From January 26th to February 1st, the National Catholic Education Association hosted the annual Celebrate Catholic Schools Week, where participating schools observe celebrations of the faith through Masses, assemblies, special speaker talks, and the like. This week, St. Thomas High School planned and arranged a variety of spiritual touchpoints for students, faculty, and staff to honor and rejoice in the influence of the Basilian charism at St. Thomas.

     

On Tuesday, January 28th, the school welcomed a Gospel choir from Holy Family Catholic Church (Missouri City), and Father Reginald Samuels for Mass, honoring the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas is the school’s namesake, and was a Lombardo-Norman nobleman, Dominican friar, Catholic priest, scholastic philosopher, theologian, jurist, mystic, hymn-writer, hagiographer, wonderworker, and popular preacher —who died in 1274, aged about 49. 2025 marks exactly 800 years since St. Thomas was born.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Campus Ministry leaders offered Adoration and Mass during lunch for interested students to practice their faith in between classes.

On Friday, Father J. Augustine Wetta of St. Louis Abbey spent the day on campus, offering Confession and speaking to students about his life as a monk and his journey to the vocation. He offered students advice on how to grow in their faith, practice purity, and seek wisdom through Christ every day.

“Spend at least three to five minutes in silence each day—listen with the ear of your heart, and you’ll notice things that would’ve otherwise passed you by,” he shared.

As St. Thomas celebrates its 125th year, Celebrate Catholic Schools Week offered a great moment of reflection to honor the Catholic men and women who shaped our school and the ongoing legacy of faith-filled, lifelong learners at St. Thomas.