October is perfect time to recommit yourself to God, family, school

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

It is hard to believe that you have been in school now for almost two months. How time flies! I look forward to being able to write to you occasionally during the school year in order to assure you of my spiritual support for you as the Young Church and to support and encourage you in your relationship with Christ. 

May I suggest, as you are still in the beginning of this school year, that you recommit yourself, first of all, to God? It is our loving God and Creator who gave you human life and breathed his own life into you. He hopes that you will respond in faith and in love to him and to all that he asks you to be as his daughter or son, and what he calls you to do in your daily life. I pray that you will be the Young Church who is faith- filled and who wants to know more about Jesus, the Son of God, and to follow his way of life. 

I also invite and challenge you to commit yourself to family life. Those in your family, especially your parents, are concerned about your faith and your being a follower of Jesus. By being a faithful disciple, you will do your best to show love and respect toward members of your family, even in the challenging times and when you may disagree. 

The beginning of this school year gives you an opportunity to appreciate those in your school who provide education and spiritual formation for you. It is important that you not take for granted the great gift of education, which is not always provided in some other countries in our world today.

God has given you gifts, and he wants you to use them to grow in knowledge and to have a heart of charity as Christ has for us. Please thank the teachers and administrators of your school for the love and care they show to you and for the opportunity for you to learn about many things and to grow in your relationship with the Lord Jesus.
 
Let us say that this month of October is a time of recommitment to God, to your family and to your school.

Wishing you God’s blessings, I am a brother in Christ,

Most Rev. Gregory M. Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans