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Happening ... in the Local Church
 Seniors
from Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School, Lafayette, and St.
Theodore Guerin High School, Noblesville, gather for Mass and a luncheon
April 24 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
(Photo by Caroline B. Mooney) |
“We’re all one big faith community and to gather in the cathedral is a great opportunity.”
By Caroline B.
Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — With graduation nearing, Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School, Lafayette, and St. Theodore Guerin High School, Noblesville, celebrated a senior Mass together at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception on April 24.
“Kids from the two diocesan Catholic high schools don’t get the chance, because of geography, to get together much,” said Dennis Musial, principal of Central Catholic. “We’re all one big faith community and to gather in the cathedral is a great opportunity.”
Central Catholic has 56 seniors and Guerin has 82. Parents from both schools also attended the Mass.
Bishop William L. Higi celebrated the Mass, with Father Robert Klemme, pastor of the cathedral, and Father Dale Ehrman, vice president of Guerin, concelebrating.
“The Catholic Church has evolved over centuries,” Bishop Higi said in his homily.
“Jesus didn’t hand St. Peter a book of regulations,” Bishop Higi said. “What we believe and what we do has been worked out over time under the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised would guide Church leadership after his resurrection and ascension into heaven. … Our faith should not be shaped by opinion polls or what we see other people doing, even if the majority of people are living lives contrary to the teachings of the Church. Certain things are right and certain things are wrong. It’s up to us to learn what is right and what is wrong. Our faith should be formed by what the Holy Spirit teaches through the leadership, the magisterium, of his Church.
“… It is most important for us to understand that God continues to speak to us, his people, in our time,” Bishop Higi said. “He does that through the Church. The admonition he gives to each one of us is: Let he who has ears to hear listen. We have Catholic schools so graduates of those schools will be skilled in doing precisely that! They will have ears to hear and they will listen.”
“I was really excited about the schools getting together today,” said Rick Wagner, principal of St. Theodore Guerin. “It’s a neat way to have our two Catholic high schools, sister schools, share in something special. And anytime that Bishop Higi is with us is really special.”
“It’s cool that we have two Catholic high schools in the diocese and we can get together and do things,” said Michael Bagnoli, a Central Catholic senior. He plans to attend the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University next year. “I’m really excited. Catholic school has hopefully prepared me well for college.”
Paul Webster, from Central Catholic, plans to attend Indiana Wesleyan University to study nursing or religious studies.
“While not a Catholic, I feel better graduating from a Catholic school — it really helped in building my faith,” he said. “The Catholic faith challenged me and made me look deeper into my own faith.”
“I really like going to Catholic school,” said Guerin senior Stephanie Zatkoff. “I had a lot of opportunities to do things, especially in school musicals and choir, that I wouldn’t have had at a public school. People are often excluded at bigger schools. I got to sing with the choir from Central Catholic at Masses each of my sophomore, junior and senior years.”
“Catholic school has prepared us for the outside world — we know what to expect,” said Steffani DeBoer, Central Catholic senior. She wants to attend cosmetology school.
“Having this Mass together with Central Catholic makes it nice to see everything come together the end of our senior year,” said Kaela Clark from Guerin. She is going to George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“It’s always nice to have a different kind of Mass to celebrate things we’re doing in our lives,” said Peter Smith, Guerin senior. “This is like a farewell — we’re moving on to individual life away from school.”
He plans to study art at Ball State University. “At Guerin, I had good art classes and good teachers,” he said.
“I always wanted to go into administrative work and follow in my father’s footsteps,” said Trevor Lunsford of Guerin. “My favorite classes have been moral theology and the history of the Church. My education has led me in a good direction. It’s been so nice to have Mass and confession after school. If you’re not feeling so good, you can go to confession.”
Gordon Smith, director of development at Guerin, said attending the Mass was “the coolest thing I’ve done all week. I am also here as a parent, and it really made me teary-eyed.”
“The Mass was neat; to go with our peers is something you don’t usually get to see,” said Jessica Dunten, Central Catholic senior. “… I am going to Purdue next year, and going to Central Catholic has prepared me for facing others and being stronger.”