The Sands of Our Lasallian Hourglass

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the La Salle Academy educational community on Friday morning, 16 May 2014)

Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of a loving God.

While my mom was growing up, she used to watch a television show with her mother called The Days of Our Lives. The premise of this show, at its most basic level, is to follow the ups and downs, or tragedies and triumphs of many families in the town of Salem.  At the beginning of every episode, an hourglass would flip and the voice of Macdonald Carey, the star of the program, would say:  “Like the sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

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            My time at La Salle Academy has been like those sands. From the first time I stepped on this campus at the 2009 Open House, all the way to these final days as a student here, I have experienced so much, the usual ups and downs of the high school experience. But one thing that I did not expect to get from these four years was a new family, a community, as strong as the one at La Salle.

            When the senior class entered La Salle for the first time four years ago, we were told of all of the great times we were about to share together. At the time, I bet not one of us really expected our experience to have been this great. All of the times that we have shared have been those sands through the hourglass. 

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            We were told on our first day together, when we were given our navy blue class of ’14 t-shirts, that we had to earn our maroon and white. It was not something that was just given because it was that special. All of the grains of sand, the times shared by our class, are what have earned us the maroon and white that we now all wear with pride.

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            Through those grains of sand, we have learned what it means to be Lasallian. All of the Christian Service visits, the walkathons, and the dress down days for good causes have contributed to an experience that is much more than just four years of high school. The teachers we’ve interacted with during our time here have been so influential on all of us. Even though we were only privileged enough to have Brother Paul with us for one semester as seniors, he had a huge, ever lasting, impact on so many of our lives. The teachers and administrators at La Salle have given their all to make the sands of our high school experience as rich and meaningful as they can possibly be.

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            As much as we have shared so much together during our time at La Salle, our experiences have also been very individual. Each of us will leave La Salle with our own version of what La Salle means to us. Whether we played in band or orchestra, participated in theater, or were members of athletic teams, the people we met through our activities are a huge part of the sands of our Lasallian experience. Our coaches, teachers, moderators and leaders dedicated their time and energy to make our time at La Salle the best it could possibly be.

              But no matter what La Salle means to you, we are all one family, and as the seniors move forward after these final few days as students at La Salle, we will always hold on to the sands that make us Lasallian. Next year, we will move forward to something different, something unique, and flip over our new hourglasses on a new chapter of our lives, but the sands of our La Salle experience will remain a part of us forever.

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            Let Us Pray… Dear God, thank you for all of the ups and downs that we have all experienced as members of the La Salle community, and as we go forward, help us to never forget the sands of our time here.  

Saint John Baptist de La Salle… Pray for us

Live Jesus in our hearts… Forever

 Caroline Falvey (Class of 2014)

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