On 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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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