Students celebrate back to school Mass

“I see so much potential for people who can make a difference,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey said in a Cathedral full of Catholic school students gathered for a “Liturgy to Begin the School” on Aug. 24.

The twelfth annual Mass invites the exiting grade from every Catholic school in the diocese. More than 700 students attended. Students from each of the 19 schools in the diocese carried their school’s banner as they processed into the Cathedral.

Bishop Mulvey, as the main teacher for the church in the diocese, offered students advice that would serve them well in the coming school year and throughout their lives.

He told them to give themselves to the process, “to be educated in the faith and the sciences we need to be productive citizens, good citizens of this great land.” He told the students he saw “so much potential for people who can make a difference.”

“Jesus wants us to make a difference, not just for ourselves—that is the last thing Jesus wants, but in our society and in people’s lives,” Bishop Mulvey said.

The bishop explained that they were in the Cathedral because it is the mother church in the diocese. He gave the students a lesson on the importance of the church and particularly the items that were most important to them as faithful Catholics.

The bishop pointed to the ambo, or lectern, and told the young minds that is where the word of God proclaimed.

“God is speaking to you. Listen. Listening to the word of God is extremely important as is living it out in our lives,” Bishop Mulvey said.

The bishop then directed the students to the altar, which he told them is an altar is sacrifice. The altar is linked to the crucifix, which is above the altar.

“What does all this have to do with school? Jesus said for us to be disciples,” Bishop Mulvey said.

He told them that Jesus sacrificed his life for us on the cross and we should make the cross a part of our everyday life. He told them not to get upset when things go wrong; when they get a bad grade; or when they do not perform to their ability.

“Don’t get all upset; it’s the cross,” Bishop Mulvey said. “It’s the suffering. It’s hard. Say yes to Jesus. Sometimes we have to take it. During the school year if something goes wrong make it the cross, make it Jesus saying ‘love me’ and do better next time.”

He said that all of need to do the best job we can, but in order to do so “we need wisdom.”

“Wisdom comes from the cross,” Bishop Mulvey said.

He told the students to prepare themselves to be the best, but also to be “young people of faith.”