September 17, 2026

Bishop Byrne celebrates All Schools Mass

REGIONAL
By Sharon Roulier

Bishop William D. Byrne posed for a picture with students from Catholic schools at the annual All Schools Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral, Thursday, Sept. 17. (IObserve photo/Carolee McGrath)

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne celebrated the annual All Schools Mass, Thursday, Sept. 17 at St. Michael’s Cathedral to kick off the new academic year.

The St. Michael’s Academy choir led students in song as Catholic Schools from across the Diocese of Springfield were in attendance.

There are 11 Catholic elementary schools, two Catholic high schools and three Catholic preschools in western Massachusetts with 3,070 students in all.

Bishop Byrne told each student present that he or she is unique.

“Never in the history of humanity has God made anybody like you,” said the bishop in his homily.

The theme for this year’s celebration was “Forming Hearts, Minds and Souls in Christ.”

The bishop urged students to be “the best possible you that you can be.”

“Each one of us has our own special gifts and we don’t want to be comparing ourselves. We want to be the person God’s calling us to be,” said the bishop in an interview with Catholic Communications following the Mass. “We do that by working hard, and by praying hard, by playing hard and especially outside, and by being a good person.”

Several priests associated with various Catholic schools concelebrated the Mass including Father Christopher Malatesta, vicar general and former pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Dalton; Father Matthew Barone, the pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Pittsfield; Father Robert Gentile, the pastor of St. Rose de Lima Parish in Chicopee; Father Brian McGrath, the pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Dalton; Father Jonathan Reardon, the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Westfield; Father Jack Sheaffer, the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Springfield; Father Christopher Waitekus, the pastor of St. Mary Parish in Longmeadow and Father Michael Wood, the pastor of St. Mary Mother of the Church in Lee.

“Today, parents have a lot of choices when it comes to their child’s education,” said Maria Wagner, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Springfield, noting that the choice to send a child to Catholic school offers the opportunity to provide confidence through educating the child in mind, body and soul.

“That confidence comes from having core values that we provide here in the Catholic schools,” said Wagner. “We teach them how to be courageous through the saints. We also teach them how to be competent in whatever they want to learn.”

“The most important thing we teach them is how to be compassionate. How to be kind to each other,” she added.

The Mass will be televised Sunday, Sept. 20 on “Chalice of Salvation,” which airs at 10 a.m. on WWLP-TV 22.