CATHOLIC MISSION
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION LITURGY
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otre Dame students and faculty celebrated liturgy led by our Chaplain, Father Jason, with special help from the SHADES Club, Justice Club, and World Language Department. The theme of the Mass was social justice, diversity, and inclusion.
The Mass petitions were read in English, Spanish, French, Polish, Czech, Italian, and lgbo (Nigerian-Congo language). The students who read the petitions included: Seamus Harding ’20, Kyndal Tillett ’20, Sasha Jules ’21, Franny Owoh ’20, Angela Siwarski ’20, Gabby Girton ’20, Shea Doran ’20, Ewelina Krokos ’21, Emma McKeon ’20, Tiera Figaro ’21, Erika Porter ’20, and Michael Abbondandolo ’20. Following Mass, Darius McKay ‘20 and AJ Porter ‘20 introduced the new SHADES Club video “A Celebration of Our Gifts” honoring the diverse backgrounds and gifts of the club’s members. After the video, SHADES Club members Franny Owoh ’20, Kyndal Tillett ’20 and Marcel Campbell ’21 awed students and faculty with a special performance of praise dancing to celebrate Black History Month. Our special religious celebration of diversity and acceptance culminated with a presentation from our international students, Cindy Liu ‘20 and Kyrie Wang ‘20 for Principal Barlow and President Jennings. They presented a beautiful canvas of Chinese Calligraphy. The words in English mean “Hard Work Pays Off.” The hard work that our students and faculty put into this celebration certainly paid off. It was a wonderful tribute to the diversity among us.
COACH MCKENNA AND FATHER JASON NAMED CATHOLIC ATHLETES FOR CHRIST MODERATORS
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otre Dame High School proudly announced that Bishop David M. O‘Connell, C.M. appointed our own Coach John McKenna as the new Diocesan Moderator for Catholic Athletes for Christ (CAC). In addition, he appointed our chaplain Father Jason Parzynski the new Diocesan Chaplain for CAC. Catholic Athletes for Christ was brought to the Diocese by Bishop O'Connell nine years ago and currently has established chapters in seven of the 11 Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Trenton. It is a tremendous honor for Notre Dame to have both Coach McKenna and Father Jason appointed to serve in these capacities as they both continue to build the CAC Ministry, not only at Notre Dame, but also across the diocese in order to foster a deeper faith among our student athletes on and off the field.
FALL 2020
Co-Presidents of the SHADES Club, Leon Jones ‘20 and Mia Abousabe ‘22, as well as Vice President Kyndal Tillett ‘20 opened Mass with beautiful bilingual prayers. During the procession of gifts, students paid special tribute to their heritages and cultures. Gift bearers brought up an array of family heirlooms and religious items such as their family bibles, an African drum, a dream catcher, rosary beads, a Portuguese family bowl and flags of their family’s origin.
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