As he looked out at nearly 600 students, faculty and staff from Holy Name High School who were dressed in green and white, the school colors, Bishop Nelson Perez apologized for ?dressing in red.?
The bishop was at the Parma Heights high school on Oct. 17 to celebrate Mass, tour the school and meet with students.
?It?s the memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, so according to the Church, we dress in red vestments today,? he explained. ?I?m story I?m not in green, but I am excited to be here.?
Before Mass began, he asked students to tell him a little about Holy Name. They mentioned its school spirit, traditions, the chapel in the middle of the campus and its 103-year history in the diocese.
In his homily, the bishop reflected on the words of St. John adapted into a popular liturgical song: ?Unless a grain of wheat shall fall upon the ground and die, it remains but a single grain with no life.? He told those at Mass that to save one?s life, one must lose a life. ?All great things come at a cost,? he said. ?If a grain of wheat wants to become wheat, it must give up being a grain.?
He also used the analogy of life before birth. ?Before you were born, you floated around inside your mom?s womb. It was cozy; there was no homework, no getting up for school. All you had to do was be. But you had to leave that to go on to the next step, being born. And that is traumatic for both the baby and the mom.?
He also compared another step in life, beginning kindergarten, as difficult for parents and children. ?You had to leave the womb of home, where all you had to do was play and watch TV. Sometimes the kids cry when they start school and sometimes the parents do, too. But if it doesn?t happen, you don?t move on to the next part of your journey,? he said. ?You students, especially the seniors, are nearing a point where you will have to leave this familiarity and move on.?
Bishop Perez used his own life as another example, explaining that six years ago he was pastor of a parish in Philadelphia
