Day 63 | Week 18: Nuestra Senora De Guadalupe y Hermano La Salle

Day 62 | Week 18: Mercy Before Judgment

“This extraordinary Holy Year itself is a gift of grace.  To enter through the holy door means to rediscover the deepness of the mercy of the Father who welcomes all and goes out to meet everyone personally.  We have to put mercy before judgment, and in every case God’s judgment will always be in the light of his mercy.”

- Pope Francis on the Opening of the Holy Year of Mercy

Day 59 | Week 17: Hope Is The Thing

"How deep the autumn nights and how deep the secret we carry!  Even as the time winds down on the year and our lives, a youthful part of us still plans, dreams, and creates visions of the future.  Something of summer lingers among the bare branches and fallen leaves of autumn.  We carry a day from summer with us across all seasons.  As Emily Dickinson wrote, ‘Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops at all.’"

- Marv and Nancy Hiles from An Almanac For The Soul 

Day 58 | Week 17: A Deep Search For Light In The Darkness

Advent invites us to search, with heart and soul,
for the light of hope and the promise of peace
in a darkening world.

How do you nourish hope, in yourself, your family, your community,
and those places where it is most sorely needed?

To hope is to uncover
what is least expected,
sometimes hiding in plain sight.
In a cosmos mostly dark and cold
what could be more unexpected than life,
in all its marvelous manifestations.

Where there is hope, there is life,
precious holy gift, mysterious, magical
and stubbornly enduring.

In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
– Isaiah 54:14
 

excerpted from Still In the Storm by Joe Grant

Day 57 | Week 17: Gandhi on Peace

"Although we sing, ‘All glory to God on High and on the earth be peace,’ there seems today to be neither glory to God nor peace on earth.  As long as it remains a hunger still unsatisfied, as long as Christ is not yet born, we have to look forward to him.  When real peace is established, we will not need demonstrations, but it will be echoed in our life, not only in individual life, but in corporate life,  Then we shall say Christ is born… Then we will not think of a particular day in the year as that of the birth of the Christ, but as the ever-recurring event which can be enacted in every life."

- Mahatma Gandhi – from a talk given on Christmas Day 1931

Day 56 | Week 17: A Time To Slow Down

“The more you sense and value the rareness and value of your own life, the more you realize that how you use it, how you manifest if, is all your responsibility.  We face such a big task, so naturally we sit down for awhile.”

- Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi

Day 49 | Week 14: Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

Day 42 | Week 12: Kintsugi

Kintsugi 金継ぎ -- Roughly translated means “the art of golden repair.” When pottery breaks, instead of discarding it, an artisan repairs it with gold, thereby not only restoring it to its original value, but actually increasing its value.  The repair is not hidden; it’s highlighted.

- Samuel Lee

Day 41 | Week 12: Let Go and Let God

"To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according to God's love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control."

- Henri Nouwen

Day 40 | Week 12: I Know

I said, “God, I hurt.”
And God said, “I know.”

I said, “God, I cry a lot.”
And God said, “That is why I gave you tears.”

I said, “God, I am so depressed.”
And God said, “That is why I gave you Sunshine.”

I said, “God, life is so hard.”
And God said, “That is why I gave you loved ones.”

I said, “God, my loved one died.”
And God said, “So did mine.”

I said, “God, it is such a loss.”
And God said, “I saw mine nailed to a cross.”

I said, “But God, your Loved One lives.”
And God said, “So does yours.”

I said, “God, where are they now?”

And God said,
“Mine is on my right and yours is in the Light.”
I said, “God, it hurts.”

And God said, “I know.”

Day 25 | Week 7: from the Homily of Pope Francis at Vespers with Priests and Religious

On the Spirit of Gratitude and the Spirit of Hard Work:

In the hope of helping you to persevere on the path of fidelity to Jesus Christ, I would like to offer two brief reflections.

