Bishop to eighth-graders — Take your gifts, talents to high school, put them to good use
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Eighth-graders throughout these 38 counties are on the move.
For many, high school will be their first, but certainly not their last, major transition.
“My hope for you today, your pastor’s hope for you today, your teachers’ hope for you today, all of us, is that you will continue to know God’s love for you,” Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell told more than 500 eighth-graders from the diocese’s 36 Catholic schools.
Bishop O’Donnell presided at this year’s Eighth Grade Mass in the Cathedral of St. Joseph.
Students, their teachers and their principals joined hearts and voices for this special end-of-the-school-year Liturgy.
Their pastors offered the Mass with the bishop.
“In each move, there is a new experience,” Bishop O’Donnell told the eighth-graders. “You’ll be in a new place with new people, but you will always bring yourself with you.
“You bring you — your history, all that you’ve experienced so far,” he said, “your classes, graduating to the next level each year, moving forward, taking what you’ve learned and applying to the next step.”
The bishop emphasized that God has personally bestowed unique, wonderful gifts on everyone in the assembly.
“Some of these gifts may be similar to others, but the way WE live them out individually is unique to every person,” he said.
The same goes for challenges, struggles, setbacks and the need to ask others for help in achieving a goal.
“God wants the gifts and talents that we have received to blossom and grow,” the bishop stated.
Bishop O’Donnell said he’s proud of all the eighth-graders and what they’ve accomplished, “and I hope for all that is yet to be.”
He urged them never to forget their pastors and all the others who have nurtured and cared for their souls.
“Call on us!” he said. “When something happens in your life that’s wonderful, let us know!”
Likewise, their teachers and pastors are there for them whenever life poses a challenge.
“Let us continue to be a part of your growth in God’s goodness, to the glory of God the Father,” he said.
In God’s garden
Students from many schools sang in the choir, directed by Denise Gillam of St. Joseph Cathedral School in Jefferson City and accompanied by Kathleen Basi, Shannon Cerneka and Andrew Meagher Ph.D.
Eighth-graders also participated as altar servers, lectors and members of the Offertory Procession.
Students set before the altar four posters depicting eighth-graders at each Catholic school in the diocese, performing acts of service.
At the end of Mass, representatives from each school presented a thank-you letter to his or her pastor.
Each eighth-grader received a colorful plastic bracelet adorned with the words, “Bloom and Grow.”
It’s part of a quote from St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “Every flower has its own created beauty ... so it is in the world of souls, the living garden of God.”
“These bracelets are an everyday reminder that we are each beautiful — inside and out — in our own way,” proclaimed David Neudecker, a student at St. Peter School in Fulton, in welcoming his fellow eighth-graders on behalf of the Diocesan Advisory Student Council.
“God has created us in his image, and we should look for Christ in ourselves and one another,” said David. “We hope that this Mass brings you closer to God and inspired you to look for that beauty.”
His fellow council members are: eighth-graders Chloe Loethen of St. George School in Linn, Gabby Sandbothe of St. Francis Xavier School in Taos, Caroline Beumer of St. Peter School in Marshall, Cale Lampkin of St. George School in Hermann and Cooper Meyer of St. Mary School in Glasgow, and seventh-graders Lucia Buitrago of St. Peter School in Jefferson City, Eva Dall of Our Lady of Lourdes Interparish School in Columbia, and Sydney DeGrave of Holy Rosary School in Monroe City.
Never forget
Erin Vader Ed.D., diocesan superintendent of schools, thanked the choir, musicians, servers, lectors, ushers and advisory council members who had worked hard to help prepare for the celebration.
She reminded the eighth-graders that Jesus is and must continue to be their foundation.
“For the past how ever many years you have been in a Catholic school, that’s what your teachers and your parents and your principal and your pastor have been trying to help you build,” she said.
She emphasized that the Church is made up of people in whom God dwells.
“So, whenever we make choices and do things and say things, they need to rest on the foundation of Christ,” she said.
She warned that there will be times when they don’t feel very Christian, when they don’t recognize Jesus in what they’re doing.
“But the foundation will still be there,” she said. “God is still in you, and Jesus needs you to say the word, and he will be right there for you.
“You are not alone,” she insisted. “You are never weak. You have a strong foundation built in Christ.”
The Lord has a home in each of them, and each has a home in the Church.
“And when you need that support, when you need that reminder, when you need people to celebrate with, people to cry with or people to yell at out of frustration, we are those people,” said Dr. Vader.
“No matter how far away you walk, we will always be right there, waiting for you,” she added.
The eighth-graders shared lunch and fellowship downstairs in Cana Hall after Mass.
Many danced to music and made friends from across the diocese before heading home.
“Always remember,” said Dr. Vader, “how proud we are of all of you, how grateful we are to have had this opportunity to walk this part of your path with you, and that we love you all very, very much.”
