“Buon appetito,” Bishop Rhoades told students after blessing their lunch, referencing the deep Italian devotion to St. Joseph. Bishop Rhoades spent the day on Wednesday, March 19, at South Bend’s Saint Joseph High School, and because it was the feast of St. Joseph, the day was filled with many nods of appreciation to Jesus’ foster father. Photos by Derby PhotographyBishop Rhoades receives the gifts during his pastoral visit to Saint Joseph High School on Wednesday, March 19. During the all-school Mass in the Saint Joseph gymnasium, Bishop Rhoades confirmed five students, one of whom was coming into full communion with the Catholic Church, and another, freshman Jose Oropeza, who was receiving his first holy Communion. “Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the universal Catholic Church, so what a perfect day for someone to be received into full communion in the Church,” Bishop Rhoades told Easton McFarland, the student who was received into full communion. The three others who were confirmed were Caitlyn Pingel, Beckham Rhame, and Alexander Slagh. McFarland’s sponsor was a young man named Brett Mason, whom Bishop Rhoades confirmed just last year at the high school. Both McFarland and Mason are on the school’s baseball team. “I don’t know what it is about the baseball team,” Bishop Rhoades joked, before asking for their game schedule. Above, Bishop Rhoades visits Chris Culver’s science classroom during his pastoral visit to Saint Joseph High School. Below, he offers a hug to one of the five students whom he confirmed during the all-school Mass. Bishop Rhoades began his homily with what he called “a history lesson” of devotion to St. Joseph in the Catholic Church, specifically in the Michiana area. He said that when he first came to the diocese, he asked why so many things were named after St. Joseph – churches, the river, the county, the high school. The answer he got was that the Congregation of Holy Cross at the University of Notre Dame has a deep devotion to St. Joseph. While the devotion part is true, Bishop Rhoades said, he eventually learned that the presence of the St. Joseph devotion in the area predates the arrival of the Holy Cross brothers. In fact, there is an archaeological site six miles north of Saint Joseph High School’s athletic fields – Fort St. Joseph. It is the site of a mission run by the Jesuits in the 1680s and was built as a fur trading post. The current Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend used to be part of the Diocese of Quebec, noted Bishop Rhoades, who said that the French explorers had a great devotion to St. Joseph. “That devotion caught on among the native peoples of this area and was a part of the spiritual life of the first Catholics in this region,” Bishop Rhoades said. He added that devotion to Jesus’ foster father had been growing in the Church as a whole in the 16th and 17th centuries, after his feast day became official for the entire Roman rite. Before then, he had been somewhat of a “background” saint. A couple places had celebrated St. Joseph’s feast day, but they were few and far between. Bishop Rhoades even mentioned a bit of history about Saint Joseph High School itself, saying that there had been three Catholic high schools in South Bend (South Bend Catholic, Central Catholic for boys, and Saint Joseph’s Academy for girls) that Bishop John Francis Noll combined into one in 1953. Bishop Rhoades then spoke about what readers can learn about St. Joseph from the Gospels. “Notice in the Gospel today, St. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a ‘righteous’ man; some translations say a ‘just’ man,” Bishop Rhoades said. “This means he was a believer who maintained living contact with the word of God, a man who dialogued with God, who prayed, who tried to discern God’s will and to do it.” Bishop Rhoades also tied the day’s first reading to the Gospel, saying, “Something very significant took place when Joseph was told to name the child [Jesus], because to name a child is to claim the child as one’s own,” Bishop Rhoades said. “So, Joseph was instructed to accept this child as his own son, even though Jesus wasn’t his biological son. He was his legal son, which is how Jesus became a legal heir to David, the one prophesied by Nathan in today’s first reading: the son of David whose kingdom would last forever.” After Mass, the Saint Joseph community presented Bishop Rhoades with a special gift: a replica of the Angels Unawares statue in St. Peter’s Square. Bishop Rhoades shared that he prayed before the original statue with Pope Francis and other bishops while he was in Rome for the Synod of Bishops on synodality. Principal John Kennedy said that “there are so many things to be proud of and excited about” at Saint Joseph High School today. He mentioned the academic program, particularly how this year the school boasts 10 students recognized through the National Merit Scholarship Program. The school also continues to expand its list of AP courses and dual credit offerings at local colleges. Saint Joseph High School is doing well by student numbers, with an incoming freshman class of more than 200. Even the student choir that sang for Mass was far bigger than the choir last year, as Bishop Rhoades commented. Saint Joseph High School Address: 453 N. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend Phone: 574-233-6137 Principal: John Kennedy Year founded: 1953 Students: 873 Nickname: Huskies saintjoehigh.com Kennedy said Bishop Rhoades’ yearly presence confirming students motivates more students to join the OCIA program at the school. “He is a model for all of us in terms of steadfastly living our faith,” Kennedy said. The post Bishop Visits Saint Joseph High School on Patronal Feast Day appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less