Bishop Edward C. Malesic celebrated the Catholic High School Youth Rally and Mass at Cleveland’s Public Hall on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Padua Franciscan High School joined with its fellow schools throughout Northeast Ohio for the liturgy.
Padua’s junior and senior classes were joined by several teachers for the celebration, and Elizabeth Tuel ’26 and Andrew Karim ’26 were part of the procession into Public Hall. Tuel carried intentions that were placed in a bowl at the foot of the stage, and Karim carried the Padua Franciscan High School banner.
Additionally, Padua Chaplain Friar Johnpaul Cafiero, OFM, and fellow Franciscans, Fr. Stephen DeWitt, OFM and Fr. William McIntyre, OFM, were co-celebrants. Deacon Tom Litwinowicz and Padua alumni Dominic Kucera ’23, who is pursuing a life in Holy Orders, also took part in the liturgy.
During his opening remarks, Malesic delivered a message of unity, urging schools to put aside athletic rivalries and come together as one Catholic community to worship and offer thanks for God’s gifts in life.
In his homily, Malesic led off with historical context of Public Hall, which was built in 1922 and hosted the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, and then, referenced a Taylor Swift song, “Shake It Off.”
Then, Malesic addressed the assembly not as students, but as “my youngest brothers and my sisters” and “a family of faith.”
“Today, it becomes something even greater, a sacred space, where we encounter not just one another, but the living God, who draws us deeper into the mystery of his love,” Malesic said of Public Hall.
“You are called to be that fire in a world full of dark shadows, a light brought to places dimmed by loneliness, by injustice, prejudice, bullying, anxiety, poverty, despair. You have within you the ability to illuminate the path to God for others to walk. You have the warmth within you already to mend hearts, and you have the ability to spark hope where it is absent.”
“You have a fire that can be used to energize our neighborhoods, our schools, our families, our churches and parishes for something good. You are so important to God that you carry his torch of divine love to this world. Never underestimate that power that is within you. You have great power. You are a Tabernacle of God’s love with feet attached.”
Malesic ended his homily by encouraging students and teachers to include prayer into their daily lives, let Jesus into their lives, show compassion by serving those in need, and “ask God why you are here?”
“If all you have is love and don’t serve, that is not love,” Malesic said. “Love moves us to do good things. Be his eyes of compassion for suffering. You’re serving me by being here right now.”
“You're each unique, like a piece of a puzzle. You're each a piece of His great jigsaw puzzle. It's not complete without you. When someone leaves the church and they say, ‘I used to be Catholic, but not anymore.’ I say, ‘We are lesser without you.’ If you were not here, we would all be lesser without you. Don’t settle for a mediocre life. As St. Catherine of Siena said, ‘Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.’…What are your strengths? What makes you to be you? And how is God asking you to use those gifts to set the world ablaze with his love?”
