“You are blessed because you have the opportunity to talk with Jesus every day,” Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost told students of St. Francis de Sales School. He visited the school Sept. 19 to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Also attending the liturgy were faculty, staff, parents, parishioners and other guests. Father Jeremy Merzweiler, pastor, and Father David Verbsky, parochial vicar, concelebrated the Mass.
The bishop said prayer is how we talk with Jesus and how we can develop a friendship with him.
In his homily, he said Jesus was a teacher who traveled with “the 12,” his disciples, who learned from him. “He was essentially running a school,” the bishop explained. “He called people to the faith. He taught them. They could see him. Now, we can’t see him, but we know he is with us. He promised to be with us always.”
(See photo gallery above.)
As Jesus’ followers, we should live like he did. Reading the Gospels, praying and loving one another are ways of following him. The disciples could ask him questions, the bishop said. We can do that too, through prayer, which he said “is like a conversation with God. It’s one of the most important things we can do … Ask Jesus to help us know him and his presence in our lives. We must learn how to live well and be faithful disciples who live out our faith,” the bishop said.
Those attending Mass received special prayer cards with a caricature of Bishop Woost on the front and a prayer on the back.
After Mass, the bishop greeted students and others before heading to the parish’s Memorare Center for breakfast and conversation with the eighth graders, who he will confirm later in the school year.
Bishop Woost shared his experience of being in Rome for the canonization Mass for new saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis. He told the students St. Pier Giorgio is important to his family because when his brother, Father Dave Woost who is pastor of Divine Word Parish in Kirtland, became ill with a blood cancer a few years ago, he prayed to St. Pier Giorgio.
“He came through the treatments without side effects and is healthier now,” Bishop Woost said. He also talked about celebrating Mass with his priest brothers – Father Dave and Father Tom Woost, pastor of St. Brendan Parish and administrator of St. Richard Parish, both in North Olmsted – and Father David Bline, a friend, at the altar in Turin, Italy where St. Pier Giorgio is buried. He also recalled meeting the new saint’s 97-year-old niece, who offered insight into his life. They visited his summer home, saw his mountain climbing equipment and the bed where he died at age 24 from polio in 1925.
The bishop also answered questions and posed for a group photo with the students before heading back to Cleveland.