Why I do what I do

The other night some fine hooligans decided to smash the pumpkins that I had on my front steps at home.  I mentioned this in passing to one of my classes and was very moved when I found this on my desk this morning:

May her soul...

You may have heard about the woman who was murdered in Lincoln last week.  I regret to announce that the victim, Taylor Lessard, was a 2006 graduate of Trinity High School.  I didn't know Taylor as I began working here in August of 2006 but it was still stunning to hear of her awful death.  I am not aware of funeral arrangements as of yet but will post them as soon as I hear them.

May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

St. Timothy Award

So sorry for the radio silence this past week.  Between the end of the quarter madness and me teaching additional classes (one of our teachers has been out injured), it's been quite a crazy week here!  But, it was all worth it on Sunday when I attended the St. Timothy Award celebration at St. Joseph Cathedral here in Manchester.  Each year, the Diocese of Manchester recognizes teenagers for their commitment to the Church and their faith.  I was happy that Liam Quinn '15, one my main go to guys in Campus Ministry, was one of the recipients this year.  In addition to all he does here at Trinity High School, he is very active in his parish, St. Raphael's.  It was St. Raphael's who initiated Liam's nomination and I was more than happy to provide a letter on his behalf.

The ceremony was part of Evening Prayer at the cathedral and after Bishop Libasci's homily, the 20 teenagers and about 10 adults were recognized for their work and achievements.  The presenter read excerpts from the letters people wrote on their behalf and I was incredibly moved by the amazing faith and work our teenagers are doing.  I always tell our students that they have such power and abilities and they don't have to wait until they are older to do extraordinary things for God and His Church.

Following the ceremony, Liam's mom (Katie '77) treated me, Liam, family members, and Mr. Sheehan '79 of our math department to dinner at the Puritan Backroom.  We noticed that there was a political event but we never expected to see Sen. John McCain walk in!  He went around to every table to talk to people and me being a political junkie took a picture with him.  It was a wonderful cap to an amazing afternoon.

Vocation Day 2014

For the past 24 years, St. Christopher's School in Nashua has been holding a Vocation Day.  This is a day dedicated to introducing the various vocations in the Church to the students and to encourage them to consider God's call in their lives.  The day begins with Mass, followed by a lovely breakfast for the presenters, and then the students hear from 3 speakers in 20 minute intervals.

I was privileged to be invited to speak again this year.  This was the fourth time I have spoken at Vocation Day and it's always one of my favorite days of the year.  The Mass was celebrated by our superintendent, Fr. John Fortin, OSB, who stressed his his homily that he wanted to be something different every year in school - a fireman one year, a pilot the next, a lawyer, etc.  It wasn't until much later, he said, that he discovered that God was calling him to be a monk and a priest.  He encouraged the students to listen to God's voice and whatever they do in life, do it well.

Following Mass, we were treated to a great breakfast and the presenters had an opportunity to spend time together.  We were then taken to our classrooms.  I first went to a pre-K class along with the president of Bishop Guertin High School and a Sacred Heart brother, also from Bishop Guertin.  We had fun talking to them and at one point I was attacked as I went to high five them!  I told them I was used to it as I have 3 kids of my own who do the same thing to me everyday!  I then spoke to one fifth grade class and two sixth grade classes.  I spoke of my marriage and my job and how money will never, ever make them happy.  Follow your passions, I told them, and God will always provide.

St. Christopher's is one of the premier schools in the diocese and I believe is the biggest Catholic elementary school in the diocese.  Mrs. Clarke the principal does amazing work with such an amazing faculty and staff and supportive parents.  Kudos to them for all they do.

SAINT John Paul II

When our campus ministry office was dedicated in October of 2005 it was named after Pope John Paul II who died in April of that year.  Now that he is Saint John Paul II, we rededicated Campus Ministry today and officially renamed it the Saint John Paul II Campus Ministry Office.  We did it today because today is the first feast of Saint John Paul II.






