South Catholic High School
Classes of 1965 - 1991 (92, 93, 94)
Father Frascadore
Excerpts from Father Frascadore’s homily and his Reflections for the South Catholic Community
5.22.10 South Catholic Reunion:
This reunion is a rocket
Whistling to the heavens
To Explode open
Umbrella like releasing
A hundred thousand colorful memories
Of the people, places, and events
Which made our days
At South wonderful
Memories of jammed packed corridors
On mission night;
Of forty eight hundred screaming
Fans squeezing into the gym
Of Central Connecticut
To persuade the Rebels
To beat the Eagles
Who the night before
Had lodged a coffin
On the mantel above our
South Street door in a vain attempt
To dispirit us.
Little did they know
That their morbid deed
Would inspire a lively poem
Intense enough to inflame
An unquenchable desire for
A victory which was
Not to be denied.
And memories come
Of the Volkswagen bug
Rolled through unhinged doors
Up the hallway and left to park
Before a befuddled principal’s office;
Of musicals and plays performed
Masterfully before standing room only
Crowds in the auditorium;
Of freezing thanksgiving football games
And the raucous rallies which preceded them
With classes competing to out shout
one another
with triumph usually going
to the seniors.
And of the many rules
About long hair, rolled up skirts,
And loose ties.
And of
Ring days, class dances, proms,
Favorite teachers and the memorable things they said,
heroes who changed our lives,
graduation rehearsals, SAT’s,
detentions, being called by name,
being known, being asked to dream,
enduring friendships, new loves
and loves lost.
Then most of all
The indescribable, inexpressible,
ineffables spirit of South
Which encourages us to this
Day to live our lives out loud.
PART TWO
These are just few few
Of the many memories of south
In this room.
Multiple these few by 456 graduates
And you begin to get some idea
What a powerful influence
South has been on our lives.
We are the sum of all that
Has gone before us:
But memories are not meant to
Fasten us to the past; they
Are to free us
TO LIVE EVERY MOMENT OF OUR FUTURE
LIVES OUT LOUD.
Indeed that is the inherited spirit of South.
For we don’t live our lives out loud
No one will ever learn
The great mystery of
our unique creation.
No one ever before like us;
No one ever will be:
Our gifts of seeing
Hearing, speaking, imagination
Feeling.
Each of us sees the world, hears it in a special way
The purpose of our lives is to contribute the gift
Of who we are:
The story of the student seeking happiness:
“Stretch out your hand and reach what you can.”
“Stretch our your hand and reach what you cannot”
2.
“You shall above all things be glad and young
For if you are young
Whatever life you wear it will become you
And if you are glad whatever’s living
Will become you.”
3.
Whatever journey you take
Carry a satchel full of joy;
A joy that you have discovere
Not one defined for you.
4.
Fill your footprints with goodness;
And your eyes with hope.
5.
Attentive ears
Watchful eyes
Lips that never lie
6.
A riff:
I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing
Than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
7.
Edison “one one millionth of what we think we know
Choose to keep learning
To love life; be passionate about it, to be enthusiastic about it
To be positive rather than negative
To be curious, to keep looking
To define what joy means to you
To listen to what people have to say
To decide to leave goodness in each of your footsteps
To stay healthy,
To be serene, not anxious
To resist laziness, sloth, giving up
Why life
Why here
What do I have to give
Don’t let anyone stop you from being who you were meant to be
Live with reverence
Live with awe
Begin your day with kindness
Be generous and not stingy