MAY 2017
LEARNING, FAITH & LEADERSHIP A Kennedy Catholic Lancer Publication
COMMUNI-K PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE There Are No Wasted Conversations! I love the post-Easter readings from the Acts of the Apostles. Only a month ago, a fearful collection of men and women disciples were stunned at the loss of their Teacher (Jesus). To be sure, intellectualizing His teachings inspired faith and thus, belief in His resurrection, but this emptiness was immense. In time, the risen Christ reveals Himself to them, inspiring boldness where hopelessness and fear once resided. This, followed by ringing acclaim by Peter himself to the very group who a month earlier sentenced Jesus to death, is shocking. He went from liar to inspirer! How many were converted that day?
Mike Prato - President
It was not just Jesus’ miraculous appearances that jump-started the church. The Holy Spirit and angels assisted. Such was the case of the apostle, Phillip. An angel appears to him and sends him from Jerusalem to Gaza, via the desert route which was in the middle of nowhere. Most interpretations would characterize this as “the country road, or a road less traveled.” When he arrives he finds a single Ethiopian eunuch who was assisting the queen of Ethiopia. The angel gives him no instructions, but seeing the eunuch reading from Isaiah, provokes a conversation; “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” This is music to an evangelist’s ears! Phillip proceeds to teach him about the risen Christ, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and ultimately, baptizes the Ethiopian into the Church that very afternoon. The rest of the story? The eunuch’s conversion means the “inclusion of black Africans among the charter members of the faith . . . all of which symbolizes from the beginning the African involvement in this new faith that spread throughout the world.” There are no wasted conversations! Ten years ago while standing in line at Dick’s Drive-In, a gentleman approached me. He was the father of Marisol Lucero Sanchez ‘07, who at the time was a junior at Kennedy Catholic. He hands me his card, we have a brief conversation about Spanish initiatives and we depart with a hand shake. This fall, he reappeared asking to meet with me. We spent the next hour talking about Hispanic/Latino initiatives in education and how he, who now works in the office of the president at Central Washington University, is looking for interested partners. Subsequent conversations and a visit to Ellensburg has resulted in a new vision of how colleges and universities can partner with high performing college preparatory high schools in supporting our families of color, especially within the Hispanic/Latino community. This month, this vision was brought to reality. A group of Kennedy Catholic students spent the day on the campus of Central Washington University touring the campus, having lunch with their student body president, being taught by a professor of cultural anthropology before meeting with admissions to identify how this can be accomplished financially. It was an amazing trip! continued on page 15 Kennedy Catholic High School
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