One of our own

There are two Christian Brothers that I am aware of that are graduates of Bishop Bradley High School, Trinity High School's predecessor school:  Bro. Dan Aubin '70 (I believe or maybe '69) and Bro. Ray Blixt '59.  Bro. Dan is the president of Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, FL and Bro. Ray works here in New York City at the Martin de Porres Group Homes.  There are three boys here this week at Lasallian Youth Assembly from Martin de Porres and Bro. Ray came over tonight to see how they were doing.  My suite mate for the week, Malik Mitchell, also works at Martin de Porres and introduced me to Bro. Ray when he arrived.

The Trinity contingent with Bro. Ray

Bro. Ray grew up in Manchester and after he graduated from Bishop Bradley he immediately joined the brothers. He told me that he was assigned to New York City very early on and has been here pretty much his entire religious life (54 years and counting).  I am not sure when he began working at Martin de Porres but I know he was the founder and had two stints as the executive director.  He works with children who have been court ordered to go to Martin de Porres before they can go back home after having spent  time in juvenile detention.  From what I gather, Martin de Porres is much more preferable to some of the group homes the city runs and the boys thrive there.  They spend about 9 months at Martin de Porres working on skills, behavior, academics, etc.  and if successful, they can go home to their parents.  If not, they go back to what Malik called "lock-up."

When Bro. Ray arrived last night the boys from Martin de Porres were ecstatic and went over to him and gave him big hugs.  He is obviously loved by the kids there, most of whom come from horrible, horrible homes and backgrounds.  It seems that in Bro. Ray they have an adult who they can trust and from whom they can find love and support.

How Lasallian!

I introduced Bro. Ray to our students and to Mrs. Photiades.  He offered to come to Trinity to speak with the faculty about the Christian Brothers, Lasallian spirituality, etc.  I may just take him up on that offer!  It was so good to meet him and to hear about his work.  We are so proud he is a Pioneer!