Damn the Consequences! Full Innovation Ahead!

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory is a school located only a few blocks north from where I live in San Francisco. I usually do not give it much thought, expect when I see a basketball game going on in the building when I am walking over to St. Mark's Lutheran Church for a concert. This afternoon, however, I noticed that they have attached a banner to a lamppost that I can see from my bedroom window. I am used to this "advertising space" being used by performing arts organizations, such as the New Century Chamber Orchestra, or museums.

Beyond the fact that it was a parochial school doing the advertising, I found the nature of the advertising itself more than a little curious. I had to do some Google searching to figure out that the key phrase on the banner, "Fearless We Pursue," came from the school's Alma Mater:

Hail Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep
Green, White and Blue
Unity proclaimed
Fearless we pursue
Untold strength will be our guide
Irish brave and true!

However, underneath that "Fearless We Pusue" phrase was a word nowhere to be found in the Alma Mater (reproduced in capital letters as it appeared on the banner):

INNOVATION

I was a little amused that a parochial school had decided to exchange innovation Kool-Aid for communion wine. Perhaps this was the school's way of saying that it was preparing its students to follow the yellow-brick road that leads to Silicon Valley, even if that is a world of smoke-and-mirrors wizardry (which, presumably, is still frowned upon by the Catholic Church) or, in a more positive light, the world Galileo (who was at least fortunate enough to be posthumously pardoned of the crime of heresy).

I am used to things being more than a little odd in this city. I would even say that such oddities provide one of the reasons why I like to live here. However, I still feel a need to draw the line when they get downright zany!