We have come together this morning to spiritually ready ourselves to end the school year and begin our summer vacations. I know you are all excited as you should be. This day will be different from other days, in that, for our parish, this day is historical. All of you are a part of a historical movement not only for our parish but also for our Archdiocese Our parish has been asked to open its door to all families who seek good Catholic Education.  We do this gladly and generously as we should as Christians.

There is a sadness for those who have gone before us and who have marked the passage of time and life with their memories of our school. But because we are sharing our school doesn’t mean we are diminishing our parish resolve to educate nor the fond memories we will cherish throughout our life as a parish.

We are imitating the heart of Jesus to embrace all children who are in need and because we do this we are glad and filled with a greater hope that our parish will be made stronger through our sacrifice.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom we have great devotion and who solemnity we celebrate today, opens His heart to us from the cross with the lance that represents the inhumanity people can have toward each other. Blood and water, the sign of our sacramental life, pours out to fill the empty cups of our soul. His heart is filled with the fire of love for us that burst out to touch us.

The Sacred Heart calls us to conversion, to make reparation for sins, to love and to be grateful. He calls us to become salt for the earth and lights in the world, and we will be just that, with the help and prayers of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who loved and cared for children in their need.

I want to publically thank Mrs. Garvin, the teachers and staff. I want to express our gratitude to all the principals and all the teachers and all the alumni and invite them to walk forward with us into a new future where our faith will be nurtured and where the Gospel of Jesus will become understood so we can together grow in communion with the saints.

As we leave on this vacation, let us re-dedicate ourselves to God’s boundless love and open our hearts to receive from the heart of Jesus the entire mystery of the Godhead.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.