This Week at St. Patrick – Week of October 24

Greetings to you, my friend!

It is my hope that you enjoyed a wonderful weekend and are prepared for the week ahead.

Our Open House is scheduled for Sunday, November 13. Will you help us out by sharing the information below with your friends and on your social media pages? I’ve included a graphic and text for your use – feel free to copy and paste or mix it up with your own testimonial!

St. Patrick High School invites all prospective students and families to come out on November 13th, from 2 to 5 p.m., and enjoy a tour of our school; meet our excellent faculty, staff, and coaches; and learn about all we have to offer as we Educate Scholars, Train Disciples, and Support Champions. To register, please visit stpatrickhighschool.net/openhouse. Open House is a wonderful time for the St. Patrick Family. It is our opportunity to welcome young men and women and their families to our campus in which we all take great pride. We are confident that our school is an excellent place to grow spiritually, academically, and socially – the St. Patrick experience is unlike any other!

We greatly appreciate your help in promoting our great school! 

In today’s Gospel, we read a parable about a Pharisee – he seemed to be doing pretty well spiritually. He fasted twice a week and went so far as to pay tithes on all his income. He prayed at the Temple regularly. That was better than most people. So why did Jesus say he didn’t go home justified?

Because the Temple was a place of encounter with God. A holy location where God and his children came together. This Pharisee seemed to be missing that connection with the Lord. Instead of speaking his prayer to God, he prayed “to himself” (Luke 18:11) and itemized his accomplishments. By focusing on his righteous acts, he was not really making himself present to God. He wasn’t inviting God to be present to him either. So he missed the chance to encounter God and receive his mercy and grace. In that sense, the Pharisee left the Temple basically the same way he had entered.

The tax collector, on the other hand, laid himself bare before God. He knew his failings and unworthiness and had no list of righteous acts to display to God. He opened his heart and begged for mercy. There, in that vulnerable, humble moment, God and man came together in a real way. And as a result, the tax collector went home a new man.

Prayer isn’t always a raw, gut-wrenching experience like the tax collector had. But if we want to encounter God as we pray, we do need to approach him with honesty and humility. We need to open our hearts to God and ask him to come in.

As we begin this new week, may we end better than we started.  May we grow.  May we experience time of prayer and holiness. May we come, like the tax collector, without pretense and ready to receive our Lord’s grace and mercy.

Thank you for your love and support of our school.  Let’s make it a great week at St. Patrick!

Go Irish!
Dr. Matt Buckley

2 Corinthians 4:17-18: For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Life can be very tough. Eventually, our body is going to die. In the process of living, we’re going to face some very difficult circumstances and going to experience some awful pain. But, as bad as life’s hard realities can be, we are headed for an eternal glory beyond our imagination. Life’s difficulties simply can’t compare to this glory that awaits us. Our pain is temporary. The things that cause our pain are temporary. The treatments, the prescriptions, the therapies, the surgeries, the setbacks are all temporary. All these things that we have seen and experienced are passing. But our eternal glory, our indescribable bliss, that wonderful future that we cannot yet see, is eternal… forever… incorruptible… and reserved for us, God’s precious children!

Dear God, please be with me during the painful and difficult passages of my life. Help me keep my heart fixed on what is unseen. In addition, dear Father, I want to pray that you please be present in the lives of the following people I love… Please grant them healing. If not healing, dear Father, please pour your love into their hearts through the Holy Spirit and give them rugged perseverance and indestructible hope. Help them see your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Barhonovich, Victoria
Cole, Mackenzie
Cowart, Clifton
Fore, Brayden
Fountain, Addison
Hewes, John
Holloway, Thomas
Kopszywa, Trey
Krieger, John
Murray, Megan
Owen, Christopher
Pickens, Diana
Theobald, Emma
Ms. Marie Cenac
Mrs. Katie Cornish

Monday, October 24
AM Showers | 80° | 71° | 36%

7:30am Holy Half – Eucharistic Adoration
7:50am National Junior Honor Society Meeting
8:30am Logistics Team Meeting
2:15pm Leadership Team Meeting – Advancement

