(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Thursday morning, 26 April 2018—Intercultural Week)
Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.
Nowadays, we are constantly connected to our phones, laptops, and other devices, which have great chances of causing many negative differences in our social lives. Especially when communicating with other people, we can easily use our texts to avoid problems in the long run. Sometimes, we even use words less sincerely than we would if we were talking to someone face to face. We should not hide from true reality. Lots of people post pictures of themselves and others usually comment with a “heart eyes emoji” with the intention of showing support saying “You look great” or “This is a really cool picture,” but would the commenters have the courage to walk up to the person in the picture and say, “Wow, I thought your recent Instagram post was really cool” or “You looked really pretty in the picture you just posted”? Many people act in a specific way over text but may act completely different in person. Once in a while, we may build what we believe is a “friendship” over texting, but in real life, the most we say to each other is a simple greeting when passing by each other in the hallway. This frequently occurs because many would agree that sending a text message is much easier than talking to another in person. We should identify the areas of our social lives with which we struggle due to how we depend too much on technology. In what ways can we use texting, snapping, and other sources of technology to help us build more sincere relationships with others?
Let us pray: Dear God, Please help us to not only identify the areas of our social lives that we struggle with, but also help us to use our technology appropriately to improve our relationships. Guide us to understand the fact that tapping a few buttons and hitting send is much easier than communicating with others in person. However, in order to build strong, healthy relationships, we must bond with those who are close to us by speaking face to face. Let us not hide our identities and problems through texts and messages. Give us the courage and strength to be sincere with those who are close to us and to find a balance between our use of technology and the relationships we choose to build.
Saint John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts…Forever.
Megan Chan–De La Salle Middle School–Grade 8
