Public dialogue without the sound bites

On April 18th of this year a Vatican agency, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a statement calling for a “Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).” LCWR is a Vatican-recognized umbrella organization representing the issues and concerns of the 57,000 Sisters (women religious) living and working in the United States. This Vatican initiative is intended to assess the degree to which LCWR is fulfilling its role as an authentic representative of US nuns and sisters as they relate to the American Bishops and the authorities in Rome.

I won’t bore you with the details of this situation - other than to note that for Roman Catholics knowledgeable about the relationship between the Church here in the US and the Vatican, this is an extraordinarily controversial initiative that is quickly drawing sides between “traditional” Catholics who support the authority of the Vatican to engage in activities like the Doctrinal Assessment and “progressive” Catholics who argue for greater flexibility in how the Church functions at the local level.

I want to focus on this challenging situation because of the parallels that can be drawn between the current controversies raging around Health-care Reform (a.k.a. “Obamacare”). No sooner was the ink dry on the President’s signature of the Congressional legislation than right-of-center political groups immediately began calling for its repeal and targeting politicians who had supported the initiative. Here’s an example from recent Florida news Blog:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday it is pumping big bucks into Florida with its first multimillion-dollar ad blitz of the 2012 cycle, aimed at (Senator Bill) Nelson and a pair of Democrats running for the U.S. House: former Rep. Alan Grayson and longtime state and local politician Lois Frankel.

The complaint: each had voted in favor of Health-care Reform. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a firm supporter of elections representing the will of the voters; and if a majority of voters are opposed to Health-care Reform, than their will should he heard and implemented. My issue with the Chamber of Commerce is that it is targeting three politicians over a single-issue. While the media may convince us that the only issue is Health-care Reform, we know that every federal, state and local politician must address myriad issues of concern to their constituents. Targeting politicians for a single vote suggests that political orthodoxy - not the complexity of issues and, certainly not the need to compromise in order to balance competing interests - forms the basis of the electoral system. Any High School Junior studying James Madison’s The Federalist Papers will be able cite his famous warning against the development of a “party spirit” in opposition to this approach.

How does this relate to the controversy swirling around the Vatican’s handling of LCWR? Well for starters, the organization refused to make a public comment regarding the April announcement and only this week (three months later) announced that its leadership team will travel to Rome to “discuss their concerns” with respect to the Vatican initiative. Then they will return to the US and conduct regional meetings to confer with their membership. In August, the annual meeting of the LCWR membership will convene to discuss a response to Rome.

I recognize that it is quixotic to expect the rough and tumble nature of American politics to pursue a similar, measured approach; but the LCWR’s cautious response to this controversy raises important concerns about how toxic debate in the public square has become here in the US. Consider this public statement by Franciscan Friars living in the United States:

The rancor and incivility of public conversation in the United States at this time make the possibility of productive dialogue more difficult to achieve. We pray that the future conversation between LCWR and CDF might provide an example to the larger world of respectful, civil dialog. Such dialog will require a degree of mutuality, trust and honesty that is absent from much of our world.

As a Catholic educator, I worry about the negative impact polarized politics is having on the students entrusted to our care. I worry about their ability to take advantage of the intellectual tools we have encouraged them to use when weighing opposing positions on the important issues of our time. I worry that they will be swayed by strident talking heads whose arguments are framed in “ad hominem” ways in order to encourage snap judgments on very complicated issues that rarely admit of easy solutions, much less ones that lend themselves to compromise.

As has been the case for the over 200 years in which religious nuns and sisters have toiled in schools throughout the United States, we are being given an excellent example of how to engage in public dialogue without resorting to “sound bites” and slick slogans to persuade those who don’t agree. Reflecting their female counter-parts’ carefully constructed “big picture” response to the challenge posed by CDF, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men reinforced the importance of listening carefully to both sides of an issue:

As the church and society face tumultuous times, the board (CMSM) believes it is imperative that these matters be addressed by the entire church community in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and integrity.

I have no idea how things will end with the controversy swirling around Health-care Reform; nor do I have a glimmer of insight as to what will happen to LCWR as it engages in dialogue with the Vatican. I do know that we can learn a lot from their approach that would go a long way towards dialing down the stridency that is poisoning political conversation here in the US.

