February 2, 2016 // Uncategorized

Bishop Luers students encouraged to 'see things as God sees things'

Todays Catholic

Students, staff and visitors gather in the Bishop Luers gymnasium to attend a Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, concelebrated by Father Ben Muhlenkamp, chaplain at Bishop Luers, and Father Dan Durkin, pastor of St. Henry Church, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of schools. The Mass began Bishop Rhoades’ pastoral visit on Jan. 28.

As God sees things

FORT WAYNE — It was the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic schools, and a great day for Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades to visit the students and staff of Bishop Luers High School on Fort Wayne’s south side.

It was also a great day for six students of Bishop Luers. Alley Broom came into full Communion with the Church. Bishop Rhoades confirmed Simon Derloshon and Hannah Snyder. And three students from St. Patrick Parish, Fort Wayne — Chris Carranza, Jorge Barron and Ivan Gomez — were confirmed and received their first Communion.

It as also day in which the Bishop Luers students were gifted by Bishop Rhoades “The Pocket Gospels and Psalms,” published by Our Sunday Visitor in Huntington. The gift comes with the encouragement of Pope Francis that people carry a pocketsize book of the Gospels — as they would a rosary — and to take it out for reading and meditation.

In his homily, Bishop Rhoades spoke of Thomas Aquinas, a saint with a brilliant intellect, yet who was humble. As a student, St. Thomas was rather quiet and didn’t speak much. Some of his classmates called him “the dumb ox.”

Bishop Rhoades said, “Well, his teacher in Paris and later Cologne, St. Albert the Great, prophetically exclaimed: ‘You call Thomas the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.’ And so it happened. The works of St. Thomas Aquinas have been studied and taught through the centuries. His thoughts and ideas on the mystery of God and the truths of the faith are the most profound and insightful ever written, with the exception of perhaps of St. Augustine.”

St. Thomas Aquinas also had the gift of wisdom. Bishop Rhoades summarized wisdom as the “ability to see things as Good sees things.”

He spoke about his recent visit to Haiti to see the work of Catholic Relief Services of which Bishop Rhoades serves on their board. “I saw the poverty and was thinking of how God must see and look upon the suffering of so many people,” Bishop Rhoades noted.

He asked the students how they see a person who is suffering, migrants, the poor, violence, political choices, events in school, abortion.

After Mass, Bishop Rhoades ate lunch with a newly formed group at the school, the Student Leadership Board — six juniors and six seniors — who work with the student council, National Honor Society, the athletic department and other leaders to make the school better. Service is a priority and the team members are helping to spearhead Sodalitas, which will devote a day of service to the community in April. Their plans are to sponsor a car wash, assist with a community garden, help at the soup kitchen, help at a nature preserve, build picnic tables and campaign to prevent teen suicide.

Bishop Rhoades also encouraged participation in the CRS Rice Bowl during Lent and to examine the work of CRS in countries such as Haiti by visiting the website www.crs.org. Students then coaxed Bishop Luers Principal Tiffany Albertson for a dress-down day last Friday that would provide funds for CRS Rice Bowl.

After lunch and on the way to Meg Hanlon’s Catholic Social Teaching Class, the bishop made a quick stop in the freshman Spanish classroom and spoke to the students in Spanish.

While visiting the class of Meg Hanlon, a former college classmate of Bishop Rhoades, he learned about the seniors’ research projects — stewardship and the environment, embryonic and adult stem-cell research, pornography, in vitro fertilization.

He then met with all of the Bishop Luers’ seniors in the gymnasium for a question-answer session, before meeting with the theology staff and Principal Albertson.

For more photos visit the photo gallery.