Serving the Least Favored

Since the beginning of  Marist schools, serving the "least favored" has always been a central part of our mission.  Most of the time it refers to the materially poor, but it can also be extended to those who suffer from neglect, learning disabilities, or who are somehow on the fringes of society.  Who deals with the young people that more and more fill our prisons or whose deviant behavior causes jaws to drop?  Such is the case emerging in Rwanda where five students have been apprehended for setting the three fires at the Byimana School of Science.  Some of them have admitted to the deed saying that wanted their parents to know that it was not a safe place so they would put them in another school.  The first instinct is to clap them in jail where they would not only be secure, but would have plenty of time to reflect on the misery and expense they have caused.  But what would the Marist response be?   Evidently these children, ages 14-16, and their families need help in some of the basic truths or respect for others, in communication.  Patience and willingness to sort through what must be a tangle of mixed messages and false ideas is needed, along with firmness and compassion.  No one ever said that serving the "least favored" would be easy, and in this day and age, it seems to be becoming more and more complex.  Yet, we cannot give up....St. Marcellin was noted for great patience and great confidence in the power of  love.  We cannot fall short of his example.
Bro. Rene