The first concerns the spirit of gratitude. The joy of men and women who love God attracts others to him; priests and religious are called to find and radiate lasting satisfaction in their vocation. Joy springs from a grateful heart. Truly, we have received much, so many graces, so many blessings, and we rejoice in this. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of remembrance. Remembrance of when we were first called, remembrance of the road travelled, remembrance of graces received… and, above all, remembrance of our encounter with Jesus Christ so often along the way. Remembrance of the amazement which our encounter with Jesus Christ awakens in our hearts. My brothers and sisters, men and women of consecrated life, and priests! Let us seek the grace of remembrance so as to grow in the spirit of gratitude. Let us ask ourselves: are we good at counting our blessings, or have we forgotten them?

A second area is the spirit of hard work. A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a life of commitment to our work. Once we come to realize how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love.

Yet, if we are honest, we know how easily this spirit of generous self-sacrifice can be dampened. There are a couple of ways that this can happen; both ways are examples of that “spiritual worldliness” which weakens our commitment as men and women of consecrated life to serve, and diminishes the wonder, the amazement, of our first encounter with Christ.

We can get caught up measuring the value of our apostolic works by the standards of efficiency, good management and outward success which govern the business world. Not that these things are unimportant! We have been entrusted with a great responsibility, and God’s people rightly expect accountability from us. But the true worth of our apostolate is measured by the value it has in God’s eyes. To see and evaluate things from God’s perspective calls for constant conversion in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, it calls for great humility. The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours is to plant the seeds: God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus … and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, in the failure of the cross.

The other danger comes when we become jealous of our free time, when we think that surrounding ourselves with worldly comforts will help us serve better. The problem with this reasoning is that it can blunt the power of God’s daily call to conversion, to encounter with him. Slowly but surely, it diminishes our spirit of sacrifice, our spirit of renunciation and hard work. It also alienates people who suffer material poverty and are forced to make greater sacrifices than ourselves, without being consecrated. Rest is needed, as are moments of leisure and self-enrichment, but we need to learn how to rest in a way that deepens our desire to serve with generosity. Closeness to the poor, the refugee, the immigrant, the sick, the exploited, the elderly living alone, prisoners and all God’s other poor, will teach us a different way of resting, one which is more Christian and generous.

Gratitude and hard work: these are two pillars of the spiritual life which I have wanted, this evening, to share with you priests and religious. I thank you for prayers and work, and the daily sacrifices you make in the various areas of your apostolate. Many of these are known only to God, but they bear rich fruit for the life of the Church.

Day 25 | Week 7: from the Greeting of Pope Francis at Charitable Center of Saint Patrick and Meeting with Homeless

A Reminder of Saint Joseph: 

Here I think of a person whom I love very much, someone who is, and has been, very important throughout my life. He has been a support and an inspiration. He is the one I go to whenever I am “in a fix”. You make me think of Saint Joseph. Your faces remind me of his.

Joseph had to face some difficult situations in his life. One of them was the time when Mary was about to give birth, to have Jesus. The Bible tells us that, “while they were [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2.6-7). 

The Bible is very clear about this: there was no room for them. I can imagine Joseph, with his wife about to have a child, with no shelter, no home, no place to stay. The Son of God came into this world as a homeless person. The Son of God knew what it was to start life without a roof over his head. We can imagine what Joseph must have been thinking. How is it that the Son of God has no home? Why are we homeless, why don’t we have housing? 

These are questions which many of you may ask, and do ask, every day. Like Saint Joseph, you may ask: Why are we homeless, without a place to live? And those of us who do have a home, a roof over our heads, would also do well to ask: Why do these, our brothers and sisters, have no place to live? Why are these brothers and sisters of ours homeless?

Joseph’s questions are timely even today; they accompany all those who throughout history have been, and are, homeless.

Joseph was someone who asked questions. But first and foremost, he was a man of faith. Faith gave Joseph the power to find light just at the moment when everything seemed dark. Faith sustained him amid the troubles of life. Thanks to faith, Joseph was able to press forward when everything seemed to be holding him back.

