After returning from my trip to Africa I was in the community for almost a week and then I returned to the US for Council Meetings. We held the meetings in Cupertino, CA where we have a retirement center for our elderly brothers. When I lived in San Francisco, I would visit the Brothers pretty often, and especially in the summer when it was cold and foggy in San Francisco, it was always warm and hot in Cupertino so I could sit by the pool and read and get some sun. Well, I could not do that during this visit because it was pretty cold there! It was great to re-connect with many of the Brothers, but also a bit sad to see how some of them are deteriorating in their health...yes we are all getting older! Our meetings went well and we finished a bit early so I was able to get in the car and drive up to Sacramento and visit with my aunts Marge and Gayle. We always have a great time together...great food, drinks, and conversation and every morning saying that we will never do it again...again, and again, and again!
After my time in Sacramento I drove down to San Francisco and spent the night there visiting with some friends. The next day I was on the plane and off to Hollywood, Florida. I lived in Hollywood for a total of 12 years over 16 years. I was there to do an official visitation of the community and to receive the Founder's Award from the school, Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory. Once again, no tanning for me...it was very cold there too! I had a great time spending time with each of the Brothers and hearing about their lives, hopes, and aspirations. I went over to the school regularly and caught up with former colleagues and friends. I always feel welcomed there and at home! I went out to dinner several times with my friends Carol and Angela and others joined us some other nights, like Erin and Kristi. On January 22nd, the Feast of Fr. Chaminade, I was scheduled to preside at the school celebration. Over the many years, we have had the tradition of the Brothers in the area renewing their vows in front of the student body. We have been very fortunate to be able to use the neighboring parish Church for all of our school Masses. Well, an hour before the Mass, it was raining very hard, and so having 550 students walk across the field in the rain did not make much sense, so it was time for Plan B. We changed the Mass to a prayer service and held it in the gym. Since we never had Mass in the gym, with only an hour before the start of Mass it was difficult to figure out how to do Communion and the like, so while it was not the best option, it turned out to be a great option. The student reacted and responded very well. We sang during the homily and the students were happy to yell out their, Amens! It worked well and they were happy to be there. Many students came up to me after the service and wanted to know when I was coming back. Teachers who were hired after I left were also very affirming. It felt good to be back in my comfort zone and preaching in a language I am able to preach without notes or written text. After school that day, the Lay Marianist Community that I helped found in 2001 came together and gave me a little party in appreciation for my service and guidance to them during my tenure at C-M. The next day was the Founders Dinner Dance. So many people from my past came to celebrate with me, it was a great experience. My dad and brother Eddie were also in attendance. We had a great time despite the artic temperatures in the banquet hall....those temps came in handy once we were on the dance floor doing the Electric Slide! It was a night of affirmation and a night of friendship and love for me. I was very honored to receive this award. The next morning, I met my dad, brother and cousins for breakfast before they took off back up to Central Florida. I remained in Hollywood for two more days and met with the community and had dinner with the couple whose Marriage I witnessed back in December. All in all, it was a great time and I felt very blest to be part of my meetings in Cupertino, time with my aunts and friends, time visiting the Brothers in Hollywood, spending time with colleagues and friend, celebrating Chaminade Day, and dancing the night away at the Emerald Hills Country Club. My life is very blessed with great friends and family. I am so grateful for so many things!
My dad, my brother Eddie, and myself at the Dinner Dance
Here is my acceptance speech for the award:
It is good for us to be here, Amen? It is good for us
to acknowledge and celebrate how one small school in Hollywood, Florida can
make a difference in the lives of students, parents, faculty, friends, alumni,
both locally and globally! It is good
for us to recognize how one small school has impacted lives for over 56
years. I stand here today as one such
person whose life has been impacted by my history and relationship with
Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory.
Article 63 of the Rule of Life for the Society of Mary states,
We are
committed to the multiplication of Christians, forming persons and communities
in a lived faith expressed in service, responsive to the needs of the times. Thus, in every age, we become collectively,
as our Founder wished, “the man who never dies.
I stand here today, because as a Marianist religious I share in a legacy of fellow Marianists who
have gone before me and have strived to bring faith to life for students and
adults, who formed an educational institution into a community of faith, who sought
to remedy unjust social situations through service, and who mentored the next
generation of leaders to ensure that the Marianist charism would be alive,
vibrant and meaningful for all the constituents who would become associated
with Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory.
Today both vowed Marianists and committed lay colleagues share in this
rich and transformational heritage.
Yes, one can say that I grew up at
Chaminade-Madonna. The Brothers always
say that you remember your first assignment with fondness. I have a love and passion for this school
because of the many fine experiences and people that I have met along the
way. The Latin word for education is
educare, which means to draw out. If we
are to be successful educators, we must draw out the goodness, curiosity,
questions, disagreements, and ponderings of our students. You can say that I too was educated at
Chaminade-Madonna because I had mentors both in the local Marianist community
and at the school who drew out from me my thoughts, ponderings, creativity,
questions, and insights and challenged me to continue to grow and to be focused
on developing communities of faith. I am forever grateful for men in my
Marianist community who “drew out” from me my gifts and talents men such as Fr.
Richard Knuge, Br. John Campbell, Fr. Dan Doyle, Br. Charlie Roggemann, Br. Don
Neff, Br. George Endres, Br. Kevin Whelan, Br. Ray Kane, Fr. Pat Tonry, Br.