On the Value of Volunteers

Between meetings at the Christian Brothers’ Provincial Headquarters in Napa and Alumni gatherings in Northern California, Portland and Seattle, I spend a fair amount of time flying Southwest Airlines. So, it shouldn’t have been a surprise (it was) to read in their in-flight magazine that April is National Volunteer Month. I knew, for example, that February is National Black History Month and March is National Women’s History Month. I even knew that National Hispanic Heritage Month was - oddly -situated between two months (September and October) in order to commemorate eight Latin and Central American countries who declared independence in the last two weeks of September. But - and this is the point - for someone who has spent over thirty years in Catholic education - and, therefore, heavily reliant upon the enthusiasm of volunteers - I did not know that April is National Volunteer Month. Nor did I know that it began as National Volunteer Week with a declaration by President Nixon in 1974.

As a member of the Baby Boom Generation, I can safely assert that we did not grow up in a world that promoted altruistic volunteerism. Political and Church-based volunteerism was the norm for anyone whose adolescent years traversed the Sixties and Seventies. Even as a young teacher in the Seventies and Eighties, I did not observe a societal emphasis on community service - other than that required by most Catholic high schools in order for students to be eligible for graduation. The last twenty years, however, have witnessed a spectacular growth in altruistic volunteerism. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 64 million people volunteered at least once between September 2010 and September 2011; and that doesn’t include teenagers who must volunteer as part of a school-based community service requirement. Since 1989, the number of adults who volunteer has increased by 60 percent.

It’s anybody’s guess as to what explains this phenomenon. I’d like to think that the increasingly toxic political conversations taking place at the macro level in the public square has, in some measure, motivated individuals to try to make a difference at the micro level of their local community. Certainly, we see that here at La Salle. The School couldn’t function if it weren’t for the thousands of hours put in by parents to ensure that a bewildering array of events on and off campus is successfully launched. By the time you read this, the Crystal Ball will have come and gone; its success completely dependent upon the legion of volunteers, headed by Tess Crabtree, P ’12, ‘14 who spent the last 12 months making sure that every “T” was crossed and “I” dotted. PALS (Parents at La Salle) ensure that parents of incoming students have an experienced parent who is available to address their concerns and provide guidance and access to school administrators who can answer their questions. Unique among Catholic high schools, La Salle not only has a formal Parent Association, but four parent booster groups (Academics, Arts, Athletics, Student Life) as well. Student Life elections also took place recently. A record number of students stood for election, including Sophomore, Jamie Kwong, who sought the Commissioner of Service position. It occurs to me that something special is happening in a school where Sophomores are inspired to run for an office that promotes community service as a normative part of the student experience. Perhaps the most relevant example of how embedded service is in the culture of La Salle is that every student is expected to do service; but isn’t expected to count a minimum number of hours in pursuit of that expectation. This dynamic is effectively captured by two slogans that regularly pop up in the day-to-day lived experience of La Salle:

Enter to Learn - Leave to Serve

Learn - Serve - Lead

I am fond of asserting in this space, and elsewhere, that our Mission can be summarized rather succinctly in this way:

La Salle produces good students and good people

Now that I am aware of the fact that April is National Volunteer Month, I plan on becoming more forthcoming in my gratitude to parents, administrators, teachers and students who embrace service as an essential component of their lived experience of what I like to call The La Salle Difference.



Go and make disciples of all nations

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

-First Amendment to the Constitution

La Salle students have a unique opportunity to observe constitutional history being made as the meaning of the First Amendment to the Constitution is debated by the Nation’s Catholic Bishops and the Federal Government. At issue is the interpretation of the term “religious institution” as it applies to the Affordable Care Act. The Department of Health & Human Services initially limited the meaning of the term to actual churches (as in Saint Rita Church or Pasadena Nazarene Church) thus excluding institutions sponsored by a religious denomination (as in La Salle High School or the University of Notre Dame). The overwhelming outcry, largely - though not exclusively - by Catholic Bishops led the Government to modify its definition to include sponsored institutions.

At issue was the federal mandate requiring employers to provide access to contraceptive and birth control services as part of their insurance policies. As most know this mandate - as initially articulated - would force Catholic institutions to violate Church teaching on the sanctity of life. The compromise language alleviated but did not eliminate all of the Church’s objections. Specifically, Church institutions would not be required to provide free access to contraceptive services, but their insurance companies would be.

