The Padua community celebrated the start of the 2026-2027 school year with its Opening Liturgy inside the newly dedicated Zavagno Athletic Center on Friday, August 21, 2026.
Friar Johnpaul Cafiero, OFM served as the presider, while Fr. Stephen DeWitt, OFM, Padua’s directory of community outreach, and Fr. William McIntyre, OFM, the school’s vice president of mission and ministry, were concelebrants. Deacon Matt Harley and Deacon Tom Litwinowicz assisted in the Liturgy.
“It’s wonderful to be back for a whole new year here,” Cafiero said. “Today, we gather to ask the Holy Spirit to be present among us, to guide us, to encourage us, to challenge us, and to help us become the people that God is calling us to be.”
“In the Gospel that we just heard, it begins in a strange place. The disciples are together, but they’re afraid. They’re in the locked room. They’ve just seen Jesus die. They’ve experienced the confusion and disappointment of the crucifixion on Good Friday. Even though they heard that Jesus has risen, they don’t know what to do next, and then, Jesus comes.”
“His first words are simple. He says, ‘Peace, be with you.’ He didn’t ask them, ‘Why are you hiding? Where were you when I needed you? You could have done a lot better.’ He says, ‘Peace, be with you.’ Then, He shows them His wounds, and finally, He says something extraordinary. ‘As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.’”
Cafiero then told the story of a young boy who felt compelled to visit with an elderly man who was sitting alone on a park bench.
The man had recently lost his wife and spent time at the park looking at a picture of them together. When asked by his mother why he spends time with the elderly man, the child responded, “I just sit there and help him cry.”
Cafiero reminded the attendees to help be there for others.
“That boy may have not realized it, but he was doing something profoundly Christian and Franciscan,” Cafiero said. “He was allowing someone to experience the presence of another person. ‘As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.’ That is what Jesus says to us. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Stay here for a while until you’ve got it all figured out.’”
“The Holy Spirit gives courage when we’re afraid. Wisdom when we’re confused. Patience when we’re frustrated. Compassion when someone is hurting, and strength when we don’t know what to do. What does the Holy Spirit look like here at Padua? The Holy Spirit looks like the student who notices someone sitting alone at lunch. The teammate who encouraged one who just made a mistake instead of making fun of it. The teacher who refuses to give up on a student. The student who says, ‘Come sit with us.’ The person who has the courage to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ The person who chooses kindness rather than sarcasm when it would be easier. The person who stands up for someone when everyone else is silent. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit looks simply like showing up for someone.”
After the homily, Padua celebrated the blessing of new Mass vessels, which were held by senior students recently commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist.
