From the Principal’s Desk 2.37

Dear Friends,

This is the last Tuesday Note for the year and there is so much to say, but I shall simply make a few comments that I hope resonate with all of you.  First off, life is a gift.   We do not know how long we have on this earth, so each day we need to remember how special it is.  When I was a boy my father got into a serious accident that should have killed him yet he was unhurt.  I remember how happy he was to be alive; in fact I think he bought us donuts for what seemed to be a month.   He lived the rest of his life rejoicing every morning for the gift of that day.   No matter the struggle and the strife, the pain and turmoil, our redeemed lives are precious and worthy of rejoicing.   

In the parish of my youth one of the priests would start each mass by saying, “Good Morning, it is a good day to be alive!”  I wholeheartedly agree.

Secondly, we have a new Archbishop! Bishop Samuel Aquila was appointed by His Holiness Pope Benedict.   Thanks be to God!  Bishop Aquila was formerly the Superintendent of Catholic Schools in Denver; I shall be looking forward to working with him.

Finally, Graduation was wonderful and I thank all who helped us stage that event.  Being outside was simply beautiful, if a bit windy.   The final step in a high school career is a fun one and there is and should be a great deal of rejoicing.  And like so many things one ends and the next begins.  As the graduates go off to college and careers please keep us informed it allows us to track our successes and discover areas we need to grow in.

God bless,

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal’s Desk 2.36

Dear Friends,

This week we graduate 142 students from Holy Family High School and it is quite a milestone for them.  In many ways it is the capstone of their formative years as children and the beginning of their adult walk.  We have been through so much with them, their joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures, disappointments and successes, and all that lies in-between.    Our children start so small and humble, helpless and vulnerable, not able to even lift their heads and now they can run and shout,  study and play and live the life of grace offered to them.   No one knows the whole of the story, no one is privy to all the details and yet anyone can see the result.

They graduate into a world that is filled with trouble, a veritable hornet’s nest of difficulties, and also a world filled with promise and hope.  If our children, graduates, keep their eyes on Christ and cling to Him, they shall be more than good, they shall be great, they shall be saints.

Thank you for trusting us with the education of your children,

God bless,

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal's Desk 2.35

Dear Parents,

Last night I was pleased to attend the spring concert in which the band played their instrument and the choirs sung.  It is always a pleasure to hear the fine performances of our students and to be amazed at their choreography as they sing.  Clearly a bit of fatherly pride comes out as I cheered my daughter solo (very nicely done from my point of view).  This comes on the heels of the Improv Club’s final show for the year,  the musical,  Honor Society induction and Color Day/May Crowning!  Not to mention our girls soccer team recent successes, the baseball team headed up to State Finals and the numerous students going to the State track meet.  We are blessed with an embarrassment of riches.

Should we expect any less?

This is a tricky question, but I believe the answer is we should not.  If we raise our children to know who they are, if we educate them with the truth (which sets them free,  John 8:32) and we encourage them to lead lives of virtue, should we be surprised that they excel? Or should we be surprised when they don’t?   This does not mean that every child will win every contest but it does mean that all of them can make us proud, and even more importantly bring honor to our family and to the God that made them and loves them.  They can achieve the  true excellence which comes from knowing the love of God.   Scripture says it best (surprise!)  

Romans 8:37-39

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   

So as the year enters its final stages let us encourage our students to be more than conquerors, to achieve all that they are capable of,  and to bring honor to our family and our school.

Thank you again for trusting us with the education of your children.

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal’s Desk 2.34

Dear Parents and Friends,

As we near graduation I would like to share an observation with you.  Perhaps you noticed that the world around us does not encourage a life of grace (holiness) but actually mocks following God.  The claim is that to follow God you will become a boring person with a life that has all of its joy taken from you.  Instead a hedonistic life is offered promising freedom and excitement and endless pleasure.  Reality is however, quite the opposite.

