From Archbishop Donoghue

Mass for Christ the King School
April 17, 1998
Cathedral of Christ the King
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Well, I know that I saw many of you sometime last week in Church, with you parents maybe, and the rest of the family - it seems like we were there almost every day, and two or three times on Easter Sunday. But today, I am very happy just to be here at the school, and happy to have this short time to talk with you just a little about some important things that are on my mind.

You know, we heard a really beautiful story for our Gospel today - the story of how Jesus came early one morning to the shore of the lake where the Apostles had gone fishing. You remember, that after Jesus rose from the dead, He had told some of His friends to go back out into the countryside where they had come from, and that they would see Him there - well, this story is the third time that many of them saw Him after He rose from the dead. But this time, it was back home, and they had gone fishing, and even though things had changed quite a lot in the meantime, it must have been very nice to be back home - to be doing the things they had been doing all their lives. And now they looked up from their early-morning fishing, and there He was, Jesus, sitting on the edge of the lake, cooking fish over a campfire.

The way that Peter and John, the Lord's very best friends, and all of His other friends who were there, must have felt that morning, when they saw Jesus, and knew that He had come back from the dead to be with them - the way they felt must have been incredible - it must have been awesome.

And that is the important thing I want to tell you this morning - the way they felt - excited and happy about seeing the Lord, is the way I want you all to try and feel all the time - excited and happy. But there is only one way for it to work, and that is by doing just what the Apostles were doing that morning - by doing what the Lord wants you to do, and what you are supposed to do. Just think about it - we are only happy when we are doing what is right, and only doing what is right keeps us happy. You might decide to do something wrong, but pretty soon - and everybody knows it- the wrong thing will start to worry you - and everybody also knows that when you are worried, you cannot be happy.

So, everybody who is here today, let's all promise, you, and your teachers, and even me, your old Archbishop, that we are going to stay happy by being good - by following the good advice we get from our teachers and parents - by doing what we learn from the Gospel stories about what Jesus wants us to do - and by visiting Him often, in the Church, where He always is, right there in the tabernacle, right in front of us.

And maybe when you are visiting with Him sometime, and you close your eyes and pray hard, you will, in your minds, be able to imagine exactly what it was like on that wonderful morning, so long ago, when the Apostles looked up, and saw Jesus, and knew for the first time, that with Him, we all are going to live happily, and forever after too.

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