The Catholic Memorial School has been actively seeking out ways to live out the Catholic faith and the charism of the Blessed Edmund Rice.
Each year, the school holds funeral masses for veterans who unfortunately do not have families. Sometimes these men are homeless or have been living on the margins.
“We believe that this gift of charity is an important lesson for our students. Welcoming in these men into our CM family is important and enhances our mission. I remind the boys that we need to draw upon these experiences to help us in the moments when we believe we can’t achieve something. Life is hard, but these special moments build that deep reserve that we all draw upon in the moments that truly count.”, says Dr.Peter Folan, the School President.
The funerals are usually led by a team or a student group. This funeral was led by members of our football team who were pallbearers and readers at Mass. One of the coaches received the American flag from the Air Force Honor Guard after the playing of Taps. These are powerful moments in the life of our school and impactful on the formation of our students. This Vietnam veteran’s life had a great impact today on all of the boys, but with one in particular. One of the young men who was homeless until August, when he came to school and started living with a Catholic Memorial family. He told me today that this was one of the most impactful experiences in his life.