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Leader: Let us remember

All: That we are in the Holy Presence of God.

(Short Pause)

Reader: From "The Lasallian Mission of Human & Christian Education: A Shared Mission"

In a powerful passage which could have come from today's newspaper, the Declaration of 1967 considers the world where the Lasallian educator is called to serve.

"It is a world in which the life, liberty, and dignity of men are more and more threatened; a world of loneliness and despair for many who are trodden down by selfishness, greed, indifference, or desire for power; a world of social injustice with an increasing disproportion between rich nations and the poor; a world of illiteracy and ignorance in which the young are neglected." (D 11.3)

Pope John Paul II, in encouraging all to greater solidarity with the poor, reminds us that "the freedom with which Christ has set us free encourages us to become the servants of all. Thus the process of development and liberation takes concrete shape in the exercise of solidarity, that is to say, in the love and service of neighbor, especially of the poorest." (Sollicitudo Re Socialis, 46) In his Pastoral Letter on Solidarity in 1989, Brother John Johnston suggests that "we have to see more vividly and to feel more intensely the poverty that exists throughout the world, in our cities, and perhaps in our own backyard."

(Short Pause)

Response: From the writings of Dom Helder Camara

Left: Lord Jesus, do not smile and say that you are already with us.

Millions do not know you, and to us who do, what is the difference?

What is the point of your presence if our lives do not alter?

Change our lives; shatter our complacency.

Right: Make your word flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, and our life's purpose.

Take away that self-regard which makes us feel our consciences are clear.

Press us uncomfortably.

For only then is your peace made.

Leader: Saint John Baptist de La Salle

All: Pray for us.

Leader: Live Jesus in our hearts.

All: Forever.