Faith

START BY DOING WHAT IS NECESSARY, THEN WHAT IS POSSIBLE, AND SUDDENLY YOU ARE DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE.”

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

TOGETHER IN FAITH

ON OCTOBER 1, WE CELEBRATED OUR FIRST

ALL-SCHOOL LITURGY. Although our health and safety protocols prevented us from gathering together for Mass in the theatre, we were blessed by the help and talents of Fr. Mark, Mr. Anziano, the Christian Leadership Team and Mr. Geoffrey. Looking incredibly sharp in liturgy attire, students "attended" Mass from their classrooms through a live-streamed broadcast. Remote learners also had the benefit of attending Mass in the same manner. We found a way to come together for Mass, however a key component was missing — Holy Communion. With the help of Fr. Stan and Fr. David, fifteen members of our Christian Leadership team were trained and commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. The commitment by these faith-filled students benefited the entire school community as we came together in December for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mass. With our newly commissioned student leaders, we were able to distribute Holy Communion to each classroom.

THE FEAST DAY OF ST. FRANCIS OF

ASSISI, considered the patron saint of ecology, is October 4. In honor of his love for animals, our end of day prayer included a blessing of the animals. The blessing was live-streamed to classrooms and included a video slideshow of students with their pets.

Mr. Dewey's sophomores

ANALYZED BIBLICAL TEXTS

using a new app called Kami to annotate and compare similar texts offered by the four Gospel writers. They also used the StoryboardThat app to recreate bible scenes in comic book form.

PREPARING FOR

HOLY WEEK. About 40 students from PFPS and a handful from St Cecilia's in Wilbraham put together a video presentation of the Stations of the Cross and Rosary for families and friends to pray and enjoy on Good Friday. Theology II students researched THE TITLES OF MARY, created art based on a title, and presented their projects in class. >

Señora Thomas' Honors Spanish 4 class joined Fr. Mark and Mr. Geoffrey for the ALL SOULS’ DAY Liturgy. The Mass was shared with our school community on November 2 in celebration of Día de Los Muertos.

Before leaving for the holiday break, students participated in a THANKSGIVING PRAYER SERVICE that was live-streamed to classrooms along with those learning remotely from home. We are grateful to our chaplain, Fr. Mark, for presiding over the service.

WELCOME BISHOP BYRNE!

BISHOP WILLIAM D. BYRNE

was named the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield by Pope Francis on October 14, 2020.

Bishop Byrne is a native of Washington D.C. Growing up, he attended elementary school at Mater Dei in Bethesda, high school at Georgetown Preparatory School, and undergraduate studies at the College of the Holy Cross. A seminarian in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., Bishop Byrne studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and was ordained a priest in 1994.

Then, Father Byrne, served as the parochial vicar of the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland and at the Shrine of Saint Jude in Rockville, Maryland. He has served as the chaplain for the University of Maryland’s Catholic Student Center in College Park, Maryland. He was named pastor of St. Peter’s Parish in Washington, D.C. in 2007 where he served until 2015. He was most recently the pastor of Our Lady of Mercy parish in Potomac, Maryland.

OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY

has had the pleasure of welcoming Bishop Byrne (and of course, Zelie) to campus on multiple occasions since his ordination in December.

CARDINAL NATION

WE ARE PROUD to say that sports at Pope Francis Prep are back! Things may look very different due to the many restrictions put into place to keep our students safe. However, through it all, our students, coaches, parents and staff, have done anything in their power to keep our students doing what they love. Go Cardinals!

GIRLS HOCKEY finished 4-6-1 in their inaugural season and competed with some of the best teams in Massachusetts. The team is composed of players from seven different schools (Amherst Regional, Frontier Regional, Hopkins Academy, Northampton, Pittsfield, Pope Francis and Taconic). The coaching staff, led by Chris Connors, did a terrific job of bringing the team together with their “Family” team motto. The team was playing its best hockey at the end of the season and we cannot wait to see the young team back in action next year!

FALL SPORTS

The GOLF team finished 5-0. Six golfers (Jaelyn DeBoise, Matt Hanscom, Ryan Leonard, Tom Powers, Jack Wassung and Ben Zaranek) made the All-League Team.

GIRLS SOCCER finished 3-0, and six girls (Cassie Kosnicki, Giana Maggi, Isabella Meadows, Sophia Roselli, Makenna Simis, and Lily Turmel) made the All-League Team.

BOYS SOCCER finished 1-1, with a close loss to Division 1 Amherst. Seven boys made the AllLeague Team (Nick Bertelli, Andrew Mason, TJ Murphy, Luc Remillard, Stephen Rougeot, Jack Turmel, and Bennett Walsh).

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY finished 3-0, and Meghan Sullivan and Julia Calderon made the All-League Team.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY finished 3-0. Jack Day, Tom Ford, Ethan Lichwan, Colin O'Brien, Patrick O'Malley and Wesley Smith made the All-League Team.

WINTER SPORTS

BOYS HOCKEY finished 9-0 and were led by forward Ryan Leonard and goalie Ben Zaranek, both of whom were named to the Boston Herald All-Scholastic team. Despite the lack of any official MIAA tournament, the team still competed against the best programs in the state and enjoyed another terrific season.

BOYS BASKETBALL had their best season in five years, finishing with a 9-1 record.

GIRLS BASKETBALL was forced to move to a much tougher league this year as a result of COVID and the team finished 0-10.

The SKI TEAM was able to participate in five regular season races at Berkshire East and also enjoyed a very successful year.