In the face of unjust and painful situations, faith brings us the light which scatters the darkness. As it did for Joseph, faith makes us open to the quiet presence of God at every moment of our lives, in every person and in every situation. God is present in every one of you, in each one of us.

I want to be very clear. There is no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing. There are many unjust situations, but we know that God is suffering with us, experiencing them at our side. He does not abandon us.

Day 25 | Week 7: from the Address of Pope Francis to US Congress

On Fraternity and Solidarity:

"Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good."

On Politics in Service of the Human Person:

"If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance. Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this effort."

On the Golden Rule:

"We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).

This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us. 

The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development. This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes."

Day 24 | Week 7: from the Homily of Pope Francis on Canonization of Junipero Serra

On Joy in Mission:

A Christian finds joy in mission: Go out to people of every nation!

A Christian experiences joy in following a command: Go forth and proclaim the good news!

A Christian finds ever new joy in answering a call: Go forth and anoint!

Jesus sends his disciples out to all nations. To every people. We too were part of all those people of two thousand years ago. Jesus did not provide a short list of who is, or is not, worthy of receiving his message and his presence. 

Instead, he always embraced life as he saw it. In faces of pain, hunger, sickness and sin. In faces of wounds, of thirst, of weariness, doubt and pity. Far from expecting a pretty life, smartly-dressed and neatly groomed, he embraced life as he found it. It made no difference whether it was dirty, unkempt, broken. 

Jesus said: Go out and tell the good news to everyone. Go out and in my name embrace life as it is, and not as you think it should be. Go out to the highways and byways, go out to tell the good news fearlessly, without prejudice, without superiority, without condescension, to all those who have lost the joy of living. Go out to proclaim the merciful embrace of the Father. Go out to those who are burdened by pain and failure, who feel that their lives are empty, and proclaim the folly of a loving Father who wants to anoint them with the oil of hope, the oil of salvation. Go out to proclaim the good news that error, deceitful illusions and falsehoods do not have the last word in a person’s life. Go out with the ointment which soothes wounds and heals hearts.

Mission is never the fruit of a perfectly planned program or a well-organized manual. Mission is always the fruit of a life which knows what it is to be found and healed, encountered and forgiven. Mission is born of a constant experience of God’s merciful anointing.

Day 24 | Week 7: from the Address of Pope Francis to the Bishops of the United States

On Migrants and Immigration:

I ask you to excuse me if in some way I am pleading my own case. The Church in the United States knows like few others the hopes present in the hearts of these “pilgrims”. From the beginning you have learned their languages, promoted their cause, made their contributions your own, defended their rights, helped them to prosper, and kept alive the flame of their faith. Even today, no American institution does more for immigrants than your Christian communities. Now you are facing this stream of Latin immigration which affects many of your dioceses. Not only as the Bishop of Rome, but also as a pastor from the South, I feel the need to thank and encourage you. Perhaps it will not be easy for you to look into their soul; perhaps you will be challenged by their diversity. But know that they also possess resources meant to be shared. So do not be afraid to welcome them. Offer them the warmth of the love of Christ and you will unlock the mystery of their heart. I am certain that, as so often in the past, these people will enrich America and its Church.

Day 24 | Week 7: from the Address of Pope Francis at the Welcoming Ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House

On the Road to the Positive Development of People:

Mr President, the efforts which were recently made to mend broken relationships and to open new doors to cooperation within our human family represent positive steps along the path of reconciliation, justice, and freedom. I would like all men and women of good will in this great nation to support the efforts of the international community to protect the vulnerable in our world and to stimulate integral and inclusive models of development, so that our brothers and sisters everywhere may know the blessings of peace and prosperity which God wills for all his children.

Day 21 | Week 6: May Today There Be Peace WIthin

“May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."

- Saint Therese of Lisieux

Day 19 | Week 6: Where Is God In The Face Of The Fires?

Where is God when natural disasters strike?

