Catholic Schools Week Mass Brings Community Together

Bishop Charles C. Thompson began his homily at the Jan. 30 Catholic Schools Week Mass at Evansville Mater Dei High School with a question for the students in attendance: What did they appreciate most about Catholic schools?

The answers were fairly predictable - Being together in a Christian community. Getting a quality education.

Those were excellent responses, Bishop Thompson told the students, yet he also urged them to remember that “the core and center” of a Catholic education is Jesus Christ.

“That’s the true identity, the true reason for Catholic schools – so that we have an opportunity to grow in relationship with Christ, to become like him and to allow him to work through us so that others may come to know him and celebrate him,” said Bishop Thompson.

Students from all 28 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Evansville gathered for the morning Mass, which was held in conjunction with Catholic Schools Week. Students from the highest grade (5th, 8th or 12th) at each school were invited to attend the Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Charles C. Thompson.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for students throughout the diocese to gather together in prayer, led by our bishop, in observance of Catholic Schools Week,” said Catholic Schools Superintendent Daryl Hagan. “It’s also a wonderful reminder for our students that they are part of a Christian community that extends well beyond the walls of their school and the boundaries of their neighborhood.”

In fact, Bishop Thompson told the students, God is calling them to take the fruits of their Catholic faith and use them to help create a better world.We need to remind ourselves that the education and the gift of faith that is being sewn in each one of us here, is meant not only for us, but also for the rest of the world,” said the Bishop. “If we are to take on the image of Christ and our identity and our mission as his disciples, then all that we receive and all that we are blessed with will grow and flourish for the rest of the world.”