Tuesday, October 25
Scattered Thunderstorms | 79° | 50° | 59%

3:05pm LEGO Robotics Work Session
3:05pm Quiz Bowl Meeting
3:15pm JH Cheer Practice

Wednesday, October 26
Sunny | 75° | 47° | 4%

7:30am Holy Half – Eucharistic Adoration
7:45am Emerald Ambassador Meeting
8am Discipleship Retreat – 8th Grade Boys – Kerygma 2
8:15am PTO Meeting
11:45am Senior Graduation Invitation Orders
3:05pm SAVE Club Meeting
3:05pm Choir Practice
5:30pm Varsity Women’s Soccer- vs. Picayune (Away)
6pm CYO Sports
7pm Varsity Men’s Soccer- vs. Picayune (Away)

Thursday, October 27
Sunny | 77° | 49° | 6%

We will follow the liturgy bell schedule today, and students should dress in their liturgy uniform including blazers and ties.
7:30am Choir Practice
9:40am Mass
12pm Cross Country – MHSAA Regional Championships (Clinton, MS)
3:05pm MathCounts Meeting
3:05pm Arts and Crafts Meeting
3:05pm eSports Meeting
3:05pm Mock Trial Meeting
5pm JV Women’s Basketball vs. East Central (Home)
6pm Varsity Women’s Basketball vs. East Central (Home)

Friday, October 28
Mostly Cloudy | 77° | 57° | 24%

We will follow the pep rally bell schedule today, and all students have a free dress day.  Students may dress in the theme of the pep rally (Pink Out) or may wear any St. Patrick shirt. Be sure to check the handbook for Free Dress Day requirements and make certain all are in compliance.
7:45am Science Honor Society Meeting
7:45am Science Olympiad Meeting
9am Leadership Team Meeting – Operations
11:30am Senior Luncheon
2:30pm Pep Rally
6pm Fall Athlete Senior Night
7pm Varsity Football vs. Sacred Heart (Home – Bishop’s Bell)

Saturday, October 29
Showers | 74° | 57° | 24%

6am Pascagoula River Bass Fishing Tournament (Moss Point)
11am JV Women’s Basketball vs. George County (Home)
12pm Varsity Women’s Basketball vs. George County (Home)
4pm Key Club: Trick or Trash
4:30pm National Honor Society Induction

Sunday, October 30
AM Showers | 74° | 57° | 58%

4pm Volleyball Banquet

Monday | Hot Lunch: chicken tetrazzini, green beans, garlic bread; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Tuesday | Hot Lunch: country style chicken tenders, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, roll; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Wednesday | Hot Lunch: corn dog, macaroni and cheese, broccoli; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, tater tots, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Thursday | Hot Lunch: french dip roast beef poboy, loaded potato casserole, field peas; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Friday |  Hot Lunch: quarter pound hot dog with chili, macaroni and cheese, green lima beans; Fresh salad bar; Loaded baked potato; Fresh ham, turkey, and cheese sub sandwich with chips; Grill Items: pizza, french fries, hamburger, spicy chicken sandwich

Welcome to another outstanding week here at St. Patrick Catholic High School.  With four weeks remaining until the Thanksgiving Holidays, we would like to remind you to stay focused on your coursework and maximize your time spent with your teachers during the school day.  See them before or after school (depending on their availability) if you need some help or email them when you are home to ask them questions or express some concerns. Teachers are here to help you and want you to have the best experience possible in their classes.

In Canvas, teachers have the option of posting “Comments” in each of students’ graded assignments. This might be done to explain the scoring, give you additional insight into your response to the assignment or to give you some general information regarding the assignment.  You will look for this little, circled icon on the far right and click on it to read what the teacher wrote to you.

The Fighting Irish are leaping towards another successful week!

Our National Junior Honor Society will meet on Monday.

Tuesday, our Quiz Bowl and Lego Robotics teams have meetings.

