Are You Jesus?

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Friday morning, 15 April 2016)

Good morning.

We pause and we remember that we are in the holy presence of God.

I recently read a book by Matthew Kelly which has a story about someone who was rushing around trying to make a flight at the airport with his friends. So they ran out the building to get a taxi and ran right into a woman selling food from a produce cart. All of the fruits and vegetables were strewn all over the sidewalk. As the friends encouraged him to keep going, he looked back and noticed that the woman was blind and just stood there with tears streaming down her face.  Despite the friends screaming to him to get in the taxi, he told them to go on without him. He returned to the woman and started picking up the food and neatly organizing it on the cart. The woman turned to him and said, “Are you Jesus?” He was startled and said, “No, of course not!” The woman said, “Oh, because I just prayed for Jesus to help me, and you showed up.”

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When was the last time someone confused us with Jesus? Was there a time recently where we ignored our friends in order to do what we know was the right thing? Have we neglected some of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy because we’re rushing to the busyness of our lives?

Have we ever given food, drink, clothing, or shelter to those in need? What about comforting someone who’s sick or imprisoned, or been with a friend when someone close to them has died? Have we helped someone to understand, to see the error of their ways, been patient with those who’ve wronged us and forgiven them? Or even just prayed for someone other than ourselves?

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If so, you have been like Jesus and practiced works of mercy. Congratulations! But have there been other times when the opportunity to do any of these was there, and yet we were too busy to do anything?

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If we want to be the change in the world that we wish to see and be the best version of ourselves, then these works of mercy are the best guidelines we have. Even when we fail, God still loves us, but wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we all acted more like His son, Jesus?

Let us pray.

Dear Father, We sometimes stumble in being your children and following your truth and beauty. Transform our hearts to put on compassion, kindness, and humility. Help us to stop our busyness of foolish things and to be more like your Son, so that our actions might cause someone to say of us, “Are you Jesus?”

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

Live  Jesus  in our hearts, forever!

Leslie Martinelli–Science teacher                                                                                   

What More Did You Want From Me?

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Thursday morning, 14 April 2016)

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God’s love.

There was a very pious man who was caught in rising floodwaters.  When the water reached his doorstep a neighbor came by in a rowboat and said, “The water is rising, get in my boat and we’ll paddle to safety.”

“No thank you,” replied the religious man. “I have faith in God and I’m sure he will save me.”

The waters continued to rise and the man retreated to the second floor of his house.  A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house. Get in and we’ll take you to safety.”

“No thanks,” replied the religious man. “I have faith in God and I’m sure he will save me.”

But the waters continued to rise until the man had to crawl onto his rooftop.  Just then a helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. “The waters will soon swallow you up. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.”

“No thanks,” replied the religious man. “I have faith in God and I’m sure he will save me.”

The floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived at heaven he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, I am a pious man.  I have faith.  I trusted that you would save me, so why am I here in heaven?”

“My son” replied the Lord. “I sent you two boats and a helicopter—what more did you want from me?”

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So often in life when we find ourselves in need, we expect God to reach out and directly help us through our struggles.  We think the clouds will part, there will be doves and harp music and the great white light will shine on us alone.  It is these times we fail to see God working through our neighbors.  Today, let us look for God on the faces and in the hearts of our brothers and sisters.  Let us also strive to be God’s love for others in our community so that we can experience God in our lives through service and compassion for one another.

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Let us pray

Dear Lord, Everything I am today is a gift from you, Everything I can be tomorrow is my gift to myself.

Saint John Baptist de La Salle…pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts…forever.

Brian Ciccone—Social Studies Teacher

24 Kids in Room Two

(Prayer offered over the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Wednesday morning, 6 April 2016)

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

Hit the buzzer, walk in. Slide the glass and sign in. Stick the visitor sticker down. Turn right, walk down the hall. Drop off Michelle, then Max, then Lindsey. I knock twice on the door, quickly and loud. Isaac comes up to the door, smiles at me, and opens it. He hugs my leg as I walk in, and I’m greeted by a crowd of excited five year old shouts, “Miss Gabby! Miss Gabby!”

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This is the process I went through every Wednesday for the past seven weeks at Harry Kizirian Elementary School. This Providence public school is consistently one of the poorest in the state, and the poverty doesn’t hide. It’s present in the outfits that the children wear, the lunchroom, and the structure of the building. I saw a level of poverty I had never experienced every time I was there, but I could never really focus on it in the moment. When I was in the school, all I could ever focus on were the smiling faces of the kids in my kindergarten class. I saw how excited they’d get when I’d walk in, and the excitement would remain during the entirety of the work time that I was present. Sometimes I’d work one-on-one with a child, but often I’d be leading a group. I learned that working with a lot of different learning styles at once is really hard, but it’s rewarding. It’s worth everything to see growth. It’s worth everything to see the joy on a kid’s face when they feel like they’ve done something right. It’s worth the high fives and the tight hugs.

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My grasp on poverty is a lot more open now after traveling through this experience. I don’t know for certain if any of the children I encountered over these last seven weeks are in a home where government services are used to provide basic needs like food and health insurance, but if they are, it doesn’t change who they are as people. The poor are humans too, with faces and names. I think what I’ve learned most in this experience is that because the above is true, we are morally obligated to help those in poverty, simply because we are people. After facing the poor and walking beside them, I feel more compelled than ever to help. I can only hope that my classmates who are about to embark on their own Christian Service journeys feel the same love as I feel for those twenty four kids in Room Two.

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Let Us Pray

Lord, we ask for love and guidance as we send a new set of students to their Christian Service sites. We ask everyone who’s been through this experience to never forget what they have learned. We also ask for everyone around us to embrace fully the presence of poverty. Teach us to surrender to You our excessive search for material comforts, and to discard whatever material goods we possess that do not serve You. Teach us to be poor in spirit, so we can learn to always rely on Your strength and power to make us instruments of peace.

 

Saint John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us

Live Jesus in Our Hearts…Forever

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Gabby Florio–Class of 2016