100 Words

I wrote this piece two days ago, on Tuesday (and, critically, prior to 7:00 PM), as only then could I have written it in meeting my desired degree of unvarnished authenticity.

Tuesday, pre-7:00 PM - The Washington Capitals, the DMV’s much admired NHL hockey team (and holder of Lord Stanley’s Cup, 2017-18 season), come into this evening’s tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers knowing that with a win, they advance to the playoff. Mic drop. But if the Caps don’t win tonight in regulation, a scintillating array of possibilities opens up for the four contending teams, the Caps and three others, in their collective dash to grab the lone remaining playoff spot (see permutations below). Why am I so geeked about writing this piece (remember, having done so two days ago)? I’d say in a nutshell that it’s a true fan’s quintessential moment of truth, that in which his/her team either answers the bell…or doesn’t. Can it get any more pure, more intense, or more final than that?! And as we fans know, and love most passionately about sports, nothing about tonight’s Caps/Flyers game is pre-scripted or programmed, so anything, outcome-wise, can happen. Gulp. This is literally the last day of the NHL’s regular season, and with 81 of the 82 games in an 82-game schedule already having been played, the entire season’s outcome, and that of a team meeting its most foundational goal—that of making the playoffs—becomes a reality…or not. Who among the four teams vying for this one playoff spot wouldn’t do anything to be in the Caps’ position—its destiny entirely in its own hands?! Win and advance. Of course, actually doing so is much easier said than done, especially as the Flyers, tonight’s home team, also have everything to play for. So where is God in all of this? Well, I would humbly suggest that the takeaway—for me anyway—is that everything (in life or in each game) matters and that doing the little things right makes a big, big difference in the long run. I’d also suggest that akin to the Capitals having their destiny entirely in their own hands, so too does each of us—but that unlike the Caps, who could play their hearts out tonight and still lose, when it comes to Jesus being in our lives, all we have to do is fully and reverentially give it our all in giving it over to Him. Christ is there for you, for me, for all of us—all we need to do is seek Him out unwaveringly and devotedly in relationship, and ours will be a win today, a win tomorrow, and a win for all eternity.

From a Washington Capitals fan blog (late Monday night):

• If the Capitals win, they’re in the playoffs.
• If the Red Wings win and the Capitals lose, they’re in the playoffs.
• If the Penguins win and the Capitals and Red Wings lose, they’re in the playoffs.
• If all three teams lose in regulations, the Flyers are in the playoffs.

 Thursday, April 18 – Note from today: As likely you know, the Caps won on Tuesday, advancing to the playoffs. 

As of today, O’Connell seniors have 29 school days remaining, and the underclassmen about 10 more days than that. Delightfully, a happy, animated, and encouraging vibe has been in the air all week, what with this being the first week back after a lovely and restorative Easter and Spring break. Kicking things off, as we did, with School Mass on Monday helped to set this uplifting and centering tone, and Fr. McShurley sharing with the assemblage of 1,200-plus that he had prayed for each of us, by name, while in Rome over Easter added a wonderful Grace note for all to embrace and cherish. Naturally, our young people are excited to be back together, seeing and being with one another, and all of us, students and faculty/staff alike, return rested and refreshed from the past week and a half’s respite rarin’ to go. Throw into the mix both the warming weather that marks mid-spring and the exciting and impossible not to think about reality that with each passing day the school year gets closer to concluding, and it comes as little wonder as to why our young Knights have an extra pop in their step. That said, allow me to mention, without meaning to come off as preachy or unreasonable, that we are entering the year’s homestretch, and in life (now I am preaching) it is in how we finish the race that will be both a key tell in how people think of and, yes, remember us. A life-directionality for all of us to wrap our arms around—that in the history of humanity arguably has never been captured more perfectly—is in St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win.”  Ours, thusly, that is each of us, is to put our best foot forward in all that we do, and to finish strong (which is never easy, especially with human frailty being what it is), which makes it all the more obvious that when we do finish strong it sets us apart from the majority of others. I believe unwaveringly that in our relationship with Jesus He wishes for us to give ourselves over to Him fully and without hesitation, for, in so doing, we then will find true happiness, joy, and the purest stream of satisfaction—that of serving Him through our service to others. No other model comes anywhere near as close to Jesus’ commitment to finishing strong, and finishing strong for all of us, as do His passion, death, and resurrection—so the very least that we can do in honoring and giving ourselves completely over to our Lord and Savior is to finish strong ourselves. 

Ever since I applied for the O’Connell head of school position, I have let it be known that it is my hope and intention that Bishop O’Connell be known as the finest Catholic coed high school in the DMV. Being the “finest” begins and end for me at our Catholic identity. Our highest calling in working in a Catholic school is to one day get all of our students to heaven. Mid-morning today we gathered as a community to pray the Stations of the Cross. To share Father McShurley’s words, “Meditating on the Stations of the Cross is meditating on the greatest act of love the world has ever and will ever see, an act of love that would have been done even if YOU were the only person in the world.” Today’s message, Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice for us could not be more clear to our kids and to us. “Wow, Jesus, you really did that for me?” Yes, He really did, He did so for all of us. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. A Blessed and Happy Easter to you and your loved ones.