August 20, 2012
A bit of history this morning and, hopefully, the beginning of a tradition.
We welcomed the Class of 2016. Our past practice had been for parents to drop their sons and daughters off and head straight to work. This year, we asked parents to join us as we began the day with a Mass and Convocation.
Having a Mass and Convocation as the first event on the first day of high school serves as a bookend to the Good Counsel experience. The other bookend comes 45 months from now when we gather again in the awe-inspiring setting of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Baccalaureate Mass and Commencement.
At the beginning and the end, in welcome and farewell, we gather in reverence and ceremony to celebrate our identity. Whatever the faith tradition of our students, they all know that our school is, first and foremost, a Catholic school, a place to encounter the living and loving God who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. Whether it's in class, at practice, in rehearsal, on retreat, through service, at prayer, all of us in the Good Counsel school community are drawn by the power of the Gospel and inspired by the values of a Xaverian education.
After Communion and before the Final Blessing, the President of the Student Government Association, Sarah Moore asked the freshmen to make a pledge in front of their teachers and parents. In accepting the responsibilities of being a student at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, the members of the Class of 2016 made three commitments. They pledged to live by the core values of the Xaverian Brothers: simplicity, trust, zeal, compassion, and humility. They committed to striving for success every day and to studying with integrity. And they acknowledged that respect for others is a fundamental principle of being a Good Counsel student.
By 9:15 am, the students were officially "convoked" and on their way to a day of orientation activities.
Some things have not changed in our 54 years. We will be for the Class of 2016, what we were for the Class of 1962 - a place for friendships, laughter, and sense of belonging. The introduction of something new, a Mass and Convocation as the very first thing on the very first day of high school not only affirms the bonds of community, but asserts the importance of prayer and worship. Our school is, proudly, a Catholic school.