The Valley Catholic February 5, 2019 | Page 4

4 February 5, 2019 | The Valley Catholic COMMUNITY Diocese Observes Catholic Schools Week with Mass at Cathedral By Liz Sullivan As the Roman Catholic Church across the world celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Thomas Aqui- nas, the patron saint of Catholic Schools, the Diocese of San Jose welcomed Catholic Schools Week 2019 on January 28 with Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph. This year’s theme is “Learn. Serve. Lead.” with a focus in the Diocese of “gratitude.” Coadjutor Bishop Oscar Cantú was the celebrant and off ered the homily during the Mass, which included students, teachers and administrators from the Dioceses’ 28 elementary schools and six high schools. “When you look at children they seem to really approach the world with wonder,” said the Bishop. On January 28, the Diocese of San Jose celebrated Catholic Schools Week with Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph. Photo by Clarisse Balistreri “It is something that children can teach us adults on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes we can take life so seriously that we lose the sense of wonder.” In his first Catholic Schools Week since joining the Diocese in the Fall, Bishop Cantú referenced Pope Francis’s 2015 Encyclical on the Environment and Human Ecol- ogy – Laudato si´– by reminding everyone, as the Pope pointed out, “we all have a responsibility to care for the environment and that he calls it creation and it points to a creator. So everything in the world ultimately leads us to God. In concluding his homily, Bishop Cantú said: “let us continue to be grateful to the many things God continues to give us today. Amen.” An interesting note from the Mass, the congregation sang “We Will Inherit the World” during the Preparation of the Gifts. The song was written by Notre Dame San Jose High School Ninth Grader Emma Liang. To learn more about Catholic Schools in the Diocese of San Jose, please visit www.dsj.org/education. Additional pictures from the Mass can be viewed online at www.tvc.dsj.org.