Oh my God, I love you above all things,
With my whole heart and soul, because you are worthy of all my love.
I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you.
I forgive all who have injured me and I ask pardon of all
Whom I have injured. Amen
Gospel of Matthew
He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
We love our kids so much! It is hard to imagine loving anything more. They bring so much joy to our lives and they inspire us to mature, to stay positive, to achieve, to find patience and good judgement, to build a secure home and develop wisdom. The list of ways we strive to be better for our children is endless. They are so dependent on us for everything and the pressure to take care of them can feel like more than we can handle. It is a lot of responsibility. Love is HUGE. It is the virtue that makes us the most like our loving God. To love the way Jesus loves should be the goal of parenting.
As a theological virtue, love is an habitual and firm disposition to seek to become like the Lord in concrete situations, loving God and our neighbor, and giving us the spiritual freedom of the children of God (CCC 1803, 1822, 1828). Further, one of the words for “love” in Latin is “caritas,” from which the word “charity” is derived, and so to love is also the self-sacrifice of giving yourself freely, willing and seeking the good of another (CCC 1766).
This week at school, we will begin to pray the Act of Love at morning prayer. It is one of the prayers each of us should memorize. To act in love, to live in love and to receive love is the best way to spend our days. The students are practicing how to love themselves the way God loves them. We take the time in the morning to shut our eyes and block out the outside world. Through meditation, the students are learning to be very calm and find a peaceful place with God where they can feel unconditional love.
The students are learning that they are connected to their body through their thoughts and their actions as children of God. By hugging ourselves, or putting their hands on their stomach, heart or brain, they can connect to themselves and use this calm to hear God’s voice, reassuring them of his love. When we take the time to start the day in prayerful meditation, the rest of the day is guided by our desire to be connected to the divine.
God Bless,
Anne Atkin, principal