(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Friday morning, 5 June 2015–last day of classes for undergrads)

Let us remember…We are in the holy presence of God.
A reading from the book of Numbers:

The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron and his sons, thus you shall bless the people of Israel; you shall say to them:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you his peace.”

In 1979 a Villanova professor, working on an excavation near Jerusalem, discovered something resembling the metal cap of a pencil. It took years of work, but finally the contents of this amulet were determined to be the words I have just uttered. And those words, in that amulet, were just a re-expression of this ancient sentiment – probably from 1500 years or more before Christ.

One musician who put these words to music wrote: “Here is a benediction that can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it, every message may conclude with it, every day may begin with it, every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing – keeping – shining – the uplifting of our poor life to all heaven’s glad day. It is the Lord himself who gives us this anthem.”

 

Each one of us is broken in some way, and so there is no one who is not in need of a healing, a blessing. I offer these words to you as a benediction for this day, for our exams, for a summer of joy and growth, and for all days.

Let us pray.
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you his peace.”

Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Pray for us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts! Forever.

Michael McNamara, AFSC–Math Teacher