Previously Published On 6/02/2016
In days gone by, sadly I learned that a child at our school was caught up in drugs. This is one of the great concerns that we have as parents and teachers because we know the huge risk involved in drug addiction and its dire consequences to those who consume them.
Regrettably, modern society regards to drug use as normal and instead of combating it with awareness campaigns at all levels, we see with sadness, that in some states it is being legalized. However, I believe that schools should be a place where drugs are completely banned. Under no circumstances should they be tolerated.
Today I want to share with you the story of Aldo. I met him when I finished my studies; he was a Catholic priest who was very different from everyone I had met before. When we were going to confess to the priest, it was common to hear him say “who am I to judge you? I too have been a sinner, and my sins have been greater than yours. Yet God rescued me and so also wants to rescue you, so that you may bear fruits of His love and give them abundantly.” In Aldo, we always had a friend and a counselor, at any time we could go to him, and we felt the peace and tranquility that is emanated.
Aldo said that the confession was not with the priest but with God and with those whom we had offended. When we wanted to do this, we could confess in small groups in the sacristy, in some very emotional sessions that we could now call group therapy. Everyone recognized their sins and asked for forgiveness publicly, offering sincerely, to remedy their sins and not to sin again.
Aldo was born in Nevada and at a very young age lost his parents, so he was a problem child during his adolescence and when he came of age, given that he had artistic inclinations, became a renowned dancer in Las Vegas. He told us that he had lived a life of excesses, women, drinks, drugs; And yet when he was alone and thinking he realized that his life was empty; that others cared only for what he could provide them and that personally he wanted luxury and personal pleasures and did not care what happens to the rest of the world.
One day he had a dental problem, and he went without an appointment at the dental office. While waiting he began to read the magazines in the waiting room; he found an article, a rare thing, of the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He commented that he can not stop reading it, and resulted in him going to buy a book to know more about his life. And at that moment he felt that like St Francis, he must totally renounce that life of hedonism and pleasures, and really be interested in others. He entered the seminary, and when he finished, he sought to officiate in a poor parish where his help was most needed.
Aldo told us “Get away from drugs, if you consume them they are surely sorrowful to God, who wants all that is good for you and the evil one rejoices. If you have already consumed them and want to leave them, seek the support of God who will always be at your side to return you to the right path. For him there is no impossible, for him, there is no sin that can not be forgiven, we are his children, and he does not want to lose us .“
This same message I give to my students. Get away from drugs, avoid the company of other boys who consume them, seek the support of your parents and teachers, do not look for false shortcuts, really strive to be better in every way, seek to be better children, better brothers, better students, and I have the confidence that when they are adults they will have a full life, the recognition of the community and the affection of their loved ones.