March 24, 2026 // Bishop

Bishop Makes Pastoral Visit to Saint Joseph High School on Patron’s Feast Day

Kasia Balsbaugh

 

“Today is like a break from Lent,” Bishop Rhoades announced to students and staff during his March 19 pastoral visit to Saint Joseph High School. This was after the bishop had assured one student he could take a break from his Lenten penance to eat a dessert on the solemnity.

Bishop Rhoades’ annual visit to Saint Joseph in South Bend generally coincides with the feast of St. Joseph, the school’s patron, as it did this year. During the traditional all-school Mass celebrated by Bishop Rhoades, six students received sacraments of initiation.

In his homily, Bishop Rhoades reflected on the admirable qualities of Jesus’ foster father as well as his commitment to God’s will.

“Both [Mary] and Joseph served the person and mission of Jesus as His mother and His earthly father, cooperating with great faith and love in the great mystery of our salvation,” Bishop Rhoades said. “That’s why we honor them as the greatest of all the saints.”

Bishop Rhoades reflected particularly on the day’s Gospel reading from Luke 2 where Mary and Joseph find the young Jesus in the Temple after losing Him for three days while traveling. Bishop Rhoades concentrated his message on the words of Jesus, who said: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?”

“The 12-year-old Jesus brought to mind for Joseph that he was Jesus’ guardian, a guardian of the mystery of God,” Bishop Rhoades said. “And I think Jesus was also preparing Mary for what would happen 21 years later when she would lose her son again for three days and suffer even more, when Jesus was laid in the tomb for three days.”

Bishop Rhoades also spoke about the sacraments of initiation that the six students would later receive that day – particularly about the Sacrament of Baptism.

“He is freely accepting the gift of new life in Christ,” Bishop Rhoades said of student Tegegn Drake, who was baptized that day. He pointed out that, as part of the rite, Drake would verbally reject the “glamor of evil” and accept the Holy Trinity. “One way to think about this is to think about the gift of friendship,” said Bishop Rhoades, who quoted Pope Benedict, saying, “Friendship implies a ‘yes’ to the friend and a ‘no’ to all that is incompatible with that friendship.”

Along with Drake, who was receiving the sacraments of baptism, first Communion, and confirmation, the other students were Rebecca Norwood and Josiah Stanley Gustine, who received their first Communion and confirmation, and Thomas Hanson, Peter Wright, and Mary Frances Wright, who were confirmed.

After the Mass, various service and other awards were given to members of the school community. Two of these were the monthly community awards. Another was the Bishop Rhoades Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship to Holy Cross College given to four high school students in the diocese, one of whom was Saint Joseph High School’s Ryena Santos-Martinez. Also celebrated were the 54 Saint Joe Scholars (students who have kept up a 4.00 grade average or higher during their first seven semesters at Saint Joseph High School) and this year’s valedictorian, Declan Gallagher, and salutatorian, Joseph Harshman.

The school also gifted Bishop Rhoades a box filled with prayer cards from members of the school community.

Bishop Rhoades spent the rest of his pastoral visit meeting with teachers and students around the school. One special event during this year’s visit was his morning prayer with 82 students in the school chapel. These students, as principal John Kennedy explained, were “students who in some way stepped up and are contributing in a special way” to the Saint Joseph High School community, whether through involvement in service organizations such as the Right to Life or Catholic Relief Services groups on campus or by assisting with retreats and liturgies at the school. “We’re proud of the level of participation we have from our students,” Kennedy said.

For the school at large, Kennedy emphasized the meaningfulness of the solemnity and St. Joseph’s suitability as a role model. He noted the example the saint provides for students to “be steadfast in their faith, to be protectors … [and to] to be devoted to God and God’s will.”

Bishop Rhoades’ visit on St. Joseph’s feast day, Kennedy said, only intensifies that example. “It’s all about the model and the example and the inspiration he can give our students to live a life of faith, a life of morals and values,” Kennedy said of the bishop.

Holy Cross Father Noah Junge, one of the chaplains at Saint Joseph, agreed about the positive impact of Bishop Rhoades’ visit, saying, “He loves spending time with the students and sharing that joy of the Gospel.”

“One of the greatest gifts we can give to other people is our time,” Father Junge said, adding that Bishop Rhoades’ presence “shows a father’s love.”

Father Junge, who began ministry as chaplain at the high school this year, knows firsthand the importance of being present for the students’ life events, such as basketball games and musicals.

“Overall, I think the chance to get to know the students has been really special,” Father Junge said. “To see how they support one another is beautiful – the way they show up for each other when one has success in one way or another. There’s a strong sense of community in that way.”