Diocese Year of Worship and Retreat photograph.

Diocese Year of Worship and Retreat

The GRACE Catholic School System is committed to our mission. We are not just Christians on Sunday but at all times and in all aspects of our life. Likewise, at school, we aim not merely to integrate our Catholic faith but to be rooted in it in all ways. One of the defining characteristics of our schools is that we are always “steeped in a Catholic worldview.” So whether we are teaching the Revolutionary War in middle school social studies or learning about how seeds become plants in second grade, we seek to find opportunities to show children the centrality of God and the influence of the Church in the world.

This year the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced a national Eucharistic Revival, whose aim is to encourage “a movement of Catholics across the United States, healed, converted, formed and united by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.” In support, Bishop David Ricken wrote a beautiful letter to our Diocese titled, Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist: Disciples Called to Worship.

During these next three years, Bishop wishes to lead us on a journey to better worship Jesus by focusing on encountering Jesus more deeply in the Word and the Eucharist. At GRACE, we aim to support this mission as we endeavor to help make sure all children know and love Jesus Christ.

Catholics believe that the greatest prayer of all is the Holy Mass, and it is especially beautiful when we bring our family on Sunday. As we seek to grow in our relationship with Jesus and strengthen our prayer lives, consider how your family will continue to make Sunday Mass attendance a priority.

In The Sacrament of Charity, Pope Benedict XVI told us, “The love of God that we receive in the Blessed Sacrament should lead us to love our neighbor (88).” Our GRACE teachers are hard at work each day, teaching children to pray, how to approach the Sacraments, and how to live our Catholic morality by guiding the way they act in the classroom and on the playground. We are proud of the ways we celebrate liturgical seasons like Advent and Lent, and each school attends Mass weekly as a community.

This year we ask all members of our GRACE community to join this great movement in our Church as we seek to encounter Jesus deeply and personally through the Eucharist. Parents can support our faith mission by asking their children what they are learning in religion class, taking time to pray as a family, going to Eucharistic Adoration, and attending Mass weekly as a family.