Good afternoon. In today's readings, we learn that God's love and mercy are extended to everyone. So if we are to follow in his footsteps and serve, then, we must remember that we need to serve everyone, no exceptions. That is the true calling of all Catholics, since the very definition of the work "Catholic" is "Universal." Like Jonah, we do not always hear his call the first time. Sometimes it takes a second call and sometimes we don't hear or heed until many opportunities are given. Regardless, though, of how often we might falter, the one true blessing in our lives is that our Father loves us unconditionally and forgives us when we ask.

As an educator, I've always been fond of the Gospel of Mark that was proclaimed today. I see it as that vision of Christ walking along the Sea of Galilee and calling those first disciples when he called Simon and Andrew and James and John, and it's that Master Teacher calling his first group of students together, the ones who would go forth and spread the news when he was no longer able to do so. After they leave Galilee, they move onto Capernaum, and that's when the disciples watch Jesus teaching in the synagogue. Through this Gospel of Mark, we witness our greatest teacher. We witness Jesus  Christ sharing God's message. So, too, all of us are called to be followers of Christ and to serve as he did all people, no exceptions.

Catholic schools are charged with three main responsibilities, the first being to build a community of faith to share the message. As an extension of our parish community, we teach our students also about prayer and about how they can learn to worship our Father, the many ways we have to do so. For 47 years, our parish school has believed firmly in the doctrine to teach as Jesus did, so religious values are woven throughout every part of our school community. Religion is taught in the classrooms each day and we provide instruction in our Catholic faith and traditions along with the core academic curriculum that is very strong and very accomplished. We seek to educate not just the mind but the heart and the soul. We create learning communities for our students in which we share with them the fact that each one of them is a unique and special gift from God and we teach them with conviction that we know each of us has been gifted by the Lord with special gifts and talents that we are meant to share with those around us and with those we serve. Along with our call to message and our call to worship, we are also charged to teach about service.

The  theme for this year's Catholic Schools Week is "Catholic Schools Celebrate Service." I believe it's one of the hallmarks of Catholic education that we put an emphasis of putting our faith into action. As part of our efforts to educate the whole child, we hope to instill in our students the responsibility that we all have to make service a lifetime commitment. By teaching students about civic engagement and sharing what they have with others, we hope that we are providing them with the tools to be better citizens as they grow into their future and that they will also become compassionate leaders modeling Christ's values. As we begin Catholic Schools Week, I get the privilege of sharing with you the things about our Catholic school here at Christ The King that we would like to celebrate, and first I would like to celebrate our legacy of service. Our school community has reached out to local, national and global communities whenever we were needed.

For over ten years, we have had a partnership with Saint Boniface Parish in the tenderloin, and our student community with their parents provides over 300 gifts every year to the children there. Every year, we embark on the annual dinner box and cash donations for St. Vincent de Paul to assist through the holidays for the needy. Our seventh and eighth graders  serve at Loaves & Fishes every month and we conduct annual food drives for the Monument Crisis Center. In addition, it's our joy to reach out annually to the elderly at the Chateau At Poet' Corner to make sure that no one is left feeling as though they have no one left in their life. We also have fundraising opportunities through the year to raise funds for our sister schools in the Diocese of Oakland because we are very blessed in our Christ The King community, and some of our fellow students and other schools do not have the basic necessities to teach, so we share what we have with them. We also have reached out and raised funds when national disasters have occurred. During Hurricane Katrina, we adopted two sister schools, one in New Orleans and one in Louisiana, helping them to relocate and educate their children during that time of crisis. We also have reached out to the girls' orphanage in India, Home Of Hope, and provided them with band uniforms and band instruments last year. We take our time during the year to write notes, to collect donations of items and cash in order for us to send items to our troops who serve overseas. And inside our school community, whether it's one of our school families, a staff or faculty member's family or the greater public, we like to reach out when  children and families have medical emergencies. We have raised funds for Pennies For Patients, Hospice of the East Bay, cancer research, Children's Hospital Oakland and the Warm Coat & Warm Hearts Project.