Steve Glodek, Fr. George Cerniglia, Fr. Tim Kenney, and Br. Ed Brink. Some of these men I lived and worked
with. Some were leaders in the community
who recognized my gifts and talents and challenged me to further develop them
for the growth of the mission. Other
members of the C-M faculty and staff who were examples to me early on, and
served as educators for me, by drawing out my gifts and talents included, Bob
Minnaugh, Lisa Colbert, Ken Stover, Carol LaMont, Scott McDade, Marcia Colon,
Ed Starr, Bob Mitchell, Claudia Fournier, Ron Belanger, Rachel Koebel, and Laura Friscia. They built the foundation for my Marianist
life.
When I returned to C-M in 2000, after being ordained,
I had the good fortune to know and work with excellent educators such as Angela
Canosa, Kristi Tucker, Jeff Caballero, Rosemary Sierra Cohen, Gina Billisi, Kathy
Haygood, Dianne Mestelski, Pat Heffernan, Joanne Bolooki, June Dominguez, Kathy
Bicos, Blanca Suarez, Erin Kappiris, Rosa Blake, Joe Catalano, John Lott, and
countless other men and women who lived the meaning of the word educare, for
they were educators and were also the recipients of being educated in the
hallways, classrooms, cafeteria, offices, chapel and gym at Chaminade-Madonna.
For all of us on the campus of C-M were challenged and inspired to be formed in
faith! Amen?
I love being a teacher, I love being an educator. I love animating a community to see that they
can be more than they thought they could be.
I was fortunate enough to be able to teach, educate, and animate at
C-M. My ministry at C-M changed over the
years, but my mission remained the same, “to form communities of faith”, and to
be a passionate and credible witness to living out the message of the
Gospel. This vision allowed me the creativity
and tenacity to institute monthly faculty faith sharing groups which continue
today. It also inspired me to call
together men and women from the faculty to consider becoming Lay
Marianists. I am happy to say, that the
Lay Marianist community that began in 2001 is still alive and well today. Although some have come and gone from this
community, the community continues to provide a great service to the school and
assists each individual member personally to grow in their own faith. It was a work I began, but a work that
continued because the members were “educated”, their gifts and talents were
drawn out so that the community became, in the words of Fr. Chaminade, “the one
who never dies.” Three of the founding
members who remain working at the school are here tonight, Carol, Angela, and
Gina, and many others are also here sharing in this event.
I am grateful for the many friendships and
relationships that I developed over the years with students, faculty, parents,
and alumni. Many are here tonight, and I
thank you for your presence. In
addition, I am also grateful for those of you who served on the Board of
Trustees, Home and School, parent committees, development committees and various
other committees throughout the years. I
hope you too can say that you were educated and served as an educator during
your time of service at C-M.
I am also grateful for my family who supported me
throughout my many years as a Marianist, and tried to keep up with all of my
travels. My parents and brothers had the
opportunity to come to Hollywood on various occasions and they too fell in love
with the school and the many people who went out of their way to make them feel
at home and welcomed. I am grateful that
my dad and brother Eddie were able to come tonight. My regret is that my mom is
not here for this. My mom passed away
almost 3 years ago. If you knew my mom,
you would know that she was my biggest fan, and she would have loved to be here
for this occasion. I am grateful for all
the support from all of you throughout the years.
In the bio that was printed, you can see that I have
ministered and lived in many places throughout the US, and now in Mexico. I am grateful for the many experiences and
people that I have met along the way. I
am proud of the work I did here at C-M, the many building projects, raising of
money, fostering the Marianist charism, and stabilizing finances. But, I am most proud of the relationships that
I was fortunate to forge with many students.
The greatest gift for me as a priest is to be asked by a former student
or faculty member to witness their Wedding, baptize their children, or bury
their parent. To be involved in those
most intimate times of one’s life is holy and sacred. It is a time when I can be an educator and be
educated as well. I accept this
prestigious award because of the relationships that were forged, built and
sustained because of this small school in Hollywood Florida. I would like to close with an excerpt of an
email I recently received from an alum of the class of 94 which for me sums up
the reason why I can accept this award tonight.
It reads as follows:
Fr. John
I just wanted to take a few moments and thank you for
the impact you have had on my life. When
I reflect on my life, and the various influences that I have had, you are
ranked high on my list. I think back on
all the uncertainty and angst of being a teenage girl who struggled with low
self-esteem. I still vividly recall one
of our first interactions. You made me
feel understood and important. You
believed in me and saw something special in me, when I didn’t know how to do
that for myself. I believe that those
experiences gave me the confidence to chase my dreams. As if the connection
that I felt with you was not enough, you connected me to something even more
powerful—my faith. You helped me develop
a relationship with God. Now, as an
adult, I realize how truly valuable that gift was.
Through the years my faith has had its trials. There have been periods of darkness and
uncertainty. However, in the last few
year, I have finally found a church in which my faith continues to grow. This has been essential for my most recent
obstacle (my son’s diagnosis of Leukemia).
I firmly believe that my faith, along with others prayer and support has
carried me through this journey. I don’t
know if my faith would be as strong if I didn’t have the foundation you helped
establish.
Thank you for all you have done for me, and others
like me. Thank you for believing and
guiding me. I think of you fondly.
This is a message that makes me proud to be a
Marianist and son of Fr. Chaminade. This
is a message that makes me proud to be an educator. And so with a grateful and humbled heart I
accept this award on behalf of the many educators here in this room. In accepting this award, I also honor Mary,
our Mother, whose mission we embrace as Marianists. And so I ask the members of the Society of
Mary to stand and sing in gratitude the Salve Regina. Salve Regina, Mater Misericordia…..Thank you
and God bless!
