June 4, 2025 // Diocese

‘A Compass to Eternal Happiness:’ Saint Joseph, Marian Grads Sent Off

Kasia Balsbaugh

“I always encourage graduates to bring a crucifix with them when they go off to college or elsewhere to remind them every day how much Jesus loves them,” Bishop Rhoades told the seniors graduating from South Bend’s diocesan Catholic high schools this year.

Bishop Rhoades celebrated both baccalaureate Masses at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, with Marian High School’s on Thursday, May 29, and Saint Joseph High School’s on Friday, May 30. The Masses are a traditional part of the high schools’ graduation weekend.

Photos by Derby Photography

“For a Catholic high school, the culmination of our students’ education is not the commencement ceremony itself, which is widely recognized by secular and nonsecular institutions alike as students’ entrance to the vocation of adulthood,” said Steve Donndelinger, assistant principal at Marian High School. “While our commencement speakers can and do acknowledge the role of faith, Scripture, and Catholic legacy in the lives of the young graduates, it is only the baccalaureate Mass itself that can sacramentally bless students as they are sent forth in mission.”

At the baccalaureate Masses, Bishop Rhoades also drew comparisons to the Mass and the graduation ceremony. He pointed out that “valedictory” comes from the Latin “to say farewell.” In the Gospel reading at the baccalaureate Masses, Jesus gave his disciples a different kind of valedictory address than the ones from the seniors’ graduations – His “heartfelt words of farewell” before His death.

Bishop Rhoades reflected on the self-giving love that Jesus encouraged His disciples to have for one another, and also on the joy that is the “fruit of faith,” seen in saints such as St. Francis and Mother Teresa.

Bishop Rhoades added that the second reading, St. Paul’s words about how nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, is one of his own favorite passages in Scripture. It is also a helpful one for those going out into the world on their own.

“Graduates, I pray that you have this hope-filled conviction of St. Paul deep in your hearts, and that you will be witnesses of this hope wherever you go,” Bishop Rhoades told them. “The Church and the world need your witness to Jesus and His Gospel.”

Marian Principal Mark Freund said the school was “blessed to have our Class of 2025.” He added, “The spirit, the faith, and the energy they brought to all they [did] demonstrated that they embody our mission as well as our call for young men and women to learn, serve, and lead.”

Saint Joseph High School Principal John Kennedy likewise said he is proud of the class of 2025, which has the greatest number of Saint Joe Scholars (students with a cumulative GPA of at least 4.0) and athletic state championships than any other class in the high school’s history. And besides all that, Kennedy said, the graduated seniors are “a joy to be around.”

While at Saint Joseph High School, graduated senior Maura Green was a soccer captain and lacrosse player, as well as a peer mentor. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

“I think being involved in so many activities at Saint Joe has allowed me to observe and appreciate the gifts of the people around me,” Green told Today’s Catholic. “I am leaving Saint Joe with a lot of gratitude for my classmates, who are incredibly talented and interesting people.”

Green credits much of her faith journey to her high school theology classes. She said, “I’ve been Catholic my entire life, but it has made my faith so much stronger to know why I believe what I believe, and not just the general facts.” She said a particular influence was her theology teacher, Tom Kostielney, the Class of 2025’s commencement speaker. Green said she “loved” both Great Catholic Thinkers and Morality, the classes she took with Kostielney.

Graduated Saint Joseph senior Tyler Pieszchala plans to study aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue University this fall. During his time at Saint Joseph High School, he was president of the science club, student body secretary, and stage manager for multiple plays – and he also received the sacraments of initiation. Pieszchala had always attended a Catholic school, and he made the leap to join the Church after receiving a schoolwide email from the director of pastoral ministry his freshman year. “I have felt closer to God since receiving these sacraments,” Pieszchala said.

Marian’s 2025 valedictorian, Austin Kiefer, was a high school athlete and member of campus ministry, among other activities. He plans to study physics this fall at the University of Notre Dame. In his valedictory address, he exhorted his classmates to “keep God in our lives as our guiding light, a compass that will lead us to eternal happiness.”

“I could not have said it any better than that,” Freund commented.