As the school year ended, homeschooled students across the Diocese of Allentown celebrated the end of their academic year in a Mass with Bishop Alfred Schlert, June 12 at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown.
The Mass was attended by students ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade. This was the last Mass of the school year following monthly liturgies offered for homeschooled students throughout the school year at St. Ursula, Fountain Hill.
The Mass was concelebrated by Father Kevin Bobbin and Father Keaton Eidle. Father Bobbin is Pastor of St. John the Baptist, Pottsville and serves as Chaplain to both Nativity BVM High School, Pottsville and the Diocesan Homeschool Community. Father Eidle is Assistant Pastor at St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Easton and is a homeschooled alumni from the Diocese of Allentown.
“It is good for us to come together at the end of any good work we do,” said the Bishop during his homily on a beautiful Thursday morning. “In this case, the end of a year of academic rigor and a year of academic growth.”
The Bishop spoke about the importance of thanking the Lord for the blessings within the homeschooled community and how it fosters one of the most important parts of our Catholic faith: the domestic church.
“In the Church’s teachings, the family is called the domestic church. You’ve probably heard that before. It means it’s the first church that we encounter even before we physically start to go to a church. Even before our Baptism.”
He spoke on the strength that families should find in each of their own domestic churches and how the basic unit of the church is at home.
Drawing parallels to Jesus Himself, Bishop Schlert talked about how the students are following in the footsteps of Christ. “[Jesus] was brought up as a devout Jewish person by His Mother and foster father Joseph. They were the best of humans and the model for the future of the domestic church that all of us participate in. So, isn’t that a beautiful thing you experience day in and day out?”
Bishop Schlert told the students and families in attendance that these experiences of being at home to learn in the domestic church is the same experience that Jesus had in his home in Nazareth with Mary and Joseph. “So, in the church’s mind and hopefully in your minds too, not only is your home a domestic church, but it’s also modeled after the home we know that Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom.”
Prior to the end of Mass, Bishop Schlert offered a special blessing for graduating seniors and blessed a cross of St. Benedict for each student who completed 12th grade.
The Mass was followed by fellowship and light refreshments for all in attendance.
Information was also available on Mother of Hope Hybrid Academy (MOHHA) opening in the fall at St. Ursula.
The first hybrid Academy for the Diocese, MOHHA will be a classical hybrid academy focusing on Catholic identity, outdoor-focused learning and screen-free teaching. Students will work from home three days per week (Monday through Wednesday) and will then attend in-school instruction at St. Ursula on Thursday and Friday.
For more information about MOHHA, go to www.motherofhopehybridacademy.org.
Photos by Vargas Photography.
Copy Permalink
