On coming home
May 4, 2012I get on a plane at BWI tomorrow morning to begin the 33-hour journey home to New Zealand. It will be my first visit in about five and a half years. My siblings and I will be celebrating...
View ArticleGraduation address | Class of 2012
May 23, 2012Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate ConceptionFr. Barry, members of the Board of Directors, graduates of the Class of 1962, graduates of the Class of 2012, parents and...
View ArticleOn Freshman Convocation
August 20, 2012A 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...
View ArticleOn Neil Armstrong and humility
August 31, 2012Neil Armstrong died last weekend. He was a great American and a hero for the entire world. I am old enough to remember the Apollo 11 and July 1969 vividly. I was 11 years old, a...
View ArticleOn AP and IB performance
September 7, 20122011-2012 was a terrific school year. I was reminded how spectacular this past week, as we put up the three large posters listing the college acceptances and scholarship tallies for...
View ArticleOn being here
September 18, 2012This blog is an edited version of my address to the student body at the Opening Mass of the 2012-2013 school year on August 31, 2012I want to talk with you this morning about "being...
View ArticleOn school discipline
September 26, 2012I listen to the news on NPR most mornings as I drive to school. Once in a while there's a story that's a doozy. This morning I heard about a Texas school district where two parents...
View ArticleOn being in the hope business
October 18, 2012Earlier today as I was preparing some remarks to share with faculty and staff, I found myself focusing on the essence of what we do as a group of people dedicated to young people.We are...
View ArticleOn Xaverian Assembly 2012
November 7, 2012[The following is an adaptation of a reflection I shared at a gathering of the Chief Administrators of Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools on November 1, 2012. The reflection is on the...
View ArticleOn demographics and the changing face of the Church
November 26, 2012You didn't need to pay much attention to the election to pick up on the fact that the demographics of our nation are changing. Winning key demographic segments played a part in the...
View ArticleOn family at Christmas
January 4, 2013Happy New Year and best wishes on Day 3 of your resolutions!I share a few thoughts, somewhat random, related to being together at Christmas.Of all times of the year, this season is the...
View ArticleOn attending an IB Conference in L.A.
January 29, 2013I headed out west over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend to attend an International Baccalaureate (IB) Conference. The three-day event was held at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Stuck...
View ArticleOn making admissions decisions
February 28, 2013We mailed out admissions decisions to almost 750 anxious eighth graders this morning. Our goal is to have 310 ninth graders in the Class of 2017. You can do the Math. Some will have...
View ArticleOn the election of Pope Francis
March 15, 2013For just the second time in the lifetime of our students, we have a new Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now His Holiness, Pope Francis.Our new Pope was an under the radar candidate,...
View ArticleOn morning tea
April 10, 2013I'm more than 26 years removed from my days in the New Zealand classroom. During my visit to the homeland over the Easter break I was reminded just how easy it is to find strange the...
View ArticleOn the 2003 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, Tom Johnson '76
May 2, 2013 Last Thursday we honored Tom Johnson, Class of 1976, with the 2003 Distinguished Alumnus Award.In his acceptance speech, Tom shared with the students how he came to be at Our Lady of Good...
View ArticleOn "Mary, make us see"
May 28, 2013This blog posting is an adaptation of my address at the Graduation Mass for the Class of 2013, delivered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on May 23,...
View ArticleOn watching a 3-D printer
August 1, 2013My dad was in the import-export business. Over many years, he sent tons and tons of New Zealand products to Japan – kiwifruit, live eels, boysenberries, beef, milk powder, sheepskins....
View ArticleOn TRUST – Part I
September 5, 2013The following is an edited version of remarks I made to the student body at the Opening Mass of the 2013-2014 school year. At the end of Mass all students, faculty and staff received...
View ArticleOn trust – Part II
September 20, 2013The following is an adaptation of remarks originally prepared for the Opening of School Mass. When we were running long, these remarks were cut from my address to the students.I...
View ArticleOn clutter
October 22, 2013There's something especially satisfying about leaving the office late on a Friday afternoon with the desk clear and the Inbox empty, at least for a while. Despite ongoing resolutions to...
View ArticleOn three thinkers about change
November 6, 2013This posting is an adaptation of a speech made at the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony on November 5, 2013For me, these last three or four days have been a time for processing...
View ArticleOn some of the activity you never hear about
November 20, 2013This posting is a laundry list of activity taking place in various clubs around campus. It captures the energy, curiosity, and talent that our students bring to school life outside of...
View ArticleOn enduring personal relationships
December 6, 2013Last night, I attended for the third year in a row, the annual Christmas get-together held by the Class of '76.It's far from an elaborate affair – meatballs, chicken wings, pizza, and...
View ArticleOn gossip
January 8, 2014There's a lot of buzz for the Holy Father these days. It seems hardly a day goes by without a photo or article popping up on my Facebook account featuring some new way the Pope has...
View ArticleOn students presenting to the Board
February 4, 2014Over the last year or so, we have been paying a lot of attention to improving the process of our board meetings – getting through the more routine aspects efficiently so that there is...