While this debate may seem arcane and uninteresting to teenagers, the underlying issue - who defines what a religious institution under the Constitution - should be. In the study of US History it is significant that first among the Bill of Rights is listed the freedom of worship, speech, the press and assembly. These were the source of the most egregious violations visited upon the colonists by the British crown; so our Nation’s Founders resolved to create their absolute protection early in the unfolding of the new constitutional framework. And, as any but the most casual students of history will know, the interpretation of what it means to worship, speak and assemble has been a two hundred year effort. So, it is significant that HHS sought to narrowly define “religious institution” as a “church” and it is significant that the government was forced to broaden that definition to include church-sponsored institutions. But that isn’t the end of the debate. For almost a hundred years, the Supreme Court has been asked to resolve the thorny question as to what constitutes worship, speech, etc. And, it is entirely likely that it will be asked to do so with respect to the current debate as to what constitutes a “church.”

Hidden in the debate is a question posed by the Government: To be considered a “church” must all of the people you serve be members? The initial ruling issued by HHS said “yes.” The Nation’s Bishops and others said “no.” At first glance, the Bishops’ position may seem contradictory. After all in each election cycle we hear of individual Bishops criticizing Catholic politicians for straying from Church teaching, endangering their membership. However that practice is a judgment call not an institutional priority. The Church - bishops, priests and the faithful - are expected to respond to the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel of Matthew (Therefore go and make disciples of all nations) which implies that, in order for the Church to implement Jesus’ instruction, it must reach out to everyone - not just baptized members.

And it is in our response to the Great Commission that we see the crux of the conflict between the Bishops and the Government: who gets to determine what constitutes a “church?” The most eloquent articulation of the Catholic position in this debate was made by Archbishop James Hickey when he justified services to non-Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington:

"We serve the homeless not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic. If we don't care for the sick, educate the young, care for the homeless, then we cannot call ourselves the church of Jesus Christ."

This position is echoed at La Salle where we consciously reach out to non-Catholics in response to our Board of Trustees who expects that up to 30% of the students we serve must come from other - or no - faith traditions.
While the debate on what constitutes a “church” may seem arcane and uninteresting to our teenagers; its implications for constitutional history and our own Catholic identity ought to be.

On Looking Before Leaping...

Our Principal, Pat Bonacci, AFSC, and faculty volunteers have been meeting with various textbook publishers in order to get a better handle on how the future of tablet technology (read: “e-books”) will impact La Salle and the students entrusted to our care. Pat and I have had weekly conversations regarding the “crystal ball” every educator is peering into with the hope that the next advance in educational technology will appear sooner, rather than later, on our horizon. I’m reminded of Screenwriter, William Goldsmith, who famously had this to say about Hollywood: “Nobody knows anything.” It’s a lot like that with respect to the direction in which educational technology is headed. We really don’t know and only the lucky will guess right; which is why I am fond of telling folks that I am a big fan of being the “second school in” on technology innovation. Let others blaze the new trail and La Salle will happily follow, learning from their mistakes as well as their achievements. Several Catholic and independent schools in the Southland are experimenting with this technology - both with teachers and their students. Pat and his team are anxiously watching their progress in this regard.


That having been said, Pat and I are keeping ourselves as current as possible with the way the technology winds are blowing. Of particular concern for Pat is the recent announcement by Apple that it is entering the “e-textbook” market. This could accelerate our plans to transition to tablet-based technology. This has prompted his meetings with various textbook publishers. And, while we believe that Apple’s entry into the e-book market is a game changer, it is also very clear that traditional textbook publishers are relying on older business models to inform their approach to tablet technology. One example of this is the - fairly uniform - insistence on “renting” the software to end-users. Where this becomes problematic is in the structure of the financial relationship between supplier and user. Textbook publishers appear to be relying on a college-based relationship in which the end user needs to rent the technology for a minimum of 90 days (the typical length of a college semester). By doubling that number, they appear to have addressed the needs of students using a textbook for two successive semesters. Unfortunately, this is not the model for most private schools in California (in which the maximum number of days of instruction typically exceed 180 days by some small amount). In short, without a modification accommodating private secondary schools, users of tablet-based e-books would find their license to access the entitled software disappearing on the 181st day. A rather unwelcome surprise when a student is preparing for final exams on the 183rd day.

