By Zoe Rideau
Catholic Schools Week is designed to help us appreciate the integration of our Catholic faith into our education and the importance of God’s presence in our community. By understanding our identity as a Catholic school, we better understand what makes St. Mary’s a special place. During this week, we pray and play together as a family, and we celebrate our Catholic heritage.
Early last month, Saint Mary’s (along with the rest of the Phoenix diocese) celebrated Catholic Schools Week. On Monday, we had Teacher/ Student Day, where teachers dressed up as students and students dressed as teachers.
Tuesday, we did “twin challenge,” and all day long we saw double.
On Wednesday, we had our monthly Mass to celebrate the Presentation of the Lord.
On Thursday, we had our Best Fit Day where we showed our best outfits. That day also featured a special presentation by Kevin Starrs and Magaro Lira of the Diocese of Phoenix Prison Their 30-minute presentation to the entire student body gave us a glimpse of their earlier life stories (involving crime, violence, family dysfunction, and other issues) and how they overcame these issues and grew closer to God.
On Friday, the entire school participated in the annual Eucharistic Procession around the entire campus. Following the procession, all of the students, faculty and priests participated in a period of Eucharistic Adoration in the gym. This final event was conducted in silence and gave everyone an opportunity to spend a few minutes with God, and with each other in prayer.
