8th-Grade Mass

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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The annual 8th-grade Mass was celebrated Oct. 5 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with Bishop Oscar A. Solis presiding. Concelebrants were Father Martin Diaz and Father Joseph Delka, rector and parochial vicar of the cathedral, respectively. Deacon Drew Petersen was the Deacon of the Mass. Focusing his homily on the Gospel reading, an account of the Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, Bishop Solis said the two women were “recipients of the grace and power of God” because of the children they received. “We see here how God uses people even beyond our imagination to become instruments of joy in our world. … We are not only recipients of God’s joy in the world. Like Mary, like Elizabeth, we should be ambassadors of joy to others,” said the bishop, who urged the children to smile at others to show that they are people of joy because they are recipients of God’s love.