I share this conundrum as a way to illustrate the validity of Goldsmith’s oracular comment about Hollywood, now applicable to the technology needs of secondary schools throughout the Golden State: “nobody knows anything.” In spite of (or perhaps because of) that dynamic, La Salle has been quietly raising an additional $300,000 to prepare the School for the introduction of tablet technology in the classrooms (this is on top of the original, highly successful $500,000 campaign to outfit all classrooms with SMARTBoards and laptop-friendly desks). We are grateful for an anonymous La Salle family who has offered the School $100,000 once we raise the other $200,000. This will enable the School to upgrade its technology infrastructure so that it can support the heavier demand that tablet-based computers will require (for example, without a universal tablet platform currently in place, the School’s servers are running at 100% of capacity at 8pm at night). There are an unknowable number of questions that must be answered before we purchase the first tablet (“Should the School own or rent the technology?” “Who is responsible for lost/damaged tablets?” and… will the “My tablet crashed” become the substitute for the age-old teen-age excuse, “The dog ate my homework?”). I think you get the idea.

I am pleased to report that we are “only” $50,000 away from accomplishing our goal of raising $200,000 in order to receive the $100,000 match. I can assure you that, while we don’t know what’s next in instructional technology; we do know that, at La Salle, we’ll be ready for whatever twist and turn we encounter. With your help we can keep La Salle current with whatever advances educational technology throws at us without leaping before we look.

"Back to the Future"

I was pleased to introduce the next Principal of La Salle, Brother Christopher Brady, FSC, at our recent Back-to-School Night. His appointment concludes a process that began last spring when internal and external constituents were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the strengths and challenges La Salle brings to the next decade. That feedback was analyzed and used to shape a revised job-description for the next principal. The Search Committee, chaired by former Trustee, Dr. Vera Vignes, included representatives from each of the School’s constituencies (administrators, teachers, alums, Trustees, current and past parents and a representative from one of our “feeder schools”) as well as from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Position announcements were sent to all (arch) dioceses on the West Coast as well as to the Christian Brothers Conference. West Coast colleges and universities with schools of education received the announcement as well. National journals, Education Week and Independent School Management, published the position and it was listed with the national consulting firm, Carney-Sandoe & Associates. Given the extensive search process in which over sixty inquiries were generated, the selection of Brother Chris in a time when very few Catholic high schools are fortunate to have a priest, brother or sister as the principal, feels a bit like La Salle has gone "back to the future."

The Search Committee narrowed the list of 60 to ten and then again to three. The three semi-finalists (including Brother Chris) were brought on campus to meet with focus groups representing administration, faculty/staff, parents and students. The Search Committee moved Brother Chris and one other finalist forward for my consideration. Both were extraordinarily accomplished and had stellar recommendations…albeit with very different administrative characteristics and years of experience. Quite frankly, it would have been easier choosing between two similar candidates than with what the Committee presented. In a sense, however, it was a good thing that the two finalists were as different; as it forced me to look at them through the lens of La Salle’s short and long term needs; and, after spending a substantial portion of a day with each of the finalists, I was pleased to offer the position to Brother Chris. In a sense, Brother Chris is coming “home” as La Salle, Pasadena was his first teaching assignment after college.

I want to express my profound gratitude to the Search Committee, especially Dr. Vera Vignes, its chair, for their professional dedication and commitment to maintaining the integrity of the process. By way of tribute to their effort, both finalists, who were not offered the position, voluntarily told me how impressed they were with the process and the respect for La Salle that was engendered in them as participants in the search.

A critical concern for me was the perpetuation of the caring culture that Pat Bonacci, AFSC has nurtured for more than two decades. When I looked at Brother Chris through this lens, I recognized that his background in student services, his exposure to the challenges of significantly larger schools than La Salle, and his incredible commitment - as a Brother - to Lasallian values; it made sense for me to take advantage of his availability in a world woefully devoid of Brothers in ministry. But that wasn’t the only reason I asked Brother Chris to take the position. It is precisely because of his deep background in ministry to students that our students, teachers and parents will be well cared for under the leadership of the next principal. I am confident that the culture of care and concern that is a result of the leadership of Pat Bonacci, AFSC will continue to characterize life at La Salle. And I want Brother Chris to be in a position, which will enable him to work with our dedicated faculty, to consistently address the implications of the uncertain future facing educational institutions in California and which must be met with highly visible strategies that imbue confidence in those who are considering La Salle for their children. We know that a robust high school environment that emphasizes consistently excellent instruction and the delivery of a challenging college-preparatory curriculum will ensure that La Salle will weather the current economic storm as well as positioning itself as “the school of choice in the San Gabriel Valley.”

