5th grade Mass: Bringing one whole grade together

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
May 1, 2008

Fifth grade student, Caroline Ascherl from Spalding Catholic smiled as she said it was "really cool and a lot of fun" to celebrate Mass at the Cathedral. She thought it was neat to be in the Cathedral filled with all of the fifth graders.

"It was fun being with the bishop," she said. "I think he thought it would be cool to get one grade together since we never get together. He wanted us to be together when we were younger to experience this."

Kathryn Keller, a fifth grade student from Pocahontas Catholic, visited the Cathedral of the Epiphany for the first time on April 23.

"I was very excited," she said.

This is the second year that Bishop Nickless has invited all of the fifth graders from the Diocese of Sioux City to celebrate Mass with him.

Prior to Mass, Kevin Vickery, superintendent of Catholic schools in the diocese, welcomed the fifth graders, chaperones, faculty and administrators to the Cathedral and thanked those who helped prepare the day. About 500 people represented all of the schools in the diocese at the Mass.

"The fifth grade Mass was an absolutely wonderful witness of our commitment to the spiritual life of our young people," said Vickery, as he reflected on the day. "It was very obvious that they came to pray. They came ready to hear the message that the bishop had to share. It was a wonderful example of how Catholic schools place community, prayer and liturgy as high priorities."

The fifth graders were part of the Mass as singers, lectors, altar servers and gift bearers.

Seventeen priests from the diocese concelebrated Mass with Bishop Nickless.

"They were there to demonstrate to the students that our schools are part of our parishes and that the parishes are part of the larger community," said Vickery. "Whether we are praying in Sioux City, in Humboldt or in Fort Dodge, we are all one church. The fact that the bishop was able to witness for them in such a way and the pastors were there was an awesome thing."

Bishop's homily

The bishop expressed to the students that he had been looking forward to this Mass since last year's first fifth grade Mass. He thanked everyone involved in getting the students to the Mass.

"I am glad that you are at the Cathedral because the Cathedral is the central church in northwest Iowa," said Bishop Nickless. "The Cathedral is a special church. I am wondering if anyone knows why."

He called on a few fifth graders to answer questions about the cathedral and the chair.

"A bishop is someone who the pope puts in charge of all the people in a certain place," he said. "We are here because the bishop's church is the place that belongs to everyone."

Bishop Nickless talked about being able to see the Holy Father in Washington, D.C.

"Because I am a bishop I got invited to go and be with him and visit with him," he said. "We had a Mass together."

The bishop explained that the Holy Father celebrated Mass in two baseball stadiums and asked the students why. The reply was because the stadiums hold a lot of people.

He explained that the vestments he was wearing were given to him by Pope Benedict XVI.

"It just happened that today is the feast of St. George. Since he is a martyr, we wear red vestments," said Bishop Nickless. "So I get to wear this to show you what the Holy Father gave to me for when we said Mass together."

Fathers Brent Lingle and Andrew-Bao Vo, who celebrated Mass with Pope Benedict XVI in New York City, were asked to talk about their experience.

"They got to see the pope and I got to see the pope. Now we are doing what the pope did - say Mass. This is important," said the bishop.

He asked the fifth graders if they could help him understand what the readings were about. The first question he asked, a trick question, was "What religion was Jesus?" The reply was that Jesus was Jewish.

He also explained the Gospel about God being the vine and the people of the church being the branches.

"You have to stay really close to me or you won't produce any fruit," said the bishop. "What are the things in our lives that need to be pruned so we can be more fruitful?"

At the end of the homily, he asked the fifth grade girls and then the boys to stand, if they had considered a vocation.

"All of you as Catholic girls in a Catholic school should be thinking if God wants you to be a sister. We need you to serve the church. I want you to think about it and pray about it," said Bishop Nickless. "Every boy should be standing up. If you haven't thought about it in the past, you can think about it right now. I want to promise you that I will be praying for you."

According to Vickery, the fifth graders are at an age that if they haven't had thoughts of a vocation, "now is the time for them to start thinking."

"The most important thing is that it is a time when they can start to discern for themselves," said Vickery.

What they learned

Michaela Daniel, a Carroll Kuemper Catholic fifth grader, also made her first trip to the Cathedral and thought it was "awesome and fun" to be there with the bishop. She thought the Mass was a time for the students to get to know the bishop better.

"He asked questions about what his hat was called," she said. "He asked why it was called a cathedral. It is because of the bishop's chair."

Faustino Arizmendi, a fifth grader from St. Patrick's in Sheldon, thought the Mass was "really good."

"I learned about the chair that is in the cathedral," he said.

Keller's favorite part of the Mass was during the bishop's homily when he was asking questions. She said she learned the story of St. George and that the bishop celebrated Mass with the pope while he was in the United States.

"He talked about the readings and how special it is that we go to a Catholic school," said Ascherl.

Trinity Heights

To continue the day of spiritual reflection, about 250 of the students and chaperones traveled to Trinity Heights for lunch and tours. They were provided a scavenger hunt and questionnaire about the shrines and special gardens. Each school was given the freedom to decide what they wanted to do with their day at Trinity Heights.

Vickery noted that Trinity Heights was included in the day because of its Sioux City location and it is a place that shows young people the world isn't made up of "just malls and video games."

"We found out that when we bring young people to places such as Trinity Heights, they get so much out of it," he said. "We are grateful that they are there. We are grateful for the ministry and the outreach that they have to support and sustain the ministries that we have in our parishes and schools."