Bishop Mulvey celebrates new school year with Mass

Seventeen Catholic schools proudly displayed their flags as they processed into Corpus Christi Cathedral at the beginning of the annual Mass celebrating the 2018-2019 school year. Exiting students, staff, parents and faculty filled the cathedral on Sept. 5 as other students not in attendance, watched the live stream in their classrooms courtesy of the Catholic Communications Network.
 
In his homily, Bishop Michael Mulvey challenged students to think of Jesus throughout the year. He stressed the importance of three things: talk to Jesus; unity in the classrooms and other schools; end the bullying and gossiping. He said, “Jesus is the reason we are here. It is Jesus who comes to us in the Eucharist. It is Jesus who forgives our sins. It is Jesus who baptizes us. It is Jesus who marries couples. It is Jesus who ordains the priests and deacons of the Church."

In closing, Bishop Mulvey said, “God bless you. Let us spend a year seeing Jesus in each other without bullying and gossiping. Let us work to build unity among our schools and have good healthy competition, especially for the middle and high schools. We don’t turn our backs on each other. We're the same blood. Let’s build unity among us and let’s not forget to pray as Jesus prays."

According to Superintendent Dr. Rosemary Henry nine of the 17 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi have increased enrollment compared to the 2017-2018 year. In addition, she says, “we have narrowed the attrition rate to 2%–a huge improvement over recent years and with greater success than national Catholic education statistics provided by NCEA.”
 
Currently, there are 2,940 students enrolled in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
 

Photos by Adel Rivera, South Texas Catholic