Students at St. Matthew School in Charlotte watch the Mass for Catholic Schools Week live Jan. 31 from St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. (SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald)CHARLOTTE — The 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Charlotte is an opportunity for everyone to participate in a year of faith and a year of mission — putting our faith into action, and doing good deeds to show our faith is alive, Bishop Peter Jugis told students, teachers and staff of the diocese’s 19 Catholic schools Monday.
As part of Catholic Schools Week celebrations, Bishop Peter Jugis offered a special Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte that was webcast to the schools. Catholic Schools Week is being celebrated Jan. 30-Feb. 5, featuring the national theme “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service.”
Bishop Jugis opened the Mass by noting that Jan. 31 is the feast of St. John Bosco, the patron saint of schoolchildren.
“He is appropriate for Catholic Schools Week because he was very dedicated to the Christian formation and education of children and young people – that they grow up to be good, upright, moral citizens. We pray for John Bosco’s intercession in this Mass for all of our schools,” he said.
Students from St. Patrick School, next door to the cathedral, attended the Mass. Some of the students participated by singing in the choir and doing readings. At other schools, students watched the Mass live from screens in their classrooms.
“In this Mass, we are bringing together all of the Catholic schools of the diocese by means of livestreaming. The Mass keeps us united as one, even though we are physically many miles apart at this moment,” Bishop Jugis said to open his homily.
“But it’s just as St. Paul said about the Mass: ‘We, though many, are one body for we all partake of the one bread' – the Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ. So in this Mass we are praying for all of our students and their families, and also for all of our teachers and staff at all of our schools throughout the diocese.”
“This year is a very important year for all of us in the Diocese of Charlotte,” the bishop continued. “We are celebrating our 50th anniversary as a diocese.”
“It’s a special golden anniversary year for all us. You can call this year a year of faith to celebrate the gift of our Catholic faith. And I do say gift, because our Catholic faith is a gift from God that we receive at our baptism, and it continues to grow from that day onward as we learn more and more about our faith and about God.”
“You could also call this golden anniversary year a year of mission – for each of us is on a mission to bring the light of Christ to others. So we are emphasizing works of charity and works of mercy as something all of us can do to participate in the golden anniversary year and to make it special this year.”
"We want to demonstrate that our faith is alive and active, and not dead. How do we do that? How do we demonstrate to others that our faith is alive?
“The first way is by being at church for Mass every Sunday. That’s a strong sign demonstrating that our faith is alive.”
Another way that we show that our faith is alive is by how well we treat our neighbor, especially those who are poor and needy, Bishop Jugis continued.
“And we also have the spiritual works of mercy, which help our neighbors in their spiritual needs: counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, comforting the sorrowful, forgiving injuries, bearing wrongs patiently, praying for the living and the dead
“This is faith in action that we are called to put into practice to celebrate our 50th anniversary. And Jesus Himself did these things.”
Bishop Jugis provided examples for the students of how Jesus showed His faith in these ways.
“Dear young people, you can all participate in corporal and spiritual works of mercy right at school – praying for the hungry, praying for the homeless, the sick, for those who are in prison, for those who have injured you, for the sorrowful, sinners, for everyone.”
The more we do these things, either by prayer or in action, we become more like Jesus, he said.
“That, ultimately, is our goal: to become more like Jesus in this life. We carry the love of Christ with us in our hearts and we are moved by Christ’s love to assist our brothers and sisters in their need. When we do that, Christ is present.”
At the end of the Mass, Bishop Jugis pointed out the custom statue of Mary, Mother of God, which will be traveling to all of the schools this year.
The bishop traditionally offers Mass during National Catholic Schools Week at various schools around the diocese. After receiving positive feedback from last year’s livestreamed Mass, offered because of the pandemic, schools officials opted again for this liturgy as a way to unify all 19 school communities in prayer.
Schools adjusted their Monday class schedules to accommodate the special liturgy.
“It is a unique opportunity we have to celebrate this Mass together,” explained St. Matthew’s Principal Kevin O’Herron. “We are not a silo here at St. Matthew, but we join in brotherhood with all of the other 19 schools across the diocese. What a special event this is – to be in the same place at the same time celebrating the Eucharist.”
St. Matthew fifth-graders Victoria Thumm, Olivia Vuchnich and Joey Groccia thought watching the Mass from their classrooms was “neat.”
“It was kind of cool that everybody was there watching,” Groccia said.
“It was really beautiful, and I liked knowing that everyone was there celebrating at the same time,” Vuchnich added.
Our Lady of the Assumption School student Ainsley Kojis agreed. “I like knowing the bishop is celebrating the Mass with 7,000 students. It makes you feel important and special.”
Seeing the bishop was definitely a highlight for the kids, said St. Matthew fifth-grade teacher Julia Kerr. “They got to see the bishop. (In class) we talk about holy orders, about the (bishop’s) miter, about the staff.”
Mass with the bishop “gives them a good view of that,” she said.
OLA student Eliana Francis said, “I think it’s pretty cool that the bishop is dedicating the homily to us, because I think he recognizes that, as Catholic students and young adults, we will grow in the Church family.”
OLA’s Principal Tyler Kulp added, “There are people in this diocese who may never get to see Charlotte or downtown. As we all know, in our diocese we are spread across North Carolina. So to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, to hear the bishop’s message together as 19 schools, over 7,000 kids in our diocese to hear the reason we are here – our faith, our foundation, our spirituality – it is so important to hear that message from our leader.”
Besides the livestreamed Mass, students commemorated Catholic Schools Week Jan. 30-Feb. 5 with service projects, special programs honoring families, the clergy, the military and community leaders, as well as student vs. teacher games.
Now in its 48th year, Catholic Schools Week is organized by the National Catholic Education Association to provide the opportunity to showcase all that Catholic schools have to offer, as well as build community and encourage charitable outreach.
Catholic Schools Week festivities in the diocese and across the country include community service projects, open houses and other spirit-building activities for students, families and parishioners – reinforcing the positive impact Catholic school students have in their local community.
— Kimberly Bender and SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald
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