Lasallians throughout the Region joined Lasallians worldwide by participating in the 2014 International Lasallian Days for Peace (ILDP), which took place September 21 (the United Nations’ sanctioned International Day of Peace) through October 21. Students and faculty members from ministries embraced the 8th annual event’s theme of Breaking the Cycle of Poverty to Build Peace by engaging in various activities and prayer.
Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California, held a special prayer service on October 7. Prayers from the school community were written on small pieces of paper and carefully folded. On October 19, Avi Atzmon, head groundskeeper for Saint Mary’s, personally took the prayers to Jerusalem during his trip home to Israel. He placed the prayers into a crack in the Wailing Wall, where people from around the globe have prayed for centuries.
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De La Salle High School in New Orleans, LA
De La Salle High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, held Peace Day on October 15, which included a school-wide prayer service and speakers, including Walter Bonam, a victim of gun violence. Two representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s office were also present and invited students to sign a pledge against gun violence.
La Salle High School in Pasadena, California, focused daily prayer on immigration issues and also held three weekly events. During week one, a student shared his parents’ stories of their trips across the border illegally when they were teenagers and how they contribute to society now. Week two also included stories of migrants, and students hung crosses to symbolize those who have died while crossing the border. In week three, a group of students and teachers drove to Jacumba, California, a small town on the California/Mexico border, and placed water in the desert with the organization Border Angels.
De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon, held a school-wide prayer service in October relating the theme Our Lasallian Family to ILDP. At the prayer service, two students shared about their experiences at Lasallian Student Leaders, Lasallian Youth Assembly, and the Called and Chosen vocations retreat. A movie about undocumented persons in the U.S. entitled “Which Way Home?” was also shown.
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St. Peter’s Boys High School in Staten Island, NY
On October 21, the faculty and students of St. Peter’s Boys High School in Staten Island, New York, promoted peace by wearing white T-shirts that featured the 2014 ILDP logo. The shirts also helped raise money to benefit the Lasallian mission in Haiti.
Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, New York, promoted ILDP by joining in wearing white clothing and having a moment of silence.
Last year, an association group was created for students from The San Miguel School of Providence and La Salle Academy (both in Providence, Rhode Island) to gather throughout the year, building community. This year, the group included students from Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and held its first meeting in conjunction with ILDP on October 21. Students from all three schools were in mixed groups and made peace raps, performed them for each other, and brainstormed ideas about how to make their schools more peaceful. Some of the kids and all faculty members present wore white to promote peace.
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Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, RI
Lasallian youth at Saint Raphael Academy also sponsored a Peace Flag Project to celebrate ILDP. More than 100 flags were created utilizing several different languages, expressing students’ thoughts and wishes for peace. The flags are hanging in classrooms around campus.
Additionally, The San Miguel School of Providence held an ILDP assembly on October 21. Students worked in groups on an activity that focused on poverty and how it relates to peacemaking, and also identified resources and ways to prevent or overcome negative results from poverty. “We learned that we all have the power to impact and help those around us,” said Jackswell, an eighth grade student from San Miguel. “We can all be peacemakers, and it starts within each of us. We can bring peace to our families, our friends, our schools, and our communities.”
Did you participate in ILDP? Share your stories and pictures by emailing communications@lasallian.info.
More Resources
See more pictures >
Watch a video from the Midwest District >
Read a letter from Superior General Brother Robert Schieler, FSC, on World Food Day >
Read more about the 2014 ILDP >
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