Because you will soon see the amazing ability Brother Chris has to nurture those entrusted to his care; he will have the freedom he needs to attend to the essential obligation to reinforce the “purchase decision” of our parents, colleagues, students and alums; without sacrificing the special world I like to call the “La Salle Difference.”

I am confident that his dedication to the Christian Brothers, his commitment to an educational process that can transform hearts and his passion for improving the lives of the students entrusted to his care will enable Brother Chris to make a significant impact on the next chapter in the history of La Salle High School.

The Winds of Change

If you are like me, answering a ringing telephone at 7:00am produces a groggy and fairly befuddled response. Fortunately for me, the originator of the call was a computer featuring the recorded voice of our Principal, Pat Bonacci, AFSC (and therefore not requiring me to speak in complete sentences) alerting us to the fact that school had been cancelled for the day because of the enormous damage inflicted by a particularly violent arrival of Santa Ana winds. It turned out that all Pasadena schools closed that day and, as I drove to school that morning, I could see why: mature magnolias completely uprooted, roads blocked by mountains of debris and, at La Salle, a batting cage split in half by a limb of the overgrown liquid ambers that we keep beseeching the City to prune on a regular basis (these trees are between the sidewalk and the street, making them Pasadena’s problem, not La Salle’s).


It was then that it suddenly hit me: by the time I arrived on campus, our Principal, Pat Bonacci, AFSC had everything well in hand and, together with Director of Operations, Elena Gallud, was intent upon making certain that La Salle would be ready to receive students - as usual - the next day. This insight is not particularly clever - we all know this is what Pat does. But it was unusual for me to dwell on it from this perspective: as we search for a new principal; will Pat’s successor take as good care of us as this admirable man has done for the last 26 years? Of course, it’s a rhetorical question that does not admit of a glib answer - but it is an important one - after all, the great strength of La Salle is its sense of community in which we all aspire to nurture, challenge, inspire and motivate (to paraphrase our Mission Statement) the people entrusted to our care. Pat has been the role model and cheerleader-in-chief for this essential element which highlights the “La Salle Difference.”

In one sense, it’s an unfair question - no one should be measured by the standard of the person they succeed. Still, we are human and we like to know where our comfort zone lies. By the time you read this, we will have completed the search for the next principal of La Salle High School and expect to announce the appointment in early January. So, these ruminations are particularly poignant for me as I wrestle with the inescapable reality that the most important contribution I will make to La Salle is the appointment of the successor to Pat Bonacci, AFSC. I am extremely pleased with the individuals who agreed to serve on the Search Committee; especially, Dr. Vera Vignes, its Chair. We have representatives of the School’s faculty and administration, alumni, parents of alumni, Trustees, area elementary principals, representatives from the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office, and the Christian Brothers. They have taken their charge extraordinarily seriously. From 50 initial inquiries, they identified six candidates for a preliminary round of interviews. From the pool of six, three candidates were brought in for a second round of interviews with the Search Committee and a round of on-campus interviews with focus groups representing: administration, faculty, students and parents. These focus groups were asked to email their feedback to the Committee, which was then reviewed and assembled as support for their recommendations regarding the three finalists. Then, it was time for me to be put on the hotspot: I had to select one of these candidates to be the next principal of La Salle High School.

I think you can see, therefore, why Pat’s “Johnny on the spot” performance on the day the Santa Anas brought Pasadena to its knees is of particular concern to me as I contemplate who should succeed him. Each of the three finalists brings outstanding - and different - attractive qualities to the position. Two are skilled in particular areas: curriculum and instruction for one and guidance and counseling for the other. The third is a generalist, a seasoned “pro” that has helmed more than one Catholic high school over the last 20 years. More than one teacher who sat in on a focus group interview echoed my own sentiments by saying to me: “Can’t we just merge all of these characteristics into one person? (Where is that picture of Dorian Grey when you need it?).

