Gratitude for Guidance

Archangels Mass: Salesian Reflection
Jude Szczerba
Salesianum School 2025 

Good morning, I am Jude Szczerba, and today I will be giving the Salesian Reflection. For those unfamiliar, this is an opportunity for a student to share their own perspective on the focus of the Mass. 

Reality has begun to set in for me. I am a senior in high school now. I have responsibilities. I am applying to colleges and planning my future with the pressure of the rest of my life ahead of me. The past three years have flown by and it already seems like I am flying through this year. I’ve gotten caught up in all this thought about the past and the future, and with the recent passing of two family friends, who seemed to have so much time left, I have been thinking a lot about how I can really live in the present moment, and make the most of each day. 

Fr. Patrick J. Kifolo, OSFS, 
Campus Minister at Salesianum School, celebrating the inaugural Archangels Mass.

In our community, we so often look to St. Francis de Sales for guidance, and I really like how he puts it into perspective. He wrote: “So you want to know the best time to serve the Lord? It is the present time, which is in your possession here and now. The past is no longer yours; the future has not come yet and is uncertain. The best time is really the present, which you should spend in serving God.” 

I think that sometimes, myself included, we can take the life we get to live for granted. I know it is easy to feel stuck in the everyday cycle; wake up, go to school, go to practice, complete homework, repeat. And I’m not going to tell you that homework, tests, and waking up early are fun, because they aren’t, but there is some aspect to a busy school day that is fulfilling. 

Take a minute and think about all the different people you get to interact with every single school day.  All the people, like Mr. Vavala, who spent years within this building, and all of those who still are working to teach us not just about history, science, or math, but guiding us along the way, and setting an example for us, as we grow into young adults.

Now think about all of the other people who made this possible.  Health care workers, first responders, and veterans. Most of whom we don’t see on a daily basis, but serve as protectors, defenders, healers, and in a way, our own archangels, so that we can live our everyday routine safely and relatively worry-free. So much work has been done by so many people just to make sure we can have a “regular” school day. 

When you look at it that way, at least for me, it makes each day seem so much more important.

One of the things that has really helped me focus on the importance of each day has been to pay close attention to our morning meditations; the short reflection questions that we begin and end our day with. Just like so many other things, it becomes part of the cycle, but by really thinking them through, I have been able to better appreciate every day I have here with all of you. 

So I ask you all to join me in trying to appreciate and make the most of every single day. There is so much we don’t always notice that goes into creating every opportunity that is presented in a “normal day.” We cannot just let it disappear into the busy, everyday routine. I hope that acknowledging the people we have with us here today has helped everyone to appreciate the life we get to live a little bit more.

 Brothers Unite, Live Jesus!