A Life Worth Living

Fr. Hunt told us an interesting story a few weeks ago. If you recall, it was about the New York Rangers, who won the Stanley Cup, the hockey championship, for the first time in 1994 (and the last time). All of New York was jubilant, with parades and celebration in the streets. A reporter asked the head coach why winning the Stanley Cup was so important to his players and the people of New York. His answer was very simple: “Because it’s hard.” 

I think athletes understand that comment: The great value of winning the trophy as the best isn’t the value of the trophy itself—it’s the hard work that went into it, the many practices, the off-season conditioning, the summer work-outs, the wind-sprints and the weight-lifting. Becoming the best isn’t easy, but it’s precisely because it’s hard that we value it. If it were easy, who really cares?

Pope Benedict, speaking to students your age recently, said something very powerful along these lines:

“The world,” he told youth, “promises you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness."

The truth is that deep down, whether we are brave enough to admit it or not, we all have a desire to be great—to somehow use our life to make a difference in the world, and not just “get by”. That desire is not meant to go unanswered. God wants us to strive for more than pleasure, more than what is expedient, more than what is attractive or easy at the moment. We sell ourselves short, and sell God’s dreams for us short, by aiming for an easy life. God has higher aspirations for us! 

There are certain times when it’s fun to be a student here, and other times when it’s not.  When you’re struggling academically and you’re looking down the barrel of eight exams, it’s easy for our confidence to be shaken, and easy to begin dreaming of an easier life somewhere else. Yes, you may have some friends in other schools who seem to be working less hard and making better grades. The “grass is always greener in someone else’s pasture” temptation is powerful during moments of stress or suffering.

Stay the course.  Finish strong—you’re rounding the last lap and the end is in sight. Rely on your teachers by seeking them out and asking for help. Rely on each other. Rely on God through prayer to help you work hard these last few weeks.

In May—just a few months from now for you seniors, just a few years for the rest of you—someone will call your name, you will walk across a stage, and the bishop will hand you a diploma. You will be extraordinarily proud, not because of the piece of paper, but what that paper represents, that you’ve pushed yourself through the tough times, that you’ve really earned something that was hard. 

Have the courage to strive for greatness in your life—it’s the only life worth living.

May God bless you in your upcoming exams and may He bless you and your family during this season of Christmas. 

Notre Dame: Number One Times Two

Allow me to brag a bit on my alma mater. 

As I write this, the University of Notre Dame's football team is currently ranked #1 in BCS standings and will play for the national championship. For Notre Dame fans, that's a big deal, but for everyone else, so what? Teams play for a national championship every year.

Here's the kicker:  Notre Dame also has the highest graduation rates of any Division I football team in the country (cf here).

It's the first time a team has ever been ranked #1 in both football and graduation rates. In a season rocked by scandals at Penn State, Ohio State and Miami, that's something that all college football fans should applaud, whether you're an N.D. fan or not.

Here's a video that explains how Notre Dame does it:

Many of us tend to think of academic and athletic excellence as "either-or," as if, in our heads, there's a math formula that says "athletic excellence + academic excellence must equal a constant," so that if a school's athletic program is getting better, it must be because the academic program is getting worse, or vice-versa.

Institutions such as Notre Dame prove it's possible to strive for excellence in both without compromising the other.

Go Irish!

Difference Maker

Dr. Bill Gavigan and his daughter, Jeannie, with Mr. Weber at halftime.

In this, the beginning of our second decade as a school, we continue to recognize particular people who have made a profound impact on the life and culture of Pope John Paul II High School from our first ten years. At halftime of the football game on October 12, 2012, we gave honor to Mrs. Mollie Gavigan, founder of JPII's Hand in Hand program. The text of Mr. Weber's remarks follow: 

Tonight we give special honor to a woman who is the founder of our “Hand in Hand” program here at JPII. Hand in Hand is a program for students with intellectual disabilities—and it’s a program we are very proud of. Students in our Hand in Hand Program are paired with a learning specialist, Adrienne Parks, and receive intensive educational instruction and support, even while they grow intellectually, spiritually, and morally as part of our school community.  The program has been so successful that it’s been used as a model by other Catholic schools all around the country.

I can’t adequately communicate, as headmaster of the school, how special this program is to the life of our school, and how wonderful the kids who are part of it.   They are generous, kind, and fun loving—and they bring out the best in all of us.

However, Hand in Hand would not exist here were it not for Mrs. Mollie Gavigan.  Molly and Bill are parents of Jeannie, a young lady with downs syndrome, and there were simply no options that could meet their daughter’s needs in our Catholic school system here in Nashville.

So in the summer of 2004, Mollie met in the office of my predecessor, Hans Broekman, to make the case that JPII should start a program for kids with special needs. We spoke recently with Hans, who remembers that meeting very well. Mollie’s message was simple: “The Church is willing to give my daughter the sacraments, but it isn't willing to give her an education. I’ve tried everywhere.” Hans said he tried to put her off and delay, saying the school was still brand new and growing, and it just wasn’t a good time. “Yes,” Mollie shot back, “When I found out that Jeannie had downs syndrome, I also thought “now is not a good time.”  Hans said at that moment, he was convicted, recalling, “I felt, as one does from time to time, the strong presence of the Holy Spirit in my office.”  So he proposed the program to the Board, and they approved it unanimously. 

Mrs. Gavigan, however, did more than begin a program: Realizing that the cost of such a program was far beyond what tuition covers, she committed to spearheading the additional fund-raising necessary to  defray the school’s cost. HH began in 2004 and has been part of our school ever since.  As a result of her efforts, her daughter and six others are now proud alumni of JPII-- and we, likewise, are proud of them.

We regret that Mollie Gavigan died in November of 2006 of breast cancer, so she could not be here tonight to accept this award personally. Standing in to receive this honor in her name are her daughter, Jeannie, a 2008 alum of JPII, her son, Bill, and his two children, and her husband, Dr. Bill Gavigan.  Please join me in thanking them warmly for the contribution of their mother, grandmother and spouse.