For you are dust...

Fr. Richard blessing the ashes

Today our school community marked the beginning of Lent with Mass for Ash Wednesday.  Our chaplain, Fr. Richard Dion, was our celebrant and gave perhaps his greatest homily at Trinity High School.  He asked the students to consider 3 R's - Remember, Reconcile, and Recommit.  Remember who they are, Reconcile and say I am sorry when they've done wrong, and Recommit themselves to their vocation, whatever that might be.  He also talked about planting Christ in their lives and reminded them that Christ only lives in this world thorough them.  As he was saying this, he was holding our processional cross which is missing one of Jesus' arms.  The arm fell off a few years ago and I put it back on but it fell off again.  Around the same time I heard an amazing story about the former Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Memphis Mary McDonald who had a similar experience with missing arms from a cross (you can read it here).  I decided to leave it off as a reminder that we are to be the arms of Christ in this world.  I explained all this to the students after Mass as it tied in perfectly with Fr. Richard's homily (and I didn't want them thinking we used broken stuff at Mass!).

Continuing our custom of having one of our readings proclaimed in a foreign language, our second reading was read in Latin by Abbey Edwards '16.  She had come to me months ago asking if she could do a reading in Latin and her Latin teacher Mr. O'Leary was a big help with her in translating the reading.

At our Mass we remembered in a special way the soul of Mark Carrier P'14, the father of Matthew Carrier '14.  Mr. Carrier passed away suddenly this week and our prayers are certainly with Matt, his mother, and two sisters.  As I told the students, maybe it's because I am getting older and have my own children but when I hear stories like this, I am especially sad.  May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.  Amen.