Preached at the beginning of Catholic Schools’ Week 2008, specifically for the students and family attending Mass.

A little girl was sitting at the kitchen table with a few sheets of paper and a box of crayons. She was drawing a picture. “What are you drawing?” her mother asked her. “I’m drawing a picture of God,” was the reply. “But, darling,” said her mother, “nobody knows what God looks like.” And the little girl replied, “But they will when I have finished the picture.”

A couple years ago when the Personnel Board asked me about the type of parish I wished to serve as a pastor, I told them of my desire to serve in a Catholic School. In my life of faith, I have come to find out that the message of God is most present to me in the faith life of a girl drawing pictures of God in the most innocent of ways. The Holy Father speaks as the Vicar of Christ; the bishop of Joliet speaks as the shepherd of the diocese. But when a child lives the life of faith, I constantly remind myself of the passage from St. Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus prays, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Mt 11: 25-26).

In my experience as a pastor, I am called to treat these children as if they were children of my own house. The parents who send these kids to our school entrust a great deal of responsibility upon us to keep them safe, to give them a good education, and to reinforce the life of faith that parents live are commanded to live in their homes. I take that responsibility seriously – I am very much concerned about the well-being of these children, as are the faculty and staff of our parish and school. Like all parents, we too learn on the job and do the best we can to make sure these kids are ready for the future that awaits them.

But at the end of the day, I return back to the real reason I wish to serve the children of this parish, so that they can teach me about the manner in which I must live to understand the message of God - although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. When the kids show me the type of investment they wish to make in their faith, it is then that I realize the importance of this childlike faith in the ministry I have chosen to pursue and the means by which I can attain eternal life.

When I minister with these kids, I realize the revelation that God has presented to me that this faith life is constantly fulfilling itself in the person of Christ every time kids live this faith. Every time we see a kid in church living their faith, they are painting for us a picture of God that we are challenged to recognize by our Lord in Matthew’s gospel. This image of God constantly reminds us of a hope restored to a people that lost that hope in the garden, lost that hope during the great exile from Jerusalem, a hope that is constantly threatened by the profane approaches of a secular society that chooses to seek other types of God than the image of God we paint today.

Our readings today remind us of a hope lost and a hope that must be found and embraced for the rest of our lives. We constantly need to remind ourselves that the lands of Zebulun and Naphthali were the first two lands of the Hebrew Nation that were stolen by a godless people who sought power over faith. We learn from today’s gospel that the restoration of these lands symbolize a restoration and a type of fulfillment that our Lord brings us in this New Testament of faith. We are taught that every time our Lord calls the faithful to continue this work of faith on earth, the Peters and the Andrews of today’s age sit among us, called to paint us this picture of a faith life fulfilled in the presence of Jesus. The children are called to be the parents of the future, the baptized leaders of faith. As we celebrate this month of vocations here in the diocese, we remind ourselves of the challenge to encourage these children to serve as the future priests and religious who continue the tradition of the sacraments and Christian life, models of Christ for the community to follow.

And how do these children respond? Just this last week, all of our children gathered for a day of prayer in honor of the Right to Life. We celebrated a Mass together and then joined in Rosary for Life prayer on behalf of the most vulnerable souls among us in need of our assistance. After this prayer, the kids were invited to pray in Adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament when the kids surprised me – they asked me if I would stay in church to hear their confessions. For over an hour, I spend one of the most faith-filled moments of my priesthood in our confessional, realizing that the faith for these kids turned into an “I want to” rather than an “I have to” experience. For my sake more than theirs, I encountered this image of God.

After the 8:00 & 10:00 Masses in our church today, the kids will be passing out bookmarks to our faithful, thanking all of you for your constant support of our Catholic School system and what you mean to them. The older kids took time to write notes on these bookmarks – the younger kids took the time to color the bookmarks. You will be receiving notes of thanks written by the kids which state, “We thank you with all our hearts for your generosity so that we may be educated in the Catholic faith” and “Thank you for attending St. Patrick’s Church – your presence is greatly appreciated.” Our eighth grade students will lead us in a candle procession of light, following the example of today’s scriptures in bringing the light of Christ into the darkness of society. After communion today, Annie Thuot will be reading a “thank you” written by her classmate Emily Kambic on behalf of the students of St. Patrick’s for everything you have done for us (this makes me a little nervous, though, because the last time I talked to Emily, I asked her what she would like to do after her confirmation and she responded, “I would like to buy Fr. Pete some colored clothes in order to teach him how to accessorize.” True story). Following Mass today, parents will be invited to help the younger kids of our school make symbols of their faith in the classrooms, while the upper grades will test us in the ways of faith through Bible trivia games.

To culminate this day, we offer our monthly Pancake breakfast to all of us with a special dedication in honor of Pat Paul, who listened to the call of Christ and responded by serving this school for 29 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director. Following Mass today, you are most invited to sign our “Wall of Fame” on Pat’s behalf, which will be presented to Pat’s family at the conclusion of this Catholic Schools’ Week. At 12:00 noon today, we will bless and dedicate our gym in Pat’s honor, unveiling a special plaque that will be placed above the entry way to the gym as a reminder of Pat’s sacrifice to the school and this community.

Throughout these next few days, we will be involving ourselves with various activities as part of Catholic Schools’ Week, including trivia games, a volleyball match between students and the faculty, a special Mass of the kids on Tuesday and a pep rally at the end of the week. On February 2nd, we cap off Catholic Schools’ week with our annual Shamrock Gala, our major fundraiser for the school. This year, we honor the priest who hired Pat Paul to teach at St. Patrick’s, Fr. Vytas Memenas. Fr. Vytas served as pastor of St. Patrick’s from 1978-1990, has served the diocese of Joliet for over 50 years and has served as chaplain of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police for over 35 years. Because of Fr. Vytas, our school resurrected itself from financial woes in the 1980s; his example of faith some 20 years ago makes our celebration of Catholic Schools’ Week possible today. You are most encouraged to buy tickets for this event following the Mass.

I would like to end today’s homily by painting an image of the faith in a most childlike way. I would like to go back to my youth ministry days and, with the aid of the kids in our community, help us all realize what can be made possible when we all work together and build this kingdom of heaven as one holy, Catholic apostolic Church. With the help of the kids and all of our faithful, I would like to shower this presence of God among us by making it rain inside of this building. May this image of faith remind us what can be made possible every time we pack this church with the faithful and live this faith of God together.

Make it rain in church via the “Youth Ministry” approach (which you would have to experience by attending the Mass).

This is our prayer.