View ArticleOn a full week of school
March 3, 2014The haggard look. The gasping for air. The shuffling walk. It's not just the cold that has worn down our students, faculty and staff. Last Friday we completed our first five-day,...
View ArticleOn prodigious talent
March 25, 2014When discussing the novel The Great Gatsby with students, one line that always seemed to make an impact was Fitzgerald's description of Tom Buchanan: "one of those men who reach such an...
View ArticleOn three Baltimore Orioles
May 9, 2014I spent the first five days of May on the road, visiting with alumni in four cities in Texas. I got home in the wee hours of May 6th and was in something of a fog just a few hours later...
View ArticleOn taking good counsel
May 27, 2014The following is excerpted from my address at Commencement on May 22, 2014Class of 2014, if I have any advice for you, it’s take some advice. Through all the rest of your life, may you be...
View ArticleOn Father Barry
June 11, 2014The following is an adaptation of remarks made at the Prayer Service for Father Barry Gross held in the Kane Center on June 10, 2014. A week ago last Friday, with the end of the school...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On a chance encounter
August 12, 2014I have loved horse racing since I was a boy and it is now part of the vacation routine for my wife and me to take in a long weekend each summer at America’s most beautiful racecourse in...
View ArticleOn the first day of school for a GC freshman
August 28, 2014Tuesday was the first day school was in session for all students.I was able to observe students in a number of settings throughout that day and it set me to wondering what goes through...
View ArticleOn compassion
September 8, 2014This blog posting is adapted from my remarks to the student body at the Opening Mass of the school year on Friday, September 5, 2014While we were all relaxing this summer, it seemed...
View ArticleOn YOPA and the public launch of the Performing Arts Campaign
September 29, 2014YOPA! YOPA!Easy to exclaim, two syllables, a satisfying balance, YO – PA. Our students picked up on that early – YOPA! – with enthusiasm and maybe the occasional touch of sarcasm....
View ArticleOn hosting a high school party and declining to go downstairs
October 15, 2014Yesterday, nationally renowned speaker on drug abuse and retired DEA agent, Bob Stutman was on campus. Bob is 70 yet he approached his day with us with a vigor that many of us envy.He...
View ArticleOn being a hero
11/07/2014The following is an adapted version of a reflection offered at the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony on November 6, 2014This time last week I was in Chicago, meeting up with family to...
View ArticleOn going global
January 30, 2015Earlier this week, I sent a letter to parents and another to students letting them know that Our Lady of Good Counsel High School has launched a Global Programs initiative. As part of...
View ArticleOn resilience
February 18, 2015 – Ash WednesdayLast week, I attended a breakfast meeting where the guest speaker began with one of those “Kids today…” pronouncements. We’ve all heard them.The speaker, however, was...
View ArticleOn St. Joseph
March 19, 2015 – Solemnity of St. JosephIt’s St. Joseph’s Day today. Having celebrated St. Patrick two days ago, the contrast of how people engage with the two saints is hard to miss. Public revelry in...
View ArticleOn Baltimore
April 28, 2015At home, we have a small TV on the counter next to the fridge. Most of the time I watch it to catch up on the day’s news, Sports Center, or re-runs of Top Gear while I am doing the...
View ArticleOn paying attention
June 1, 2015The following is excerpted and adapted from my graduation address to the Class of 2015 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on May 29, 2015Graduates, Class of...
View ArticleOn Charleston
June 23, 2015It has been almost a week now since the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC.Each of us processes news of such horror in his or her own way. For me, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the passing of Frances Higgins
July 7, 2015Frances Litton Higgins passed on to eternal life on July 1, just over a year after having retired from 25 years of service as a teacher of English and Latin at Our Lady of Good Counsel High...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On SIMPLICITY
Speech by President Paul Barker to student body at Opening of School LiturgyAs I drove to school this morning, the news carried the story of yet another police officer shot, this time in Illinois, a...
View ArticleOn taking Mom to see Pope Francis
My son got married two weekends ago. We were all thrilled when my mother made the long trip from New Zealand for the wedding of her only grandson.Mom was excited when she learned that Pope Francis was...
View ArticleOn the Year of Mercy
November 30, 2015Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of what Pope Francis has proclaimed as a special Year of Mercy.As we look around our world, the daily news tells of...
View ArticleOn family at Christmas
December 16, 2015When students sit down to take their English exam on Thursday morning, I will, I hope, be fast asleep, seven miles up in the air above the Pacific Ocean, about six hours out from...
View ArticleOn putting on a global lens
January 7, 2016My alarm comes on to the sounds of the 5:00 a.m. news from National Public Radio on WAMU 88.5. The day-after-day leading stories have me wondering whether I ought to change the...
View ArticleOn resilience
February 9, 2016The blizzard of January 2016 turned out much as the forecasters had predicted.It was an odd sort of blessing to be marooned at home for several days. My own street did not have a way...
View Article