Have you ever noticed there are no two saints who have lives that are similar?  Each is enormously complex and varied, but you may have noticed that sinners have almost no originality; their lives are almost always the same. (think of how unoriginal supermarket checkout tabloids are for instance).   Sin promises us freedom but delivers chains.  Holiness asks us to freely give our lives to Christ, and we find that Christ gives us even more freedom in return.    A saint, which we are all called to be, will tend to the sick, educate the ignorant, care for the elderly, raise families, work honestly, build cities and civilizations, explore, engineer, produce great works of art, and leave behind a world that is greener, healthier and more wholesome.

So as our students near college and the greater world, let us use the last few moments that they are with us, to encourage them to be great, to be noble… to be saints.

God bless,

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal’s Desk 2.32

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The end of the year festivities have begun and I must take a moment to thank all those who helped us put on the Tiger Gala, and to all who donated.  It was certainly a great night which benefited us all very much.   The evening reminded me of why we have Catholic Education.  We celebrated Johnny Cash, a flawed man for certain, but one who ultimately made his peace with God.  To treasure a person for whom they are stands as the hallmark of our Faith, to be seen as God’s child, to be honored for nothing greater than being a potential saint, and to have that divine spark recognized in you even in your darkest moments.  Christ calls us to be so much more than we could be without him.  I thank you for your aid in allowing us to educate your children.

For those who are looking at the schedule you know Prom and After Prom are this week.   It promises to be a great evening and I hope and pray a safe one.  Please remind your students that while we may be able to choose our actions, we cannot choose our consequences.  We never want to be, or want our children to be the ones who say, “I never meant for that to happen.” 

May God keep us all safe and bless us in what we do.

Pax Christi!

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal's Desk 2.31

Dear Friends,

Easter time brings us full circle. Once again man is united to God, the promise of Eden’s fall fulfilled and the dread curse lifted.  This is no return to Eden; it is much better. Heaven becomes our home and our goal.  This is why the church dares to pray

“O Happy Fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!”

There is so much for us to be grateful for, and yet so much for us still to do.  We enter into that final stage of school, where seniors think of loftier matters, college and beyond, and their attention to the necessary work tends to slip. I would ask for your help in keeping all the students engaged in study until the end.  We want everyone to finish strong.

Finally I hope and pray all of you have a blessed and fun Easter season, for while this school is the result of many wonderful people working hard, our salvation was the result of just one person working perfectly and all of us joining Him.

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

From the Principal’s Desk 2.30

Dear Parents and Friends,

In this most Holy of Weeks, I will just take a moment to discuss why we as Catholics and Christians make such a big fuss over sin.   Even a common passerby might understand why a school cares about cheating, lying  and rude behavior as these directly affect the mission of the school,  but why do we care about pride and vanity and sloth and gluttony and all the rest of the deadly sins?  Here is why.  Sin has three major effects on you, 1) it damages your relationship with God, 2) it clouds the intellect, and 3) it harms yourself and others.  The examples of this are legion so allow me just two scenarios to demonstrate how it might work.   

Student A is proud and won’t admit they need help, therefore they study by themselves and as the fear of failure starts to rise in them, they start to ignore and treat rudely those in their family.  This strains the familial bonds and when the student takes the test, and fails, they blame God for the result.

Student B is humble and realizes they need help, so they study hard and find their teacher and others who can help them learn.  They speak to their parents about the need to study and accommodations are made.  The student may or may not do well on the test (probably will) but in the end they thank God for the result knowing they did their best.

There are many other ways this might play out.  It is clear in all of them that a life of virtue is a successful life.

Finally, as I have mentioned before there is a particularly poignant moment in “The Passion” that I often think of during Holy Week.  If you have seen the movie you will know of what I speak. It is the part where Mary, seeing Jesus fall, runs to him with open arms as a mother does when comforting her child and as she reaches out to him, he turns to her and says, “See, I make all things new.”  I find that so often it is through Mary I can better understand Jesus.  May we all be aware of what Christ Jesus did for us and as our sins are buried with Christ may we rise to new life with him on Easter.

I thank you for all of us for entrusting us with your children.

God bless,

Timothy Gallic

Principal, Holy Family High School

303-410-1411

p.s. any questions, cares, comments or concerns? They are always welcome