Endurance in Faith

(Prayer offered on the Public Address system for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Friday morning, 8 February 2019—Black History Month)

Good morning, La Salle and De La Salle!

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

I first heard about St. Josephine Bakhita when I asked Mr. Martinez to give me a black Saint for our Freshmen “Saints Project”.  For the project, we had to do research about the saint we chose and then present it back to the class. I heard that St. Bakhita was born in Sudan. Her uncle was chief of her tribe so she was happy and did not suffer. Josephine was kidnapped by Arab slave traders. She was bought and sold at least twice during the extremely tiring and demanding journey. As a slave, her experiences varied from fair treatment to cruel. She was later sold to an Italian family and later was put in the custody of the Canossian Sisters in Venice, a group of nuns. While she was in the custody of the Sisters, she came to learn about God. Her faith grew stronger and she became a true believer. Today is her feast day and we celebrate her.

Fast forward to a week before my confirmation. Most kids in my class had already decided on their saints except for me. So I had to choose one as soon as possible. I ended up choosing Josephine. I struggle a lot with my faith, so it was inspiring because she believed in God and understood God’s love without question, even after what she had gone through.

Let us pray. Dear God, please give us the strength to endure any situation and to find the blessings and lessons that they contain. Please give us the endurance to continue ahead. Please guide our thoughts, words, and actions so that we can walk your path of peace and love.

St. John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.

Live Jesus in Our Hearts…Forever.

Marie Shabani–Class of 2020

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