More than 650 students from eight of the nine Catholic elementary schools in Lorain County traveled to Elyria Catholic High School on Jan. 27 to participate in a pre-Catholic Schools Week tradition, the All County Mass. Because of the pandemic, the event did not occur in 2021 or 2022.
Annie Heidersbach, EC president, welcomed the 475-member EC student body, faculty, staff and visitors from the elementary schools. She said the all-county liturgy traditionally is celebrated the Friday prior to Catholic Schools Week. This year, CSW is being observed Jan. 29 to Feb. 4 throughout the eight-county diocese and across the country.
(See photo gallery above.)
“My 97-year-old mom still lives in her own home in Lorain and when I visit to her, she greets me with, ‘This is the day the Lord has made.’ My reply is, ‘Let us be glad and rejoice.’ I want to start a new tradition here doing that,” Heidersbach said.
Emma Basinski, an EC senior, and her brother Mick, a seventh-grader at St. Jude School in Elyria, introduced the celebrant, Father Damian Ference. Father Ference is vicar for evangelization for the Diocese of Cleveland and he heads the diocesan Office of Parish Life and Special Ministries.
“Mass relies on all of us to be awesome. The more we put into this Mass, the more we get out of it,” Father Ference told those gathered in the EC Coliseum for the liturgy.
Middle school/junior high school students from Holy Trinity in Avon; St. Joseph in Amherst; St. Joseph in Avon Lake; St. Jude in Elyria; St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Avon; St. Mary in Elyria; St. Peter in Lorain; and St. Peter in North Ridgeville participated in the liturgy. St. Anthony of Padua School in Lorain had a previously scheduled field trip and could not attend.
Aiden Palmieri of St. Peter, North Ridgeville, read the first reading and Lily Clapper of St. Peter School, Lorain, led the responsorial psalm. Petitions were read by Bree Bode of Holy Trinity and Evie Serevitch of St. Joseph, Avon Lake.
Participating in the presentation of the gifts were Breanna Gabel, St. Mary, Elyria; Quinn Rohwer, Holy Trinity; James Jirgal, St. Joseph, Avon Lake; Adalyn Latessa, St. Jude; Bradon Van Dyke, St. Peter, North Ridgeville; Emily Nimon, St. Peter, Lorain; Sophia Niederst, St. Mary, Avon.
In his homily, Father Ference reminded the students that it was the feast of St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursuline sisters, the first religious teaching order in the Catholic Church. She put God first in all she did. He said it’s important to put God first, to spread the Gospel and to love others, explaining these are some ways to become saints which is the objective for all,
“Another word for love is charity,” Father Ference said. He asked the students to give some examples of love. They responded that love is selfless, doing something for someone else and wanting what’s best for others.
“What does love feel like?” he asked. Responses included amazing, wonderful and great.
“Does Jesus love us?” he asked. “Yes. Has he taught us how to love? Yes,” he said, holding up the processional crucifix and asking, “How does this feel?” Father Ference explained that Jesus gave his life to save our souls, the quintessential example of love. “He made the sacrifice for you so you can flourish.”
As babies and children, we relied on others such as our parents to care for us. “Did they like getting up at 2 a.m. to feed and change you? No, but they sacrificed for you. It was out of love. True love puts others first, something our parents did before we could conceptualize it. Saints do this, also,” he added.
Father Ference told the students there are several virtues they must have, including charity and prudence, which are at the heart of our Catholic education and faith.
“Life is difficult. It’s hard to be a saint. We can’t do it on our own,” he said, noting all of us struggle with sin and need to change.
At Mass, Father Ference said grapes and wheat that become wine and bread and changed into the body and blood of Christ. “He gives himself to us. You are what you eat and we are changed. Then we go out and change. We share that with the world and become Christ for others.” He encouraged them to go out and be Christ for others, spreading his message of love.
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