I ordered a new sign for our front door and put it up today and served cake and soda to the students.  I announced the free cake and soda around 9:20am, the cake was long gone by 9:45am!

Wishing everyone a blessed feast day for our patron saint!

The Trinity difference

Each year on the Friday before Homecoming, we have a pep rally in our gym.  The students are dressed in their class colors and they decorate their section of the gym.  At the conclusion, we will gather as one school on the gym floor, hold hands, and together pray the Our Father.  I usually have the honor of leading the prayer but our former colleague Mr. Bielik made a guest appearance and he graciously led us in the prayer.  Mr. Bielik and his wife are heading off to Ecuador in January as part of the Peace Corps.

Mrs. Henning took this great picture of the school in prayer.

This is what it's all about, folks.

"To whom much is given…"

Today we added group photos of all the major mercy trips we sponsor - Browning, MT, Guatemala City, and Philadelphia - to the Campus Ministry office.  I wish I took group photos of our March for Life trips over the years but alas.  I also added a Blackfeet Nation flag (the people we serve in Montana) and pictures given to our Guatemala mission groups by a local artist there.

My next goal is a mural of a number of holy men and women!

From left to right, the groups are Montana, Guatemala, and Philadelphia.

Cardboard City - 0100 hours

When I entered education in 2006, I never thought I would be sitting in the school gym at 1am on a Saturday night!  But, it's nights like these when I remember why I do what I do.  Tonight is Cardboard City IV, our annual fundraiser for New Horizons for New Hampshire.  Over 75 students are on the front lawn of our school (none are sleeping though it seems!) experiencing homeless for a night.  They also raised funds from families and friends and all of the proceeds will go to New Horizons.  

Students began arriving around 6pm to set-up their cardboard homes for the night.  We then went into the gym at 8pm for Sunday Vigil Mass celebrated by our chaplain, Father Richard Dion.  He spoke of his own experiences as a seminarian serving homeless people in Baltimore, bringing them sandwiches and soup.  One woman said to him, "You really care about us, why?"  One of the seminarians said, "Because we are bringing God's mercy" (or something to that effect, I can't recall the precise quote but it was very moving).  He also said another homeless woman told a fellow seminarian that she was going to commit suicide that night but the fact that the guys brought them food gave her hope.  

Following Mass, the students were treated to pizza by my friend Dan Puopolo.  Dan bought them pizza last year too and graciously offered to do it again this year.  We then all watched the movie "Rudy."  Fun fact - Mr. Sheehan '79 of our math department was at the Notre Dame game when they filmed the final scene in the stadium.

Now the students are outside talking, throwing balls around, and some are playing basketball in the gym.  We will wrap up in about 5 1/2 hours at sunrise.  Please pray for these amazing young people and the generous adults who are staying up with me tonight.

Perfect timing

Tonight is Cardboard City IV and today's tweet from Pope Francis could not be more timely:

To change the world we must be good to those who cannot repay us.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 18, 2014

Prayer of the day

Dear Lord,

I want to thank You for everything that You've blessed me with in my life.  I am very fortunate for my family.  Please pray for all the people and their families that homeless.

by a student

Prayer of the day

Today in the Church we celebrate the feast of St. Hedwig.  I confess I don't know a lot about her but I know she is beloved in the Polish community and we have a parish here in Manchester named after her.  Her feast always reminds me of Mr. Gorski '58, our late, legendary English teacher who taught here for 51 years and died last year.  He was a member of St. Hedwig Parish and the proudest Polish person I ever met!

In honor of Mr. Gorski and today's feast then, this was our prayer this morning:

O St Hedwig, in this world you rejected the honours of the Court, its pomp, luxury and pleasures, and went to be with the poor to help them in the destitution and misery of life. There in Heaven, cast a kind look on us poor mortals, and obtain for us the grace (mention your request) and that of living in the peace and friendship of God.
Amen.

