To Glorify the Lord By Our Lives

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Tuesday morning, 19 September 2017)

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

After our La Salle mass last week, Fr.  Woodhouse said, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” What does that mean?

First, the declaration is that we go peacefully. St. Francis de Sales said, “Do not lose your inner peace for anything, even if your whole world seems upset.” This can be very challenging some days especially during times of sorrow or crisis, but the second part tells us how to relieve the sorrow- by living a life that glorifies the Lord. That’s a tall order -to live in imitation of Christ- even though we know as Christians, that’s what we’re called to do. I think young people are great at this.

Our La Salle and De La Salle students do wonderful outreach for those most in need. And the key is the joy they show whenever they’re reaching out to those who struggle. It would not be glorifying the Lord if giving alms were done by people who were grumbling about it, so they do it with smiles. By our good works we give light to those who walk in darkness. This is what Christ did for us by dying on the cross and continues to do for us every day especially when we are fragile and weak from trials. Remember the Footprints prayer- that at our saddest and most troublesome times of life the Lord carries us in His arms.

And since God chooses the weak and humble ones of the world to do His most important work, we must never let an opportunity pass where we could help someone else in need. It could be the person close to you or someone you don’t know living across the globe. We must let our light shine so that others may send the love we’ve shown to them out to others in the world- which is the only way we’ll get true peace.

In Matthew, chapter 5, we hear, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Let us pray.

Lord, you have given us everything that we need and never leave us alone; give us the grace today and all days to work for our neighbor and spread our lights in the darkness so that we may “glorify the Lord by our life.”

St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.

Live, Jesus in our hearts, forever.

Leslie Martinelli–Science Teacher