From today's gospel: "Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, 'Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.'"
De La Salle (Med. 43.3): "You carry out a work that requires you to touch hearts, but this you cannot do except by the Spirit of God."
Former Brother Superior General Alvaro Rodriguez often spoke of the "new poverties" to which the Lasallian charism must respond. In an interview with Vatican Radio in 2011, he provided a list: those in material poverty or those abandoned, those who are treated as "failures" and excluded, victims of disease and drug abuse, migrants who must live in fear or hiding, those who are not accepted because their identities are "different" or are disabled, those who have removed God from their lives, and all who cannot find meaning in their lives. I know that we all are familiar with students who fit one or more of these categories. These categories are daunting, and one has to wonder how we can truly help these young people. But as Lasallian educators, we know that we have an education to offer, an education that can provide a way to bring our students out of oppression, marginalization, blindness, and into the freedom of God's kingdom. As we have come to know, this is not easy. But we start by touching hearts, which the spirit of God helps us do. So during this short week, in which grades will be a focus and a potential frustration, may we listen to and be animated by the spirit of God, allowing us to touch hearts first and foremost.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!