Fr Joseph Murphy SDB was principal of Sacred Heart College, Tiruppattur, Tamilnadu. If you were to ask anyone who was a student or faculty member in those years, “Whom do you recall with the greatest admiration?” the name that would come up most frequently was that of Fr Murphy.
Why? Why did and why do people remember him with so much admiration?
Three reasons, as far as I know.
One: Willingness to apologize.
Fr Murphy was strict. And he was hot-tempered. But, if he lost his temper with anyone, whether a staff member or student, he would go to that person the same day, and say, “Sorry I lost my temper with you today.” I have seen this happen.
How many teachers and principals would do the same?
Two: Kindness.
One day, a boy reached the college drenched to the skin. It was raining heavily, and he did not have an umbrella. Fr Murphy saw him from his office upstairs. He came down, and asked a group of us who were boarders, “Can one of you please go to the dormitory and get a dry shirt for that boy?” He did not want the young man to spend the day wearing a wet shirt.
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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