Chaplain's Message

November 2024

My esteemed Bishop Carroll colleague and good friend Fr. John Hay and I recently watched a show together about a man who works as an intern for a week at a fine dining restaurant. Under the clock on the kitchen wall, there is a sign that reads, “Every Second Counts”. I assumed that this sign was a reminder to the restaurant staff that the more efficient and productive they were, the more money they would make. Their goal was to squeeze as much as they could out of every single moment.

Later in the show, the intern has a conversation with the owner of the restaurant, an extremely talented chef. She begins to tell him about her father, a man who served in the military and spent a lot of his time on a naval ship. After he passed away, she found dozens of little pocket notebooks, filled with detailed descriptions of her father’s experiences: palm trees he had seen, the way the ocean looked one day, a fantastic meal he had. It was as if her father was reminding himself not to forget this moment. She told the intern that her dad would conclude each of these entries with the same words. But before she can finish, their conversation gets interrupted. The intern asks her how her dad finished each entry, but she is out of earshot and doesn’t hear. The camera then pans up to the sign below the clock, revealing the answer: “Every Second Counts”.

Every second counts. This was not an exhortation to seize every moment and get as much out of it as possible. Rather, it was a reminder that every moment matters. Every second counts, because every moment is a gift, worth receiving, cherishing, and remembering. This is the lesson that the chef’s father passed onto her in the numerous notebooks he left behind. Every moment is good, beautiful, and worth remembering.

This has been a good reminder to me to cherish every moment we have at Bishop Carroll. Time seems to fly here, and every day feels fast, full of rushing from one class or event to the next. It is hard, too, to believe that my first semester as Chaplain will soon come to an end. This makes it all the more important for me, and for all of us to slow down, to receive, cherish, and try to remember every moment.

The present moment is a gift, and the place where God comes to reveal Himself to me and draw me deeper into His friendship. Let us pray for the grace of open eyes and hearts that enable us to receive the love and presence of God as He comes to us each day. Every second counts.

Fr. Hayden Charles '13

Chaplain

Bishop Carroll Catholic High School