Bishop Sullivan and Father Joshua Nevitt, director of Catholic Identity at Holy Spirit High School, congratulate freshman Brayden Birchler after Mass Sept. 27 in Absecon. Birchler recently received the Sacrament of Confirmation. (Dave Hernandez)
Challenging the young Church to “be original” and “develop good soil,” Bishop Dennis Sullivan spent the past week visiting South Jersey’s Catholic high schools, celebrating Masses of the Holy Spirit and encouraging students on their spiritual journey.
“You don’t know how lucky you are to come together and pray” as a Catholic school community, he preached to hundreds of students across the Diocese.
His visits Sept. 23-28 to the schools of Paul VI, Haddonfield; Camden Catholic, Cherry Hill; Wildwood Catholic Academy, Wildwood; Holy Spirit, Absecon, and Gloucester Catholic, Gloucester City, marked the first time since the pandemic that the Bishop celebrated a Mass of the Holy Spirit at the start of the academic calendar. With masks and social distancing in effect, he asked the Holy Spirit to “protect and guide students, administration, faculty and staff.”
In his homilies, Bishop Sullivan referenced the parable of the sower, where a farmer’s crop outcome is affected by where he scatters seed. The Bishop stressed that Catholic education gives students’ “all that you need to develop good soil” and cultivates a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.
“You can become a saint, every single one of you,” he said.
As an example of a young saint, the Camden prelate lifted up Blessed Carlo Acutis. Beatified last year, and set to soon become the first millennial saint, Blessed Carlo died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15. The Italian teenager was interested in sports, video games and the internet. He was also a devout Catholic, attending daily Mass, convincing his parents to return to Church, and starting an online database dedicated to eucharistic miracles around the world.
Blessed Carlo once said that “we are all made original,” the Bishop explained, and urged the students to avoid becoming “photocopies” influenced by diversions such as social media and television. Instead, he said, become “who God made us to be,” by focusing on prayer, the sacraments and generosity.
MORE PHOTOS (all pictures by Dave Hernandez)
Bishop Sullivan, center, stands with students from Paul VI High School, Haddonfield, after the Mass of the Holy Spirit he celebrated Sept. 23. Also in attendance, from left, school president Michael Chambers; Dr. Bill Watson, superintendent of Catholic Schools; Sister Marianne McCann, M.P.F. principal, and Father Dexter Nebrida, A.M., director of Catholic Identity.
After celebrating Mass the morning of Sept. 24, Bishop Dennis Sullivan blessed the new Saint Thomas Aquinas Innovation Lab at Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill. The lab, which uses STEM, includes a 3D printer, vinyl cutter, workshop build stations and a VEX robotics competition area, and will be primarily utilized by junior and senior robotics classes this year. After the blessing, school students provided Bishop Sullivan with a robotics demonstration, and gifted him a 3D-printed whistle.
Math teacher Leatrice Spiewak leads the Wildwood Catholic Academy community in song during the Sept. 27 Mass in Wildwood.
Students from Gloucester Catholic Junior Senior High School, Gloucester City, listen intently to Bishop Sullivan’s homily the morning of Sept. 28 in Saint Mary Church.