A High Premium

Welcome and Invocation at Grandparents’ Day

            My parents taught me to place a high premium on making other people feel welcome.  When someone comes into your home, they said, you put them at ease and relaxed, rather than make them feel uncomfortable or awkward.  We found this same warm welcome when we first arrived in the U.S. at the local Catholic school, St. Theresa’s in Little Rock.  I started there in 5th grade and immediately felt like part of the school family, even though “I probably talked with an Indian accent like this," like the guy "Raj" from Big Bang Theory.  Even though I’ve lost my accent, I haven’t lost the friends I made at that Catholic school; they are still my best friends today.

             You will find that same warm welcome at every Catholic school, especially here at I.C.  The original meaning of the word “catholic” is “universal,” or put more practically, it means “where everyone is welcome.”  Yesterday at brunch, I sat with our new family from Japan, Mr. and Mrs. Kurihama.  The dad, Ryuuichiro, explained that his name, “Ichiro” means “first born son.”  Then he asked me, “Do you know the New York Yankees?  They have a player named ‘Ichiro.’  But the funny thing is that he’s the second son in that family, not the first.  We don’t think he’s really Japanese!”  So, now you can impress your friends at cocktail parties – and that’s just another benefit of Catholic schools!  I hope the Kurihama’s feel like family in this Catholic school in Fort Smith, just like the Antony’s felt like family in that Catholic school in Little Rock.

             We’re happy to kick off Catholic schools week by welcoming our grandparents: we want you to feel at ease and relaxed.  You’ll be pleased to know that your grandchildren attend a school that places a high premium on people feeling welcome.  “Catholic” doesn’t mean cookie-cutter conformity, where everyone looks and acts the same, but rather a rich diversity, as wide as the whole world itself, welcoming Indians and Japanese and Japanese wanna-be’s.  Let’s pray:

             Heavenly Father, you sent your Son into the world not to save a few people, but to save many.  Indeed, “you desire that all men and women be saved,” (1 Timothy 2: 4).  Bless all Catholic schools that they be a concrete expression of your universal love, where everyone feels warmly welcome.  We ask this through Christ, our Lord.  Amen.”