Though disasters such as earthquakes, fires, cyclones, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and other nature-related events are often referred to as “acts of God,” which test our faith, God does not will natural disasters to punish us or get our attention. The laws of nature are simply at work.

When such disasters wreak untold harm and loss of human life, we are challenged to find God in the midst of suffering and devastation. Such a search can reveal God’s presence among us as One who suffers with us and is present to us. Such moments can purify our faith by opening us more to the depths of the mystery of who God is. 

When we witness small miracles, the generosity and selflessness of others, the healing comfort of strangers, God is present. Prayer is our natural response to these tragedies and our concern and care for the victims reveals God’s presence among us.

Prayer

Compassionate God, we pray for those who have been devastated by recent fires and other natural disasters. We remember those who have lost their lives so suddenly. 

We hold in our hearts the families forever changed by grief and loss. Bring them consolation and comfort. Surround them with our prayers for strength. 

Bless those who have survived and heal their memories of trauma and devastation. May they have the courage to face the long road ahead of rebuilding. 

We ask your blessing on all those who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their security and their hope. 

Bless the work of firefighters, relief agencies and those providing emergency assistance. 

May their work be guided by the grace and strength that comes from You alone. Help us to respond with generosity in prayer, in assistance, in aid to the best of our abilities. 

Keep our hearts focused on the needs of those affected, even after the crisis is over. We ask this in the names of Jesus and Mary.  Amen.

by Sister Katherine Feeny, SND

Day 18 | Week 6: Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

... from De La Salle's Meditations for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross:

"We ought to unite ourselves with the joy that the Church displays on this day by the great solemnity with which she honors this sacred wood." (165.1)

"Let us, therefore, spend this day and the rest of our life in great respect and profound adoration before this sacred mystery, which, as the same Saint Paul adds, was hidden before Jesus Christ for our glory." (165.1)

"Let us, then, consider attentively how much we owe to this sacred wood for having contributed this way to our sanctification. By a zeal of ardent love, let us raise it up to Jesus Christ to unite it to him, for he still loves it now, as he loves our salvation, and is glad to have borne it for our sanctification. Therefore, when you have some trouble, unite with Jesus suffering." (165.2)

"How could we dare look for another way to please God, to honor God, and to offer an agreeable sacrifice except by the way of the blessed cross." (165.3)   

Day 16 | Week 5: Did I ... ? These Are The Real Questions

Professional Day 3: From The Begnning

Ever-living and ever-loving God,

We thank you for the many blessings you have showered upon us through these last 50 years on Winton Drive. 

From the beginning, you inspired Saint John Baptist de La Salle to provide a human and Christian education to the young, and especially the poor. 

To the present, we continue to follow your call to do this work together and by association.  You have made clear that we were meant to be here. 

Inspire us to continue to affirm the dignity of our students by continuing to work to build an environment that is moral, caring, and joyful.

Inspire us to continue to love, instruct, and guide those whom you have kindly entrusted to our care so that they might become beacons of faith, integrity, and scholarship, in a world that so desperately needs virtue.

And, inspire us to continue to see the best in one another as Lasallian colleagues as together we work side by side toward the fulfillment of the mission you set out for us … from the beginning, to the present, and into the future.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

Day 11 | Week 3: Make The Ordinary Come Alive

... from "That Parent's Tao Te Ching" by William Martin.

35. Make The Ordinary Come Alive

Do not ask your children
to strive for ordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples, and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.

Day 4 | Week 2: Pope Francis on Education II

Pope Francis in his address to the Italian Union of Catholic School Teachers, Managers, Educators, and Trainers [14 March 2015] --

"School is certainly comprised of valid and qualified instruction, but also of human relations, which for us are welcoming and benevolent relations, to be offered indiscriminately to all. Indeed, the duty of a good teacher — all the more for a Christian teacher — is to love his or her more difficult, weaker, more disadvantaged students with greater intensity. 

