started". From this quote, the theme could be a form of hospitality. For example, De La Salle openly invites people to stay with him in his home and also helping to start a school. Then De La Salle started to rent houses for the teachers, iron out problems in the schools, and invite the teachers to his house for meals. Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes, "Next thing I knew I was a sort of leader with these teachers, praying with them and giving them advice with class work and personal problems".
Francesco Speziali
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 1231274123 2000000000009
In the second chapter of "I, John Baptist de La Salle", (The seed years), John makes the art of teaching a rather important one in times when teaching was considered a garbage job. Like an extremist, revolutionist, John inspires his hired teachers to take pride in their work, so that they can perform their jobs with motivation and meaning. He finds that teaching children is much more important, and is not taken seriously enough, and to help display his determination, he lowers himself to the conditions of his fellow teachers or "brothers".
in chapter two of "i john baptist de la salle"...
he for real went through a lot during this. His good life and his wealth and that comfortableness he gave up to help the weaker and poorer people. little bit ironic since he was ignorant to them. Its amazing on how he did give up everything to become.. de la salle. The theme is def straight up courage.
Chris McNulty
Bro. Robert Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 17, 2009
In the second chapter, called "Seed Years," one of the most dominate themes is personal sacrifice. De la Salle mad many sacrifices over the years of his life, from the time he was just a boy until his death. One of those sacrifices included starting his schools for the poor and uneducated, especially since the Church in general was very sympathetic to the wealthy, and lead to a conflict of interests between the Brothers and the church, which looked down upon the school and feared that it may undermine their close ties with the wealthy. In addition, de la Salle also let several teachers and Brothers live in his home, who he shared with his brothers. While his brothers were not thrilled by their new housemates, they accepted their presence because they knew that this is what their brother loved to do. In addition, de la Salle was not the only person making sacrifices. Many of his teachers and fellow Brothers gave up their lives to live and work with the poor, and were often ridiculed by other people. These people continue to serve as an example for many educators around the world, and the Fratres Scholarum Christianarum Brothers.
Pat Quirin
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 13, 2009
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist De La Salle: The Seed Years" Bro. Leo Kirby really makes known John Baptist De La Salle's openness and welcoming nature. He invited two men into his house, not to have a slumber party, but to discuss plans to build a new school. John Baptist De La Salle not only opened this school, but helped pay for the teachers salaries with his own earned money. A rich woman asked John to open a school for poor boys, and without hesitation, Bro. Leo Kirby, FSC, writes inpersonataing John Baptist De La Salle, "This we did. Now this second school I considered my own responsibility, because I hired the teachers for it and helped out the pastor, a priest friend of mine, with their salaries" (Kirby 23). Under his own circumstances, he took on this resposibility and was not only the so called head of this school, but the face of catholicism at its finest.
In chapter two of "I, John Baptist de La Salle: The Seed Years", we encounter a reoccurring theme of self-sacrifice. De La Salle gives up his life of luxury in order to teach the less fortunate of France. He uses his home as a house for the brothers . De La Salle gave up his life of the rich for a noble cause.
Patrick Doyle
Bro. Robert Peach, FSC
Rel 011.06
March 30, 2009
Speaking as the person of De La Salle, Bro. Leo Kirby,FSC, writes, "I hired the teachers for the school and helped out the pastor, a priest friend of mine, with their salaries. The next thing i knew i was sort of a leader" (Kirby 23). This shows that De La Salle was reluctant to do take much credit or responsibility, but at the same time, knew that he needed to step up and do whatever was needed to help people learn.
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