Parent Letter Faith Reflection
As most folks know, our bishop, Bishop Barnes, will reach the mandatory retirement age in June. This means he will submit his letter of resignation to the Holy Father and a new bishop will be appointed to our diocese. This appointment will happen with our diocese receiving a coadjutor, not an auxiliary, bishop who will resume the responsibilities of the Diocese of San Bernardino upon the Pope’s acceptance of Bishop Barnes’ resignation. Knowing this would be a year of transition for our diocese I made this the theme for this year’s 7th grade essays.
In the upcoming essays you will learn some history of Bishop Barnes as well as some other details about this year of transition. I hope you enjoy reading their comments on both the things they liked about how our bishop ministered during his time as our bishop as well as things they wished he had done. They have some very good insights and hopes for our diocese and I know Bishop Barnes will appreciate the thought they put into their essays and their voices being heard.
New Changes
By Megan
At some time in our lives something will change. Not everything will be the same and whenever life takes it course it will do whatever it wants. There is always a time for second chances or new beginnings. Our bishop has been bishop for 27 years, and 24 of those years has been spent with our diocese. Not everyone is perfect so, of course, there are things people didn’t like, but Bishop Barnes is still a great bishop and will be dearly missed.
Not everyone met him, and I was one of those people. Since I didn’t meet him I still have questions. Some of my question have depth and others are just your everyday questions. Hopefully one day these questions will be answered, but for now I can wait.
One question that has been on my mind is why he wanted to be a bishop or why did he choose to serve that many years like he did? One thing I wish he could have had the chance to make more time for was making a better connection with his community. They say when you have a better connection or relationship with another you feel like you can tell them anything. Another thing he could have changed was to do more with the youth, especially because a lot of us are young.
God bless,
Mrs. Alhadef
Campus Minister
5th Grade Aide/4th Grade Religion