We made it! Exams are completed, and semester one is drawing to a close! Tomorrow we will gather as a community. The students will present the Christmas Pageant and check the final positioning of their lamb in the manger, the faculty and staff will be celebrated at their Christmas Luncheon, and we will part company for the break to focus on celebrating the holidays with family and friends. For each, that holds anticipation of time with loved ones, observance of traditions, and yes, the giving and receiving of gifts.
Across the season of Advent, we as a community have considered the impact of Mary’s “big yes” to the Angel Gabriel. We have moved each individual lamb closer to the manger, and in doing so, have visually represented the community drawing closer together to witness the presence of the Christ child. Our service efforts focused on responding to the needs of those experiencing food insecurity. This is how we “readied” ourselves for the coming of Christmas.
In my family, one of our traditions involved watching It’s a Wonderful Life, my father’s favorite film. As a child, I was not particularly enamored by this black and white “classic.” Yet, over time, as I watched it with “grown-up” eyes, the nuanced messages in the film resonated with me, and it has genuinely become one of my own favorites, so much so that I named my Goldendoodle Clarence.
With the help of Angel Second Class Clarence Odbody, viewers come to see the impact of a single life on a community, the ripple effect of good, and that a life well-lived is measured in relationships. To me, the message in the film aligns beautifully with our Advent practices and values as articulated in the Goals & Criteria of Sacred Heart Education.
After all these years of watching this film, first with my parents and now on my own, I understand the lasting value of the film’s message and the enduring gift my parents were offering as we sat together watching It’s a Wonderful Life in our own drafty, circa-1890 Victorian home.
Wishing you the blessings of Christmas,
Dr. Susan Dempf
Head of School
