The True Meaning of Family

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

The concept of family is a really interesting thing. From before you can even remember, you are essentially made to live with a defined group of people that oftentimes share your looks, personalityGenetics Traits and Family PEOPLE 163 Pc. Clip-Art Set! Great For NGSS!Genetics Traits and Family PEOPLE 163 Pc. Clip-Art Set! Great For NGSS!

traits, and heritage. We learn to love this group of people unconditionally. This concept teaches us from a young age how to be part of a basic community, a lesson we use for the rest of our lives. 

 

From the time I was really little, my parents, especially my dad, emphasized the importance of family. Every Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and even birthdays and smaller holidays were always spent together, complete with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. It reminded my siblings and I that we always had people in our lives that would love and care for us unconditionally. Christmas Eve, in particular, is always very special for us. In classic Italian spirit, my dad and I always prepare the 7 different kinds of fish for everyone, similar to the way he and his dad did when he was my age. Italian Family Diagram | QuizletSome other annual Christmas Eve traditions for us include exchanging gifts, Skyping relatives stationed overseas, traditional questions about how my “marks in school are”, and a lot of eating. When my grandfather passed away in July, I recognized the only downfall to having a close knit family: loss hits that much harder. But this is where the value of family shines through. It reinforces your faith in the fact that, together, you can get through anything. 

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Almost 4 years ago, I joined a new family, the Lasallian family. Being a part of this family is a big responsibility. What we do and say reflects not only on just ourselves, but on our community, and what that community stands for. When I stepped onto campus in uniform for the first time in August 2017, I knew for certain that I had just joined an incredibly special and unique family. Over the past 4 years, teachers, friends, and club moderators have taught me what it means to be Lasallian both inside but more importantly outside of the classroom. Whether that be volunteering at Open House, getting your friend through a tough situation, or even packing a bag and spending a week in Montana, every experience here has taught me the true meaning of family. 

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Let us pray. Lord God, remind us to be ever-aware of Your presence in the different families we are a part of. May we never lose sight of the fact that each day You give us is a blessing, and that somebody will always love us unconditionally. Help us to constantly maintain our faith in You and to remember that, a community, united as one, can get through anything. 

St. John Baptiste de La Salle

Pray for us. 

Live Jesus, in our hearts, 

Forever. 

Neil D’Attelo, Class of 2021, Morning Prayer, October 20, 2020

We Ask, We Seek, We Knock, We Pray!

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

Last night, just as I was about to sit and write this prayer, my lights flickered, then the wifi went down, and like many of you, we lost power.  “Just perfect,” I thought.

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2020 has been a monster of a year.  It has taken so much.  Recently, I asked some students what they missed most from our pre-pandemic days.  This is what they told me, in no particular order: 

  • Going to the movies
  • Being all together
  • hugs
  • Playing a regular sports season
  • Seeing my grandparents
  • Being able to eat our food in Dunkin
  • Seeing someone’s smile
  • Huddling around one lunch table in the cafeteria

Our nation and our world are in need of healing and of peace.  Over 200,000 people have lost their lives in this pandemic.  We cry out for racial justice for our brothers and sisters of color, and our very planet is on fire, global warming threatening our very existence. 

I’m not sure what the lessons of this year will be. But as I sit here writing by the flashlight of my phone, prayer seems like a good place to start.  In today’s Gospel, we are told, “Ask and you will receive, Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you.” 

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And so, as a people of faith, we do what we do when we don’t know what else to do.  We ask, we seek, we knock, we pray.

God, our Father, Our Mother, Our Friend

Our source of all comfort.

Bring Healing to our world and to our friends,

To those who are ill and who are hurting

Surround them with your love

In these days that test our limits and try our patience,

May we grant each other charity, an extra measure of grace, a little more slack.

We know that, even as we are humbled and sad, we will laugh and rejoice again.

Take good care of us Oh Lord, so that we can take good care of one another.

 

St. John Baptist de La Salle: Pray for US

Live Jesus in our Hearts: Forever!

Morning Prayer:  Thursday October 8 – Mrs. Christine Estes, Lasallian Animator

 

Afternoon Reflection:

 

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

Who or what in your life needs God’s peace and healing? In what circumstances today were you able to grant another charity, patience, or grace?  How can you take better care of those around you? 

St. John Baptist de La Salle: Pray for Us

Live Jesus in our Hearts: Forever!

Let Us Be Each Other’s Caretakers!

Good Morning La Salle and DLS. Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God:

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in our lives. There is little good that has come out of the trauma we have all experienced, but there might be something positive in our future to look forward to, and that is this: The world is going to start over again and we have the opportunity to make it a better place. We need a more balanced, humane system. We need a more honorable government. We need people to come first. We don’t get to that place without a crushing transformation. We need to know how to awaken that power in ourselves. As overwhelming as it is for each person, it will be in this experience that we discover how truly empowered we are as individuals and as children of God. When we look at what’s happening, one way to approach it is that we are somehow going to have to navigate through it. We don’t have a choice. We were dealt some pretty awful cards, but everything that we are facing requires all of us to transform something in ourselves, to see the world differently, to approach the world differently.

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It is a challenge – make no mistake about it. Especially as we see the world on fire – whether it’s on the streets or in the forests. We cannot avoid the messages around us anymore… It’s pretty clear that we are intimately connected to each other, and that we are each other’s caretakers. 

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As Scripture tells us, “Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously – a man against his brother- defiling the covenant of our fathers?” We are in this fight together, and we will need each other’s help to catch us when we stumble, to hold out a hand when we need assistance, to offer up a kind word when we are feeling low. 

Last week, I was walking to my mailbox to see if I had any mail, and as I made my way from the MAC to the main building, I could hear other teachers in their classrooms, headphones in their ears, speaking loudly so everyone could hear them over the fans, both in the classroom and at home, and I heard the voices of students through the computer speakers trying to stay included in the class discussion. Instead of being sad at the circumstances we find ourselves in, I almost had to laugh, because this all seems so fitting. Here we are, a group of imperfect teachers and students alike, and yet we are making it work. We are being each other’s caretakers and making sure we have what it takes to get the job done. There is NOTHING more Lasallian than that. And we are in the best place possible to succeed. I actually have no doubt that we are going to make this year not just a tolerable year, or a year with an asterisk attached to it, but a year that will be successful, that we will come out of smarter, better, kinder, and holier. 

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Let us pray… Dear God, you don’t send us trials in our lives to punish us, but rather you allow us to learn from those hurdles that we have to overcome, those crosses we have to bear. Let us always remember that we need only to look at the example your Son set for us by carrying His Cross, which was all of our Crosses. Let us be each other’s caretakers and be grateful for our community here at 612 Academy Avenue. 

Saint John Baptist de La Salle… Pray for us. 

Live Jesus in our hearts… Forever!

 

Morning Prayer:  Thursday, October 1, 2020

Joseph DeLeo – Physical Education/Dance Instructor

 

AFTERNOON REFLECTION:

 Good Afternoon. Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of God.

How was I a caretaker to my peers today? 

In what ways did I contribute positively to our community? 

When I stumbled, who was there to catch me?

Let us pray… Dear God, thank you for the gift of the Lasallian community in our lives, and thank You for our friends, teachers, and students who inspire us everyday. Because of Your example, we are able to be better people.  

Saint John Baptist de La Salle… Pray for us. 

Live Jesus in our hearts… Forever!