From Friday's first reading: "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 'This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year . . . For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first born of the land, both man and best, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt -- I, the LORD! But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.'"
From De La Salle, Collection of Various Short Treatises: "[A spirit of faith requires that we p]ay as much attention as possible to the holy presence of God and to renew our attention from time to time."
The celebration of Passover for our Jewish sisters and brothers marks a time of redemption: redemption from slavery in Egypt into the freedom of entering a journey with God and, in covenant, growing as God's people. A festival to be remembered and celebrated indeed! On "Draft Day", our incoming freshmen and job partners meet for the first time. This event will mark one of the rituals of transformation for these young people entrusted to our care, an event that they may well remember throughout their lives. But this transformation, like the growth of the people of Israel, is accomplished in God. De La Salle reminds us that we are to remember and renew ourselves in God's holy presence as much as we can. So in your charity, remember our newest students and their corporate work study representatives, holding them in the presence of God now and always, that their transformation, like the Passover, will be a regular work of salvation, salvation through the human and Christian education that we provide as a Lasallian school.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!