Students and staff from schools of the Diocese of Lansing gathered Monday, Jan. 31, at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing for a Mass with Bishop Earl Boyea to mark the start of Catholic Schools Week.
The young people were prayerful and attentive during the Mass.
Students filled all of the ministerial roles and the choir from Most Holy Trinity School in Fowler, under the direction of Noelle Garcia, provided the music.
Hand-in-hand students and staff shared the Our Father ....
.... and reached out to others to share a Sign of Peace.
Bishop Earl Boyea (left) and Fr. Steve Mattson, who once attended Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Lansing and now is superintendent of schools for the diocese, distributed Communion at the Mass.
Fr. Mattson then thanked students, staff and parents for all that they do and have done for Catholic schools.
The bishop blessed the students as he processed out of the cathedral at the end of the Mass.
But the bishop returned to the church to pose for photos with the students who atteneded the Mass, including those from Most Holy Trinity.
Fr. Dennis Howard, pastor of Most Holy Trinity, helped Deacon Tom Fogle organized the groups of students for the photos.
Fr. Anthony Strouse, one of the newest priests of the diocese, mixed and mingled with the students.
The bishop was amazed at how tall some of the students are these days.