JANUARY 2017
LEARNING, FAITH & LEADERSHIP A Kennedy Catholic Lancer Publication
COMMUNI-K PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE “By your fruit, you will be recognized“ is a line from Matthew’s Gospel that
has been both challenging and affirming this past month. On January 14, Kennedy Catholic will conclude its 50th anniversary year of celebration with the Lancer Legacy Awards. While we will be honoring these extraordinary individuals, we are also celebrating those who helped make their success possible, including faculty and staff, parents and alumni, and the community at large – those present today and those who came before us. The last 50 years has left a defining legacy that will inspire our future. That is affirming! This past November, I travelled to Taishan, China and Seoul, Republic of Korea. Both stops during my seven days of travel, included interviews and speaking engagements with high school and university staff, interacting with parents of current international students and graduates from Kennedy Catholic, furthering good-will relationships with potential partnerships, exchanging educational pedagogy and telling the Kennedy Catholic story whenever possible. After giving a speech during which I shared a recent email from one of our international students directly to me (“I love my Lancer Family” they said), a representative from the Office of International Affairs at Guangzhou University shared his version of the verse from Matthew; “If you are planning for a year, plant rice. If you are planning for a decade, plant trees. If you are planning for a lifetime educate people. Mr. Prato, you are educating students for a lifetime!”
Mike Prato - President
The challenge comes when you market your fruit, or in this case, answer the question; “Are you ensuring the deliverables of a Catholic school?” In Seoul, I met Mr. Minho “Allen” Song, father of senior Lancer, Sehee Song. I was honored to be asked to read his dissertation The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on the Employee’s Work Engagement. His research was flawless and his approach resembled much of the professional work of educators Michael Fullen and Andy Hargreaves in their book Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. In this case, Allen approaches transformation from a spiritual perspective. Here is a man who, as Chief of Special Services Division at Samsung and responsible for Samsung’s development of work performance internationally, is allowing his desire to evangelize his faith to break the stalemate between arrogance and timidity. His goal, as he relayed in an email, is to become a full time professor teaching the importance of spiritual leadership and evangelization. I believe he will! Wow, talk about humbled! The late Cardinal Carlo Martini, Archbishop of Milan, discussed the contemporary crisis of faith in today’s culture using the symbol of the barren tree. “Each one has to wonder what the Lord looks at, our leaves, i.e., the words, intentions, commitments, programs and little fruit, or to the actual fruit which is our ability to convert others, to communicate the love of God, to give one another the spark of love for the Lord that He has placed within each one of us.” Clearly, Mr. Song has figured it out. If we look closely at our lives and to the apostolates to which we have dedicated our time and treasure; our families, our church community, our work place, do our efforts bear fruit or leaves? Are we cultivating and sharing the fruit of our own spiritual trees? As we make resolutions for the new year, look for ways you can give that spark of love for the Lord to others and in so doing, plant for a lifetime.
Kennedy Catholic High School
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