For Catholic school students, going to Mass is a regular occurrence, but Thursday, the students of St. Aloysius and St. Francis welcomed a special guest to their celebration, the Most Rev. Joseph Kopacz, Bishop of Jackson. 

The students, faculty and staff joined local Catholic and non-Catholic religious leaders and other community members in welcoming Kopacz as a part of Catholic Schools Week.

Ann Roberson, development director for Vicksburg Catholic School, said Catholic Schools Week is a national celebration of Catholic education.

“I remember celebrating as a child,” said Roberson, a 1994 alumna of St. Aloysius. “It’s a special week for the kids as they make memories.”

Roberson said the week includes days meant to honor different people, including members of the local parish, teachers, students, the community and the military.

Kopacz said Catholic Schools Week is a very important celebration for Catholic school identity.

“The bishop is always invited, if possible, to come and celebrate the Mass,” he said. “It gets the students a little more curious and interested because it doesn’t happen that often.”

When the bishop comes for a Mass, it’s special and there’s some extra pizazz, Kopacz said.

“That’s the role of the bishop, to celebrate special events,” he said. “You end up doing a lot of that, which is very important because the bishop is really like the pastor of the dioceses, but you don’t get to go to places like a pastor does in his parish all the time.”

Kopacz said he comes at the beginning of the school year for the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the middle of the year to celebrate Catholic Schools Week and the end of the year for graduation.

“Those three things are built in,” he said. “But I try to come over and see the school play or maybe a football game. Those are some extra visits I can work in.”

The message of the day’s homily was the whole sense of encouragement and the gospel, Kopacz said.

“The first reading was to encourage and rouse one another to love and to service, and that all fits in with Jesus saying, you don’t light a lamp and put it under a bush,” he said. “We don’t have this school to not be a living presence of the lord, to be his light and encouraging one another to do that and of course every other part of school life, encouraging them to do their best and help one another.”

Kopacz said it is special to him to be a part of the legacy of Vicksburg Catholic schools.

“Being part of this great tradition at St. Al and St. Francis is great,” he said. “These schools are a real gift to the church and the community.”