100 Words

I had the good fortune of attending last evening’s “Piano Showcase,” which marked the final student performance of the year—a very full and very rewarding school year for the tens of hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of audience members. I reveled in what I heard, saw, and took in, as the set of presenters—members of Mr. Isaacson’s second semester Piano class—had entered this course with widely varying amounts of piano-playing experience. Here they were, on the stage, sitting at the piano, and presenting themselves to the audience with both capability and confidence—each (gulp!) within a setting where there was absolutely no place to hide. Talk about grace under pressure! And what ensued was a series of high, high deliverables—ones in which you could tell from the body language of each performer that a perfect 10 had just been delivered.

Extreme kudos to these youngsters who, because they so willingly put themselves out there, transformed into someone the audience came to know better. Broadly speaking, revealing him/herself in the completely unguarded fashion that any performer does—be that musician, thespian, athlete, debater, etc.—is a deeply visceral honor and privilege for an audience member. And it’s a reality that stands at the heart of why our school provides youngsters a safe and protected setting in which to perform and showcase themselves, children of God—Jesus would want it that way, of that I am sure. That they can shine while doing what they love doing is so that we, the audience, can love and admire them for being who they are while lending our full-throated support and unwavering affirmation. No judgment, just recognition and right-level praise. These youngsters risk so much and they get back even more just as long as we the audience embrace our responsibility in uplifting them for having so courageously and joyfully shared their beautiful gifts. And because Bishop O’Connell High School—from day one of its existence—has met each of its beloved students where they are, and provided them with a massive array of opportunities (be that curricular or extra-curricular), our Knights go on to be their incandescent best selves. Yes, we are a school in which every voice—even those wobbling in the early days as a Knight—will one day soon transition to its own unique brand of pitch-perfect. Keep tickling the ivory, DJO, and making your sweet and exceedingly heartfelt music, for our good and gracious God is listening, and He is pleased, very pleased.

“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:1

Tomorrow we celebrate the Class of 2025 graduating from high school and setting off on their individual and collective journeys. So. Very. Exciting! A hardy and heartfelt congrats, in advance, to these fantabulous young people and a big thank you to the many fellow villagers, who have pitched in in raising them. And tomorrow night (and I do mean all night at that), we provide them, within a fun, safe, and engaging setting at the All Night Grad Party—superbly hosted by the PTO and the school’s Student Life personnel—a sporty and super decked-out venue, The St. James, where they can be kids again, and where they can unwind, and hang out, all of them together, for the last time (that is, at least for a while: 5-year reunion anybody?). Powerful and so very sweet, and yes bittersweet, are the 5 a.m. Friday goodbyes from one Knight pal to another, as these kiddos get on their way.

Three cheers from all of us within the broader O’Connell community to you, graduating seniors! You are a wonderfully kind and engaging group of youngsters who are fully and impressively on your way. And we know that over time and in umpteen different ways, you will make all of us very proud in figuring out and following delightedly and purposefully the pathway that God has planned for you. So, to Ecclesiastes 3, this indeed is the Class of 2025’s season to regale and puff out their chests and to be over the top recognized and exceedingly loved and embellished by their family and friends. Just as “every possession matters” in an NHL game 7 overtime tilt, so too, should we direct our lives as best we can with that same perspective. The Lord awaits us, making Himself ever- and joyfully- available, in an “every possession matters” relationship. But, how is our relationship with Him? And for that matter, how is ours with others—each a child of God and having Christ within him/her? Seasons aplenty, and of highly disparate sorts, await us now and during the rest of our lives. Let us embrace within those many vicissitudes that we are destined to encounter the opportunity to make every possession matter in our interactions with one another and in serving the Lord through serving one another.  

“Change is the only constant,” a truism attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus, meshes nicely with today’s theme: transition. The last two days have been marked by periods of significant transition in the life of the school, as two days ago was the seniors’ last day in (and out of) class, where fun, memories galore, and, for many, giddiness transpired. Their shared time together was marked by plenty of hugs and beautiful tears, both of a joyful and a sadness-in-the-leaving way. And yesterday’s all-school “Transition Mass” allowed us to acknowledge and welcome into the fold the current juniors as soon-to-be seniors, the school’s next cadre of leaders—being presented by circumstance and timing that age-old balancing point of navigating between opportunity, responsibility, and expectations. In his homily, Father McShurley made the encouraging but also challenging point that, as seniors, this group will be called on and expected to set an excellent example through their own personal actions and by those of group-modeling. He concluded with great enthusiasm that he believes the Class of ‘26 will be completely up to the task. Every student in the school (because of the seniors’ absence) was called on to sit in a completely different section than had been the case all year—as next year’s seniors, for example, were directed into the center section (traditionally the senior section), and current sophomores were asked to sit on the traditional junior side of the auditorium. Our 9th graders experienced the biggest change of all, as they joined their older schoolmates downstairs, no longer relegated to the balcony. Of the handful of students I talked to after Mass, it was the rising seniors who expressed the most incredulity about the realness of their soon to be status, one noting: “Wow, I can’t believe we’re going to be seniors!” And what of our seniors, the impressively unified Class of 2025, in their ongoing transition? Tuesday, as noted, was filled with lots of joyful moments, to include one of my favorite senior transition traditions—the signing of the white polos. I can attest to the fact that lots of sharpies dutifully went to their grave as a result of the colorful signing fest. The celebration continues tonight at the Senior Prom—a fabulous and celebratory Potomac River dinner and dancing cruise that carries them from the D.C. Wharf to Woodrow Wilson Bridge and back. You’d be so impressed, my reading audience, by how magnificently these young men and young women shine and sparkle in their formal attire, in their attitude and behavior, and in how much fun they have and how deeply they appreciate their time together—regarding which they always say their “thank-yous” to the team of chaperones at evening’s end. For me, I anticipate, in standing outside on the boat’s top deck, a lot of happy, animated, and deeply reflective conversations with many of our soon-to-be grads about their O’Connell years and their near-term future, which, I am overjoyed to say is priceless. Fast forward to a week from today when they REALLY transition, from high school kids to young-adult high school graduates, and all that awaits them in life’s hereafter, as the newest members of the “Long Blue and Silver Line,” O’Connell alums. A week and a half later, as the three younger grades wrap up their school year, another year will be in the DJO “record book,” that mythical book that chronicles the annals of this remarkable school and the book of each and every one of our lives in noting that, yes, and with great joy, we shared this time together as Knights on a lifetime mission in serving Christ.