Never Too Late

In the Gospel last Sunday, Jesus offered the story of two sons who had very different responses to their father’s request to go out and work. One son said “no” but later did the work while the other son said “yes” but never did do the work—there were no TV’s or iPads but I wonder what wild thing the father had to do to actually get his sons’ attention long enough to get a response. At different times in our lives, I am sure we have identified with all three characters from the story. At morning assembly, though, I focused on the first son and his choice. Last week, when talking about “toughness,” I mentioned how Jay Bilas’ father told him it took many steps to reach the top of the ladder but only one to fall to the bottom of it. In the first son from the Gospel, I see a parallel with a more positive twist—you can make many bad choices in your life but it is never too late to make the right one, just like the son who at first told his father no but obeyed him in the end.

My peace bringing mission to the students this week is for them to continue practicing kindness. However, this week, like the first son in the Gospel, they have to right a wrong. I challenged them to find one person they need to say sorry to and apologize. It could be a teacher whose class was disrupted, a parent whose request was ignored, or a classmate whose feelings were hurt. If students can’t think of anyone, my secondary challenge is to complete a task that could bring a smile to someone’s face. Some examples could be raking leaves—or in my case pine needles—without being asked; helping a friend study for a tough test; or praying a decade of the rosary for someone who is sick. Whatever choice our students make, it is important for them to remember it is never too late to make the right one—for when they do God will be waiting for them, and he will be smiling. 

Toughness

--From Monday's 9/22 Newsletter

I recently finished a book by former college basketball player and coach and current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. The book was called Toughness and defined true toughness, on the basketball court and in life, as being able to persevere through difficulty and do what is right. One of the characteristics of toughness, as described by the author, is focus—focus on one task at a time. In today’s world of multi-tasking it seems like we spend more time dividing our attention among many different tasks than actually focusing on any of them.

Bilas shared a story about focus in his book from when he was in high school and spent his summer building houses for his father’s contracting company. Bilas was a gopher and had to run items from the ground, up a ladder, to men working on the roof. On his first day, he decided he would use his youth, energy, and strength to carry more material in less trips. Climbing up the ladder in a hurry, he missed a rung and crashed to the bottom. After checking to make sure he was OK, his father told him, “Jay, you cannot reach the top of the ladder in one step, but you can lose focus and get to the bottom in one step.”

I shared this story with the students at morning assembly today and pointed out how many times in our lives we have known this to be true—you do all the steps in a math problem but you carelessly add numbers incorrectly and get the problem wrong; you take notes all through a class and start daydreaming about what you’ll do after school and you miss something; or you are sitting in Church and start thinking about what you have to do later and miss an opportunity to hear God.

There are many things competing for our attention, so my mission this week to the students is for them to help one another stay focused on the present. I showed them a hand signal they can use to help one another. Ask them to show you when they get home. Hopefully this reminder will help them stay focused on the important things in life and develop mental toughness.