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Senior Induction Mass at Mullen High School

Let us Remember…

Dear Friends in Christ and fellow Mustangs,

Today we gather for an important purpose.  We recognize and confer on our Junior class the title and role of Seniors.  This is an important event for our community, this is a rite of passage, and this is a call to greatness.  As LaSallian seniors, your community expects something from you.  I remember at the beginning of the year – this very strange and challenging year – when we spoke with the different grade levels during orientation about how we could live out our core principles.  The freshmen were fairly quiet as most hadn’t even heard about the core principles before.  The sophomores were able to name the core principles with a little prompting, and the juniors – you – had them clearly in mind.  When we split into groups to get creative feedback and ideas about how we could continue to have: a concern for the poor, an inclusive community, quality education, respect for all persons, and faith in the presence of God, I was moved by the response and attitude of our graduating seniors.  They didn’t just have good ideas.  You could tell by the sound of their voices and the look in their eyes that they wanted the year to go well and they were willing to work to make that happen.  They were not passive observers, they were not victims of circumstance, they were ready to take the bull by the horns and fulfill the leadership role that we needed from seniors. read more

Some of the Church’s decisions about changing the liturgical calendar are unfortunate.  I am personally of the opinion that moving Ascension Thursday to Sunday is unfortunate because it emphasizes the mystery of the Ascension at the expense of the actual historical event.  Jesus did not just ascend to heaven “at some point” after His resurrection and before Pentecost.  Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after His resurrection.  Ash Wednesday is our forty day marker for Lent, Ascension Thursday is our forty day marker from the Resurrection.  Just as your life is to be transformed by conversion and penance for forty days leading up to the Lord’s Passion and death, so your life should be transformed by the resurrection of Jesus for forty days leading up to the Ascension.  Hearing about what happened to the disciples of Jesus when they ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead, hearing about how He was entrusting a mission to them, all of those experiences and that history have an important impact on our faith. read more

The Holy Name of Jesus is central to our faith.  Unfortunately, I think we gloss over it a bit too readily.  In today’s first reading from the book of Acts, St. Peter proclaims that there is no other name under heaven by which we are saved.  There is power in the name of Jesus.  You may have noticed in last week’s readings what the chief priests demanded of the apostles: that they stop preaching “in that name.”  They didn’t even dare to mention the name of Jesus.  It has been passed down to us also through the scriptures that some magicians were so impressed with the power of the apostles that they began casting out devils in the name of Jesus – even though they were able to do so without faith.  Many people were brought to faith simply because they witnessed the power of the name of Jesus.   The powers of darkness were literally scattered at the mere mention of his name. read more