February 17, 2026 // Bishop

Sacraments Highlight Bishop’s Visit to Marian High School

Kasia Balsbaugh

On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Marian High School’s gym was filled with chairs, and two special banners hung on the bleachers.

“Thanks for coming to celebrate with us Bishop Rhoades!!! Happy feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes! Marian loves you!” read the first one, embellished with a markered image of Our Lady. The other banner bore symbols of baptism, the holy Eucharist, and confirmation, with congratulations to six students who would be receiving sacraments of initiation that morning: Mariana Carlson, Maize Mathiak, Gracee Sandoval, Madeline Seymore, Alice Talbott, and Graeme Wise. Carlson, Sandoval, and Talbott were receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, while Mathiak, Seymour, and Wise would be receiving all three sacraments of initiation.

Bishop Rhoades celebrated an all-school Mass and conferred these sacraments during his annual visit to the school in Mishawaka on Wednesday, February 11.

“Baptism is not a mere formality, and it’s not like joining an organization or a club,” Bishop Rhoades said in his homily. “Baptism is a holy mystery, a sacrament. It is a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit. … Through baptism, one receives the blessings that flow from the dying and rising of Jesus, including the forgiveness of sins. One is united with the crucified and risen Jesus.”

As Bishop Rhoades reminded the students, “People can’t baptize themselves – they can’t make themselves Christians.” He continued, “Baptisms, like all the sacraments, are actions of God. It is Christ who baptizes through His body, the Church, and the Church’s minister. Now, this doesn’t mean that Madeline, Graeme, and Maize will be merely passive recipients of baptism. Baptism presupposes faith. They must freely accept the gift of new life in Christ.”

Part of this acceptance meant the students responded with an audible “no” to Satan and the works of evil and their “yes” to God in the Holy Trinity, which Bishop Rhoades framed as, “They will be saying ‘yes’ to life and ‘no’ to the anti-culture of death.”

Speaking on the confirmations that were to take place following the baptisms, Bishop Rhoades said, “Like the apostles on Pentecost, those being confirmed will be clothed with power from on high so that they may be Christ’s faithful witnesses, like the saints they have chosen as their confirmation patrons: Thérèse of Lisieux, Thomas Aquinas, Dymphna, Kateri Tekakwitha, the archangel Raphael, and Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Chiquinquirá,” said Bishop Rhoades.

After Mass, Bishop Rhoades encouraged the six students who received their sacraments of initiation to turn to face the school community for congratulations. Due to the whistles and applause, the bishop remarked that the school must be very proud – or trying to stay out of class longer, he joked.

As Marian High School principal Mark Freund told Today’s Catholic, the students are prepared for their sacraments by working with the school chaplain and campus ministry. Part of the preparation process is helping them find parish communities of their own in the area. “But again, it’s our folks who are honored to be able to walk with them in this journey,” Freund said.

In looking forward to the bishop’s annual visit, Freund said that “we’re polishing the handrails and making sure the floor is shined.”

“At Marian, we talk about a corporate mission, an institutional mission for young men and women to learn to serve and lead,” Freund said. “Having the bishop with us is a great reinforcement of our emphasis.”

Father Andrew Barnes, along with Holy Cross Father Cameron Cortens, is in his first school year serving as a chaplain at Marian. He is consistently present during the day on Wednesdays – celebrating homeroom Mass, hearing confessions, visiting classrooms, meeting with students one on one. He also makes an effort to go to school sporting events. “I’m trying to do my best to be present as much as possible and let the Lord work in that,” he said.

Father Barnes said he was “pleasantly surprised” at the existing culture of faith among students at Marian High School, noting that several come to Mass or pray in the school chapel when they can during the day. Father Barnes termed it an “openness of a lot of the students to the faith,” and called high school “a really critical time” when students often “choose the faith or walk away from the faith.”

“Seeing the buy-in from the spiritual father of the diocese can be an inspiration for them, especially the intentionality of coming every year,” Father Barnes remarked. “Even if it doesn’t affect them in the moment, it can be a seed-planting experience where it can blossom in the future.”