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<p class="fontlook"><B>Homily</B><BR>
Memorial Liturgy<BR>
Catherine Baxter, RSCJ<BR>
Headmistress 1969-1978<BR>
on the occasion of the <BR>
48th Anniversary of <BR>
     Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart<BR>
Rev. Robert Vallee
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<p class="fontlook">I.  48th, not 50th anniversary of Carrollton<BR>
I called Sr. Cooke at lunch yesterday.  I was writing the homily for this mass.  I had a wonderful idea, a gorgeous metaphor on how teachers were like alchemists, that we were trying, by a fine mixture of art, science and magic, to turn iron into gold.  It’s a really great homily, with a cool twist at the end, but you are going to have to wait two years to hear it being that Sister informed me that this is Carrollton’s 48th, not 50th, anniversary.  So I went back to the old drawing board and tried to figure out what gift one gives for a 48th anniversary.  I found out that there is no traditional gemstone or flower for this anniversary.  But in modern times, oddly enough, people have given some sort of eye wear for the 48th…so much for my chance at a decent metaphor. As I dug a little deeper, I found that eye wear was not restricted to glasses.  It could be any sort of optical enhancement device ... it could be microscopes or telescopes.  Now there’s a metaphorical gift for a school.  Microscopes and telescopes - may you see deeply and may you see far.
 
<p class="fontlook">II. Archbishop Carroll and Mother Barry<BR>
Carrollton opened 48 years ago ay El Jardin on January 25th, 1962.  The two main visionaries who brought us into being were Coleman F. Carroll, the first Archbishop of Miami and Rev. Mother Barry.  Archbishop Carroll is why we are called Carrollton and Mother Barry is why our high school building is called The Barry Building.
 
<p class="fontlook">III.  A school is not building, school spirit or nostalgia<BR>
Now, make no mistake.  The school is not about building and land and classrooms.  And in spite of what we often hear at graduations, it is not even about school spirit and being friends forever.  It is not even about having a Carrollton ring or nostalgia or even getting into a great college.  If that’s all we are about, then we are no more than an above average prep school.  Bishop Carroll and Mother Barry did not establish a building here by Biscayne Bay.  They established a vision, a way of seeing our God, ourselves, our world and one another.  It is a vision which has been handed down from the heart of Madeleine Sophie Barat.  This is not to say that every student, every parent, every teacher, every nun or every priest who has ever worked here has shared this vision.  But this is the sobering truth of the matter.  Insofar as you or I share that vision, that Sacred Heart spirituality, we are a success; insofar as we do not share that vision, we are failures – even if we win all kinds of awards or get into Harvard.  This is true for every one of us – parents, teachers and students.  This is true for everyone from the newest girl in Montessori to Sr. Cooke.
 
<p class="fontlook">IV.  Conclusion<BR>
I, too, am 48 years old.  I was six months old when Carrollton was established.  I can tell you that, by the time you reach 48, you typically need glasses.  I, in fact, need two pairs, one for far away and one to read.  Nonetheless, I will stick with my metaphorical gifts of the microscope and telescope.  May you see deeply and see far.  May you see with the vision of Madeleine Sophie and Rose Philippine.  May you see through eyes colored by the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.  
