HAMMOND – Students gathered at Bishop Noll Institute for a Catholic Schools Week liturgy were reminded that they are called to be the “good seed” that takes root, making the most of their education and the support offered to them.
On Jan. 29, Bishop Robert J. McClory presided at Mass, joined by Father Jeffrey Burton in his role as BNI chaplain, and students from Our Lady of Grace, St. Casimir, St. John Bosco, St. John the Baptist and St. Stanislaus grade schools in the North Lake Deanery.
Elementary and junior high students processed in with banners emblazoned with their school crests and logos. The BNI choir filled the fieldhouse with soaring hymns and the assembly of hundreds of youths later heard the bishop’s homily based on the parable of the Sower and the Seed in the day’s reading from Mark chapter 4.
“God wants you to grow," Bishop McClory preached. “And, so, our schools are places where we surround each other with the love that God has, so that the good soil – in your families and in your hearts and in your churches – will allow you to grow up to be the boys and girls and men and women that God wants you to be.”
The bishop mentioned the many concerns that can complicate people’s lives and encouraged the youths present to communicate with the people around them to assuage anxieties. Asking the students what issues may make them nervous, answers included, “I thought I was going to be late to school,” and “I’m concerned about getting into the school that I want to go to.”
Freshman Alex Dobda is new to the Catholic school experience. Hailing from the Hegewisch area on the South Side of Chicago, he felt the gathering for Mass was inspiring and looks forward to four great years at Noll.
“There are a lot of kids here and they are very energetic. So, this Mass’s atmosphere included a lot more people singing,” Dobda said.
He identifies with the school’s “high expectations.”
“I like it, I like the atmosphere,” the teen added.
Lining up with her St. John Bosco classmates for the intra-city bus ride back to school, Vita Licciardone, a second-grader, spoke about her leading role in the opening procession. “I was carrying the banner for my school, and I was excited,” she said.
Licciardone was copasetic with all her upcoming classroom responsibilities. “I like learning and getting smarter.”
Jeff Smolinski had for 47 years worked in supermarket management. For the last three years, he has taught theology at BNI. Seeing the Catholic Schools Week showcased, he believes in the mission of “stocking the shelves” of knowledge and faith for the younger set.
Looking out at the gathering, Smolinski said, “I think it’s a blessing; I think it’s a mini-miracle, or as St. John the Apostle said, it’s really a sign. I like his word sign ... I think this is a good representation of a sign that the faith is alive – you’ve just got to bring it out.”
Caption: St. Casimir school of Hammond second-grade teacher Abigail DeJesus Hernandez (right) and one of her students Martin Mendoza Becerra (center) look at a program as they sing a hymn at a diocesan Catholic Schools Week Mass hosted at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond on January 29. Presider Bishop Robert J. McClory encouraged students gathered from Our Lady of Grace, St. Casimir, St. John the Baptist, St. John Bosco and St. Stanislaus to be like the seeds that took root in the day's Gospel reading from Mark chapter 4. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)