George Matulaitis Journal

128 imagination. What is the source of our strength? Without any doubt, it is Christ and the spirit of His Church: the goal toward which the Church directs us and the precepts and sacraments she gives us. These are the wellsprings of our life! The more deeply a person becomes immersed in the Spirit of Christ and of the Church, becomes soaked in it, saturated with it, the more complete will be his holiness and the more fruitful will be his work. “This is the victory over the world—our faith” (1 Jn 5:4b). “By this sign—the sign of the cross—will you conquer.” l January 7 I wonder if it would not be a good thing for our Congregation to adopt the practice of religious who have completed their studies to repeat the novitiate for about three months before going out to work. In this way they would renew their spirit, enkindle it with the fire of zeal. After a certain time, those brothers also who have already been out working could profit by making such a short novitiate. This could be done every six or ten years. Just as soldiers are periodically recalled to take refresher courses, so too should religious be called in from time to time to make a novitiate in order to refresh and renew their spirit. The introduction of such a practice could prove very useful, in my opinion, for the individual religious and also for the community and its apostolate. Naturally, such a novitiate would have to be conducted separately from the regular novitiate. January 12 Continually we hear complaints about the dearth of people: there is so much to be done and no one to do it. Often it is easier to raise money 1 A paraphrase of the famous words “In hoc signo vinces” of the Emperor Constantine’s vision, as report- ed in Greek by the historian Eusebius. The vision occurred, probably in Gaul, just before the critical battle at the Milvian Bridge on Oct. 28, 312.