Their just reward

As part of our food drive last month, I promised awards to the top 3 homerooms that brought in the most food.  Mr. Carnevale, Mrs. Leblond, and Mr. Martinez's homerooms all made the top three and got to choose from no homework for a week in theology classes, buffalo tenders from Billy's here in Manchester, or donuts from Top Donuts in Lowell, MA.  Mr. Carnevale and Mr. Martinez's homerooms opted for the donuts and Mrs. Leblond's homeroom took the buffalo tenders.  I was happy as I got to sample both!

Thanks again to everyone who helped us raise 7,800 pounds for the New Hampshire Food Bank.

Speaking of the Food Bank, Parable Magazine, the magazine for the Diocese of Manchester, has a nice feature story on the Food Bank as it's marking its 30th anniversary this year.  You can read it here.

Prayer of the day

Lord, thank You for giving me a loving family, good friends, a sturdy home, good food to eat, clean water to drink.  Please protect me and everyone I love this day and always.  Amen.

by a member of the Class of 2018

He's one of us

Last April, Pope Francis canonized two Canadians, Francois de Laval and Marie Guyart.  Both de Laval and Guyart were early founders of Quebec, de Laval was the first bishop and Guyart was a religious sister and founded one of the first schools.  The new saints were canonized through a process called "equipollent canonization" (I had to look it up too!).  Essentially, the pope waived the second miracle required for canonization and declared them saints.  Thus, they didn't have the traditional canonization Mass in St. Peter's Square.

So yesterday, the pope celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Peter's Basilica and our very own Cardinal Gerald Lacroix '75 was there.  At the end of the Mass he addressed the pope in French.  My French is very rusty but either way, the optics are pretty cool - a Trinity Pioneer standing in St. Peter's Basilica addressing the pope.

Wow.

You can watch the video here or below.

"…for I was hungry…"

Today I took a group of students over to New Horizons for a tour and to learn about who we are helping through next week's Cardboard City IV.  Whenever we have a major event like Cardboard City, our food drive, etc. I like to bring a group of students to see the beneficiary of our efforts and to encourage them to share what they learned with their classmates.

Charlie Sherman, the amazing executive director of New Horizons and brand new part-time anchor of NH1 News, graciously gave us our tour.  This has to be the fifth or sixth time over the years that I have taken students on a tour with Charlie and his enthusiasm has never wavered.  He showed us the food pantry, the dining room, the shelter, and the greenhouse that provides 50% of their produce.   He stressed how New Horizons works hard to maintain the dignity of the guests who come there and they provide them with a superior meal and work hard to get folks back on their feet.  He also thanked the students for the commitment to New Horizons and similar organizations and said that Trinity is different in that our work with them is not just a one-time thing but something that is ingrained in our culture.

We truly cherish our relationship with New Horizons and are so grateful to Charlie and his staff for their work.  I hope we raise a boatload of money for them through Cardboard City!

Cardboard City IV

Next week we will have our 4th annual Cardboard City event to benefit New Horizons for New Hampshire - a meal center/food pantry/shelter here in Manchester.  We have raised over $15,000 in the previous three years for New Horizons through our Cardboard City efforts.

The night begins on Oct. 18 at 8pm with Mass in our gym with our chaplain Father Richard Dion.  Following that we will watch the 1994 film "With Honors" with stars Joe Pesci as a homeless man living near Harvard.  We will then head outside for the night to sleep in cardboard boxes and to experience a night of homelessness.  Each student is asked to raise a minimum of $35 but many raise more.  We will wrap up the next day at sunrise which will be around 7am.

If anyone would like to contribute to our efforts, you mail a check to me at:

Trinity High School
Attn: Brian Flaherty
581 Bridge Street
Manchester, NH 03104

Checks can be made payable to Trinity High School.

Our Lady of the Rosary…pray for us

Today in the Church we celebrate the Feast of our Lady of the Rosary.  This feast used to be called the Feast of our Lady of Victory as it marked a victory of Europeans over the Ottoman Empire in a battle in  1571.  Pope Pius V called for a constant praying of the rosary during this battle and credited the victory to the prayers offered.  The feast's named was changed to its current name by Saint Pope John XXIII in 1960.