I suspect you get the point of this dilemma: in the grand scheme of things, we don’t get to insist on the “one” way to perfection. The process of becoming better is always messy and unpredictable. What we do get to do is to say; given our imperfect knowledge of the present (and especially, the future) this seems to be the way to go. I have been extraordinarily impressed with the seriousness with which my colleagues, students and parents have approached this challenging task. I know they all care deeply about the future of La Salle and I am fairly confident that they realize that no one person can shoulder the burden of our varied expectations.

Pray that I may benefit from the Lord’s wisdom as we begin the next chapter of the marvelous story of the La Salle Difference. Pray, also, that the next principal of La Salle will take as good care of us as the current one has so wonderfully done.

Te Deum Laudamus

Sadly, I had to fly up to Saint Mary’s College to attend the funeral of one of the Christian Brothers - Brother Donald Mansir, FSC (John Blackstock ’67, a college classmate of Brother Donald’s, was asked to be one of the Pall Bearers). Brother Donald began his teaching career here at La Salle Pasadena, where he taught and directed Music for four years. He was well-regarded and a popular teacher. From 1979 to 1986, he was a teacher and administrator at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno. He left the high school arena in 1986, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Theology and Near Eastern Studies. Brother Donald spent ten years in the Middle East, first as an instructor at Bethlehem University (sponsored by the Christian Brothers), then as a member of the staff of the Apostolic Delegation in Jerusalem (the Pope’s representative in Israel). Brother Donald then joined the staff of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, eventually becoming its Director in Jerusalem and then Chief Operating Officer of the Mission’s headquarters in New York City. He concluded his service to the Holy Land when he was appointed Director of the New York office of the International Catholic Child Welfare Bureau and Permanent Observer to the United Nations’ UNICEF. He returned to California in 1988 and assumed a faculty position at Saint Mary’s College, where he would remain - happily - for the rest of his life. He succumbed to metastatic cancer just after he turned 62.


I knew Brother Donald fairly well and considered him a friend (as did many of the standing room-only crowd that attended his funeral in the College Chapel). So it was all the more surprising to me to learn of his distinguished career in the Middle East. As I reflected on my lack of knowledge of Brother Donald’s activities between the time he left Pasadena and the time he returned to Saint Mary’s College, I realized that for all of his talent and intellectual brilliance, Brother Donald did not need to showcase his accomplishments. He was content with the quiet quotidian of a professor’s life. He lived in the dormitories for the entire time he was on the faculty of the College and delighted in his duties as a tutor in the Integral Program (Saint Mary’s version of the Great Books program). Having an apartment in the dorms enabled Brother Donald to engage in one of his favorite activities - cooking. Many student members of the Integral Program would find their seminar sessions adjourning to Brother Donald’s apartment for a lavish supper.

So it should have been no surprise to me (it was) to see a number of the College students in attendance at the Mass celebrating Brother Donald’s life to be openly weeping because of their grief that such a treasured teacher was taken from them too soon. In thinking about their tears on the flight back to Pasadena, I wondered how many of us engaged in the ministry of Lasallian education would be similarly honored by the students entrusted to our care at the time of our passing. For the first time in my 20 years working in Lasallian schools, I could fully appreciate the oft-quoted encouragement written by Saint John Baptist de La Salle over 300 years ago:

You, too, can create miracles by touching the hearts of the students entrusted to your care!

Those tears of grief represented (for me) the profound ability of Brother Donald to “touch the hearts” of the students entrusted to his care. The significance of this outcome is made even more powerful by the fact that two alums from La Salle, Pasadena flew up to attend Brother Donald’s funeral. Brother Donald had taught one of them, Alan Cabral ‘78 for each of his four years at La Salle; and that experience was still memorable to him almost 30 years later. De La Salle in his Sixteenth Meditation for the Time of Retreat captured this amazing outcome:

Oh what glory there will be for those who have instructed youth, when their zeal and devotion to procure the salvation of children will be made public before all people!

All heaven will resound with the thanksgiving which these blessed children will render to

those who have taught them the road to heaven!

Rest easily, Brother Donald, in God’s presence and, through your intercession, may we who continue the work of Lasallian education merit a similar reaction when it is time for us to meet our Maker.