Wednesday sees Varsity Soccer kick into high gear, as our teams travel to Picayune for their first games of the 22-23 season! Good Luck to Coach Terry, Coach Worsham, and our student athletes! SAVE Club will also have a meeting after school on Wednesday.

On Thursday, MathCounts, Arts and Crafts, eSports, and Mock Trial all have meetings, while our JV and Varsity Women’s Basketball teams begin their season at home vs. East Central. Come out and support our Lady Irish and Coach Gaunce!

We begin Friday with our Science Honor Society/Science Olympiad meeting in the morning, and finish the evening with our Fall Senior Night and Battle for the Bishop’s Bell vs. Sacred Heart! Come out and support your Irish football team in their last game of the season!

On Saturday, we have a number of activities, as our Bass Fishing team participates in the Pascagoula River Tournament, while our JV and Varsity Women’s Basketball team hosts George County. Key Club will be participating in Trick or Trash, and in the evening our National Honor Society will have their Induction Ceremony. Congratulations to all of these students!

Please make sure you get your tickets for home events at stpatrickhighschool.net/tickets.

Let’s have a great week! Go Irish!

Last Week’s Results:

10/21 Varsity Football vs. Chickasaw – 24-14 L
10/22 State Swim Meet @ Tupelo – Women – State Runner Up; Men – State Runner Up

Congratulations to our September Students and Employees of the Month!

Congratulations to our Varsity Swim Team on another phenomenal season. Both the men’s and women’s team placed runner up at the State Championship in Tupelo.


Jack Hewes ‘24 has been named WLOX’s Scholar Athlete of the Week. He continues to maintain a 4.0 GPA, while playing a sport every season. Read more here. 

We are looking forward to our Family Night on November 2 with Bishop Kihneman. Family Night will include dinner and a teaching on the veneration by Bishop Kihneman. All St. Patrick families are invited, and there is no cost to attend. Register and reserve your tickets at  stpatrickhighschool.net/tickets.

Photo Gallery: National Junior Honor Society Inductions 

Photo Gallery: Swim South State Championship
Photo Gallery: Country vs. Country Club Pep Rally

The Jason Foundation, Inc. (JFI) is an educational organization dedicated to the awareness and prevention of youth suicide. JFI believes that awareness and education are the first steps to prevention. We want to establish a Triangle of Prevention by providing students, parents and teachers and youth workers the tools and resources to possibly identify and help at-risk youth.

This is accomplished through a series of programs and services that focus on information about the awareness and prevention of youth suicide. A description of the JFI programs and services are available here.

Transcript Requests: Seniors, please use the discount code that you received via email for your five free transcripts when you are requesting your transcripts.  Visit stpatrickhighschool.net/transcript. All transcript requests must be submitted through the link online.

College Search Apps: In today’s society, an overabundance of information is more often a problem than a lack of information. With this in mind, students and parents often ask where students should begin when wanting to research colleges? There are numerous college search apps, but two that have consistently provided accurate information are Cappex and CollegeData. It is never too early for high school students in all grades to begin researching college options. Check out the links below for more information. 

Cappex.com – Cappex is a popular college admissions app that helps students navigate the complexities of the admissions process with college profiles, an admissions chances calculator, a quiz to assess your best-fit college major, and numerous other tools and resources. 

CollegeData.com – Collegedata.com helps you conduct a college search, qualify for college admission, calculate financial aid, calculate EFC, calculate net price, and find financial aid. Search for a free scholarship, college application, college prep articles, the FAFSA form, and every aspect of college help and college advice. Get information on how to apply for college and complete the common application.

Join us for Alumni Hour sponsored by Community Bank on November 9 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. This event will be held at Community Bank at 732 Howard Avenue | Biloxi, MS 39530. St. Patrick Catholic High School is committed to bringing alumni together! Alumni Hour connects alumni from St. Patrick, St. John, Mercy Cross, Notre Dame, and Sacred Heart. This event is an opportunity to network, reminisce, and share your faith. Please join us, alumni!