As is our custom on this day, we are presenting our sophomores with rosary beads.  Every year, we present symbols of our faith to our students (freshmen receive a San Damiano wall cross, juniors a Tau cross to wear around their necks, and seniors a decorated candle symbolizing that they are to be the light of Christ).  The presentation of the rosaries is done in our chapel during the sophomore theology classes and I will also give them a handout on how to pray the rosary and the texts of the various prayers.  

I will tell the students that the rosary is a way for us to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ in its various stages and by saying the Hail Mary over and over again, our minds are cleared and we are able to discover how we are to be Christ - not be like Christ - but TO BE Christ.

In honor of Mary, our morning prayer too will be the Hail Mary.

Prayer of the day

Everyone has fear, but each of us has to choose whether or not we overcome it.  God made fear for us to make us stronger, and He will lead you to the right choice in the end.

by a member of the Class of 2016

Together again

Every year on the first Friday of October, the teachers, staff, and administrators of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Manchester gather for a day of formation at the Grappone Center in Concord.  I look forward to this day every year as it is a chance to be inspired and to be present with our colleagues from around the state.  It amazes me how many teachers we have as we fill a huge room.

The morning began with donuts and coffee followed by morning prayer led by Bishop Libasci.  We then heard a presentation by Sr. Mary Agnes Dombroski, DMML of St. Charles Home in Rochester.  St. Charles' Home is a foster home for children who are temporarily away from their parents.  The sisters who work at the home are saints among us and are well known for their running program (which gave them the nickname The Running Nuns).  Sr. Mary Agnes spoke of childhood trauma, brain development, and how we can respond to children suffering from trauma.  It was a very insightful presentation.

Bishop Libasci then celebrated Mass for us which was followed by a lovely lunch.  The day concluded with a wonderful presentation by Prof. Gary Bouchard of Saint Anselm College.  Prof. Bouchard talked about his experience as a Catholic school parent and spoke whimsically about his children's experiences at the now closed Villa Augustina school in Goffstown and Bishop Brady High School in Concord.  Now that his children are older and their elementary school is closed, he seemed emotional.  The whole talk struck a chord with me as, like Prof. Bouchard, I am a Catholic school graduate (K-college), Catholic school parent (St. Louis School in Lowell), and of course a Catholic school teacher.  One thing he said really caught my attention: "Are we teaching our subject or teaching our students?"

It was a wonderful day amongst wonderful colleagues doing wonderful work for the Lord.

Saint Francis of Assisi…pray for us

This dog doesn't seem to like holy water

Tonight we held our annual Blessing of the Animals event on the frontlawn of Trinity High School.  Father John Bucchino, OFM, the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Manchester, was our celebrant.  Once again, the weather was wet and drizzly and this is only the second time in four years that we have been able to have this event because of rain.  But I was determined to have it tonight and the rain ended right before we began so it worked out very well.

Despite the weather we had a very nice crowd and after a brief prayer service, during which we all read Psalm 8 together, Father John went around to each pet and offered a prayer for them and blessed them and their owners (who got their own separate prayer too).  I handed out a St. Francis prayer card to each person as well as another prayer that had a medal of St. Francis taped to it (courtesy of Fr. John).  People mostly brought dogs but we did have a few cats and two turtles!

Mrs. Henning took a number of great pictures which you can see here.

Thanks to all who joined us tonight, it was a lot of fun.    

Students of the month

A few years ago, I was visiting another Catholic high school and noticed they had a student of the month program.  Each month they honored a student from each of the four classes and had their picture and a write-up on a bulletin board.  I liked the idea a lot.  At an end of the year meeting last year some of us talked about doing more to highlight our students and their accomplishments so I decided to follow-up on that and start doing it here.

