DRAPER — His name loosely translated means "green fields". His motto: "To Serve and To Give". Bishop Niederauer has embodied both of these in his leadership of Juan Diego Catholic High School and the Skaggs Catholic Center. Just as it takes millions of tiny blades of grass to create a lush pasture, it takes thousands of carefully educated children – in many shades and lengths – to create a just society. If he contemplates his impact on the young people in this Diocese, I can assure Bishop Niederauer his motto is certainly embraced by our students. They are serving and giving – not in patches of sod, but in huge fields. This fall, Juan Diego students showed hospitality and goodwill toward our beleaguered guests from Hurricane Katrina with a gumbo festival. Right on the heels of raising $115,000 for emergency response aid, the student council launched a canned food drive in October, inviting another 29 high schools to amass 165,000 pounds of food to feed Utah’s homeless and impoverished. By the holiday recess, they collected Christmas gifts for more than 30 needy families. Only a few weeks upon their return in January, Juan Diego student leaders were trying to find ways to purchase chairs, bibles, and rosaries for the new San Juan Diego Mission in Gunnison. More and more, the children who are educated in our Catholic Schools are surprising their parents and teachers with their benevolence. They work to free political prisoners through Amnesty International. They quietly build churches and provide food for the most remote and destitute villages in Mexico. Like Bishop Niederauer, who committed to reach every blade in his Catholic pasture, our young people are living and sowing their faith – one seed at a time.
Dr. Gabriel Colosimo
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