Jesus would say, if you love only those who study, who are well educated, what merit do you have? And there are some who make us lose our patience, but we must love them even more! Any teacher can do well with such students. 

I ask you to love the “difficult” students more... those who do not want to study, those who find themselves in difficult situations, the disabled and foreigners, who today pose a great challenge for schools."

"If a professional association of Christian teachers wants to bear witness to their inspiration today, then it is called to persevere in the peripheries of schools, which cannot be abandoned to marginalization, exclusion, ignorance, crime. In a society that struggles to find points of reference, young people need a positive reference point in their school. 

The school can be this or become this only if it has teachers capable of giving meaning to school, to studies and to culture, without reducing everything to the mere transmission of technical knowledge. Instead they must aim to build an educational relationship with each student, who must feel accepted and loved for who he or she is, with all of his or her limitations and potential. 

In this direction, your task is more necessary now than ever. You must not only teach content, but the values and customs of life. There are three things that you must pass on. A computer can teach content, but to understand how to love, to understand values and customs which create harmony in society, it takes a good teacher."

"I encourage you to renew your passion for humanity — you cannot teach without passion! — in the process of formation, and to be witnesses of life and hope. Never, never close a door, open all of them wide, in order for the students to have hope."

Day 3 | Week 1: Gratitude

by Louie Schwartzberg and David Steindl-Rast

Day 2 | Week 1: Pope Francis on Education

Our school president sent this to our community this morning:

"My question to you, as educators, is this: Do you watch over your students, helping them to develop a critical sense, an open mind capable of caring for today's world? The spirit capable of seeking new answers to the very challenges that society sets before humanity today? Are you able to encourage them not to disregard the world around them, what is happening all over? Can you encourage them to do that? 

To make that possible, you need to take them outside the classroom; their minds need to leave the classroom, their hearts must go out of the classroom. Does our life, with its uncertainties, its mysteries and its questions, find a place in the curriculum or different academic activities? Do we enable and support a constructive debate which fosters dialogue in the pursuit of a more humane world? Dialogue, that bridge word, that word which builds bridges.

One avenue of reflection involves all of us, family, schools and teachers. How do we help our young people not to see a university degree as synonymous with higher status, with more money or social prestige? It is not synonymous with that. How can we help make their education a mark of greater responsibility in the face of today's problems, the needs of the poor, concern for the environment?" -- Pope Francis [from a speech to educators in Ecuador, July 2015]

Day 1 | Week 1: Performing Miracles and Touching Hearts

Our director for campus ministry reminded us of this most beloved of all of the founder's quotations this morning:

"You can perform miracles by touching the hearts of those entrusted to your care." -- Saint John Baptist de La Salle [Meditation 180.3 | Feast of Saint Hilarion]

Preparation Day 5 | Professional Day 2: Always Pray

Our vice principal for curriculum development and academic services gave us a card today in hopes of continuing our constructive dialogue, a positive faculty spirit, and a mission driven approach to building community:

Preparation Day 4 | Professional Day 1: The Grass Is Always Greener

"The grass is always greener where you water it ..."

(Although, in California, it's where you're allowed to water it ...)

Preparation Day 3: Faculty Staff Community Opening Retreat

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

"Live, Jesus, in our hearts ... Forever!"

Preparation Day 2: Inspiration Through Encouragement

“Inspire and lead others by encouraging them.”
-- Saint John Baptist de La Salle [Meditation 193.2]

(Charcoal drawing by Brother Patrick Martin, FSC)

Preparation Day 1: Stillness

"Stillness is our most intense mode of action. It is in our moments 
of deep quiet that is born every idea, emotion, and drive which we 
eventually honor with the name of action. Our most emotionally 
active life is lived in our dreams, and our cells renew themselves 
most industriously in sleep. We reach highest in meditation, 
and farthest in prayer. In stillness every human being is great; 
he is free from the experience of hostility; he is a poet, and

most like an angel."

-- Leonard Bernstein, 1976