This month we are honoring the following students:

Olivia Boulton '16

Olivia, from Manchester, is one of the most joyful students at Trinity High School.  She always has a smile on her face and is generous and kind to everyone she encounters.  Olivia is a brilliant and creative artist and contributes much to the arts here at Trinity High School.  As one teacher put it, she sees things that no one else does and is able to translate that into something artistic.  Olivia is also a behind the scenes member of the drama club. Last month, Olivia was instrumental in helping her homeroom collect over 1,700 pounds of food for our food drive.  She was a constant motivator and did all that she could to help her homeroom land in the top three in terms of total food collected.   

Emily Gagne '18

Emily, from Candia, is the sister of Lucas ’15.  Emily is one of a handful of freshmen that plays on the Trinity High School girl’s soccer team.  Emily is a committed soccer player and prior to coming to Trinity, she was the captain of the Henry W. Moore School’s soccer team as well as the town team in Candia. Emily will sometimes work alongside her brother Lucas with the Make a Wish program, she jumped right into school life by volunteering to help at the College Fair, and she is a talented and accomplished artist.   

Lorenzo Ricci '17

Lorenzo, from Salem, is a faith-filled and dedicated member of his parish, Saints Mary and Joseph.  He has been a faithful altar server since elementary school and is active in the youth ministry program in Salem.  He is instrumental is helping to organize retreats, plays, and activities for young children at his parish.  Lorenzo gives of his time serving the poorest of the poor at Cor Unum, a meal center in Lawrence, MA and organizing Thanksgiving Basket drives.  He plays an active role in his parish’s Passion Play and helping young people prepare for their Confirmation.  This past summer he participated in Steubenville East, a dynamic Catholic youth conference in Rhode Island.  

Luke Testa '15

Luke, from Derry, co-founded Project PLAY, a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged children in Southern New Hampshire play sports.  Project PLAY pays sports registration fees for the children and provides them with equipment as well. Luke was recognized for his work by being named a Youth Ambassador for the state of New Hampshire with Youth Service America.  Last month Luke traveled to Washington, DC to meet with youth ambassadors from the other 49 states and had an opportunity to talk to Sen. Kelly Ayotte about Project PLAY.  

All that food!

Enjoy this time lapse video by Colby Fortin '15 showing the students bringing all 7,800 pounds of food out to the New Hampshire Food Bank truck yesterday morning:

food from Brian Flaherty on Vimeo.

Blessing of the animals

Tonight we are hosting our annual Blessing of the Animals at 6pm on the front lawn of the school.  We hold this event around the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.  Fr. John Bucchino, OFM, the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish here in Manchester, will preside.  I have had to cancel this event 2 of the past 3 years because of rain and today it is raining again but I am going to try and squeeze it in.

All are welcome to bring their pet/creature/farm animal for this fun event.

A new record!

During the past few weeks, we have been collecting food in homerooms to benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank.  We concluded it on Monday and I am beyond excited to announced that our students brought in 7,800 pounds of food.

SEVEN
THOUSAND
EIGHT
HUNDRED

To compare, we raised a little over 5,700 pounds last year and this year we have 30 less students.

I am grateful to all of of families for helping out but I want to make a special mention of Mr. Carnevale's and Mr. Martinez's homerooms.  Mr. Martinez's homeroom brought in over 1,300 pounds and Mr. Carnevale's brought in a whopping 1,780 pounds.  Mr. Martinez's homeroom however came in first as Mr. Martinez was able to arrange for 1,000 pounds of yogurt to be donated from Stonyfield Farms in Londonderry on behalf of Trinity High School.  Mrs. Leblond's homeroom came in third with 608 pounds.

As promised, the school will get a week of dress down days for meeting our goal of 5,500 pounds and the top three homerooms will get to pick from three prizes: a week of no homework in theology class, buffalo wings from Billy's here in Manchester, or donuts from Top Donuts in Lowell.

You can see pictures from when the Food Bank picked up the food here.  Some of our students also took some time lapse videos and when I figure out how to post those I will.

As is our custom when we conclude a major project like this, our morning prayer the other day was from Matthew 25:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’