Secondly, we celebrate the service of our past and current students and their parents who serve in various ministries in our Christ The King parish. They serve as chairs for the annual festival and auction, alter servers, Eucharistic ministers, lectors, ushers, RCIA sponsors, baptism class leaders, R.E. catechists, they're members of the choir, the Social Justice Committee, the Facilities Committee. They serve on the Parish Council, Knights Of Columbus, Winter Nights, CYO, and more. And, rightly so, they should serve, since 99 percent of our parents are members of this parish.

Third, this week we will be celebrating our students who serve their school community as members of our student council, as members of our California Junior Scholastic Federation, who serve as peer tutors for their classmates. They also serve on Yearbook, the school newspaper, in the choir, and our eighth graders who lead our faith families' activities each year. We celebrate all those things about our school.

But I would be remiss if I didn't take the time to celebrate this parish community and the influence and  importance you have on our parish school. First, to start with, our current Pastor, Father Brian Joyce; our Associate, Father Chris; Father Brian Timoney; our Deacon, Father John; Father Dibble; Father Tom Burns; and graciously remembering our Monsignor Wade and Margo Schorno. All of these people who have served our parish, and the ones who came before them, who have made sure to instill in all of us the reality that we are called upon to live our faith not just speak it. We also celebrate this week the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, who led our school from its inception and provided the strong religious foundation that we continue today. And we are very blessed to still have a CSJ with us in our Pastoral Associate, Sister Joanne Claire.

I'd also like to celebrate the other parish staff members who influence our school community, our R.E. Director and Associate, Sister Maureen and Joan Smits. They provide the early formative education along with our parents. Prior to them coming to our school, they organized the Sacramental Preparation Program our second graders are involved in, and through their children's liturgy of the word on the weekends, all of our children's lives are enriched. Also, our youth minister, Kate Doherty and Helen Christian, who lend expertise each year leading retreats for our students at  the beginning and the end of the year and take the next step with our eighth graders once they move to high school, helping them along on that faith journey. And last on the faith parish staff, thanking our RCIA coordinator, Al Garrotto, who has guided many of our school parents who came into our school community as non-Catholics and who went through the program and became Catholics while they were parents at our school. I need to thank the parents of our school community. They make many sacrifices to send their children to us. They give their children to us, entrusting them to our care as we work in partnership together. I thank them for their commitment to Catholic education and for their many, many hours of volunteerism over the years.

And, finally, I would like to thank the larger Christ The King parish community, which is all of you who worship faithfully on the weekends, who spend your time here. Each month, you generously donate to Catholic education in the second collection that helps to benefit the youth of our parish. You also support and participate in the parish auction and festival, and those events are really the main fundraisers that help to keep our school financially viable. So we are grateful for your support over the last 47 years. 

And last, I would like to thank the principals before me, the faculty, the staff, current and former, who have really dedicated their lives to Catholic education, role model that sense of Christ's message to serve every day since we opened our doors in 1961, proudly producing over 1800 Catholic school graduates.

Our school has been and continues to be blessed and enriched by the presence of our parish and school communities. Every time that we share the message, you and I, whether it's to our children at home, to our neighbors, to our friends, to our coworkers, when we share the message of God's love and God's mercy, when we work together to serve others in the communities, local and global, then we are following Christ's original call just as those first disciples did along the Sea of Galilee. We all can be fishers of people and bring everyone to see and know the word of God.

Our recently-inaugurated President has called on America to take up the cause of service. I totally agree. I think he just doesn't know that Catholics understand that this is your responsibility from the moment you are baptized. I think we do an excellent job of it in this parish. I encourage you, if you don't have an area of service, that you look at the ministries in our parish, through your work, whatever opportunity you  might have, to find a way to be of service in some way that touches your heart.

In closing, I would like to share a quote from Father Roger Landry, who I think spoke eloquently on the rule of Catholic schools. He said, "In Catholic schools, students receive more than instruction for their brains because they are much more than minds. They receive an integral education geared toward forming their souls and their character. The goal of Catholic education is not to get into a high school or a college or to get a job. The goal of Catholic education is to prepare people, young people, to ace the final exam of life and live with Christ, our one teacher, throughout their life." Thank you very much for being a part of our Catholic school community and for celebrating with us this weekend.