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From the President’s Office
F E L L OW C RU S A D E R S ,
As the 19th century Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, wrote – the entire world
is charged with the “grandeur of God.” Since driving into the Canisius High School
campus parking lot on July 1st to become its 34th president, I truly have begun to
see God’s grandeur all around me. For also in Hopkins’ immortal words from his
memorable poem “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” –
“The just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is –
Christ – for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
Christ indeed plays in the limbs and eyes and through the features of the faces of
all our Canisius High School students, our faculty, administrators and staff, and in
all the families of our students and in each of the generations of alums and their
families whom I am delighted to have begun to meet.
Among my many delightful
meet and greets
these past weeks, the new captain of our varsity football team during their
annual August barbecue came up to introduce himself to me. I had been clued in beforehand that he also plays the piano.
When he came over to introduce himself and shake my hand, as our students tend to do, I said, “Oh, you also play the
piano.” He was naturally a bit surprised at how I knew. As we ended our delightful conversation about music and sports,
I said, “Play well – and I mean that in two ways.” He got it! Play well not only on the sports field, but at the piano.
But afterwards I thought, maybe I should have added another place to play well – in the classroom; or yet another – in
our many student activities and clubs; or perhaps I should have said, “Play well in ten thousand places.” Because from
our classrooms to our arts and sports programs, from our many student activities and clubs to the formal and casual
interactions between students and faculty to the lifelong bonds of friendship made at CHS, Christ plays so very well and thus
God’s grandeur brilliantly comes alive.
We are so truly blessed to have here in Buffalo a Jesuit high school like Canisius. And I am especially blessed to have been
missioned to return here to live and work among you as we together form the next generation of Canisius Crusaders, who will
go forth along with the generations of graduates before them “to set fire to the earth.”
Know of my prayers and, in any way you can, please help us so that we may continue our Jesuit mission andministry of forming
young Crusaders to be men for and with others.
Blessings,
Rev. Joseph S. Costantino, S.J.
President
