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Fifth graders unite at Cathedral

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
(Email Katie)

Will Kellner, stood to sing at the front of the Cathedral in Sioux City with a handful of his classmates as cantors for the fifth grade Mass on April 23.

Kellner, a fifth grader from Seton Grade School in Algona, thought it was “fun to be up there and be recognized.”

This was the first time Kellner had attended a Mass with Bishop Nickless. He said it was nice to see him and found the Cathedral to be “a cool church and decorated nice.”

This is the third year that all of the fifth graders from Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sioux City have gathered at the Cathedral of the Epiphany to celebrate Mass with Bishop R. Walker Nickless.

“I look forward to this Mass every year,” said the bishop.

More than 500 people – students, teachers, administrators and parents – represented all of the Catholic schools at the Mass. The fifth graders were part of the Mass as choir members, lectors, altar servers and gift bearers. Sixteen priests concelebrated Mass with Bishop Nickless.

“I want you to welcome all of the priests who have joined us today,” said the bishop. “They love you very much. That is why they are here, to support you and thank you for supporting the schools that they are a part of. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to be together and thank God for the chance that we have to go to a Catholic school.”

Bishop’s homily
During the homily, Bishop Nickless called on students to answer questions about the Cathedral, what the bishop wears, St. George (whose feast day is April 23), the readings and Catholic schools.

“The bishop is the chief shepherd of the diocese,” said the bishop as he explained the significance of the crosier.

He said that the curled end of the crosier could be used to bring people back, like a shepherd brings in sheep, and the other end is used to protect.

“The Gospel is about Jesus talking about God and how to be born again in baptism,” said Bishop Nickless. “He is telling them that God is trustworthy. We need to trust God. He always keeps his promises.”

In baptism, the bishop said, God takes away original sin, the sins “our first parents did will be totally taken away.”

The bishop asked the students to go home, hug their parents and thank them for sending them to a Catholic school.

“They give up so much so you can go to a Catholic school,” said Bishop Nickless.

Before the conclusion of the homily, the bishop asked all the girls and then all the boys to stand if they were considering a vocation.

“I think every girl should stand up,” said the bishop. “That doesn’t mean that you are going to be a sister, but that you should be thinking about it. Who knows what God wants you to be?”

To the boys, he said that each of them should be thinking about becoming a priest.

“We all know that we are never going to be happy in this world unless we do what God wants. Not what we want, but what God wants,” said Bishop Nickless. “Some of you will go off and get married. Some of you are going to be single. Some of you are going to be sisters and priests. Don’t be afraid to think about it.”

He asked them to pray about it and ask God what he wants them to do.

New experiences
Some of the fifth graders had not been to a Mass with the bishop and others experienced Mass at the Cathedral for the first time.

Danbury Catholic fifth grader, Mikayla Lansink, said she enjoyed the Mass because “the bishop is usually always funny.”

“I learned the name of his hat and what he called his shepherd crook – a crosier,” she said.

Levi Gardewine, a student from Pocahontas Catholic, was surprised that all the fifth graders were able to be at Mass with the bishop at the Cathedral. He thought it was “pretty cool.”

“He told us that what he wears is a lot different than what priests wear. There are different meanings for all the things he wears,” he said.

Theresa Boeckman, a fifth grade teacher at Kuemper, commented that it shows unity in the diocese to bring all the fifth graders together for a Mass at the Cathedral.

“The bishop really makes them feel special for the day, inviting just them,” she said. “Sometimes fifth graders get lost in the shuffle. It brings them together and solidifies why we are in Catholic schools instead of sending our kids elsewhere.”

She added that it was a good learning day for the fifth graders. Boeckman hopes the students learned “how lucky they are to have a Catholic education. It is a great opportunity for them to have prayer in their lives.”

Two fifth graders from St. Patrick School in Sheldon, Katie Strouth and Laura Nilles, were at Mass with the bishop along with their classmates.

Strouth thought the Mass was amazing and special. She learned about St. George and the meanings of the bishop’s hats and what he wears.

Nilles said this was the first time she had been to the Cathedral and her impression was that it is “really big.”

Trinity Heights
To continue the day of spiritual reflection, students and chaperones from 11 of the schools traveled to Trinity Heights for lunch and tours. The schools were Kuemper in Carroll, Danbury Catholic, St. Rose of Lima in Denison, Emmetsburg Catholic, Spalding Catholic in Alton, Pocahontas Catholic, St. Patrick’s in Sheldon, Sacred Heart in Sioux City, Mater Dei in Sioux City, Sacred Heart in Spencer and St. Mary’s in Storm Lake.

They were provided a scavenger hunt and questionnaire about the shrines and special gardens. Each school was given the freedom to decide what they wanted to do with their day at Trinity Heights.

Some of the students hadn’t been to Trinity Heights before. Lansink said she was looking forward to seeing Our Lady of Guadalupe. Gardewine mentioned that he looked forward to seeing the large statues of Jesus and Mary. Nilles hadn’t been to Trinity Heights before and pointed out that she wanted to see the carving of the Last Supper.