Reverend Joseph Blenkle

Pastor

On October 3, 1979, then Pope John Paul II addressed a jammed packed crowd of young people at Madison Square Garden with these words: "The Church needs you. The world needs you, because it needs Christ, and you belong to Christ.

And now I ask you to accept your responsibility in the Church, the responsibility of your Catholic Education: to help - by your words and above all by the example of your lives – to spread the Gospel. You do this by praying, and by being just and truthful and pure.

Dear young people: by a real Christian life, by the practice of your religion you are called to give witness to your faith. And because actions speak louder than words, you are called to proclaim by the conduct of your daily lives that you really do believe that Jesus Christ is Lord!"

I was 15 years old when I heard the Pope speak these words to me and can honestly say it was then that I felt Jesus call me to be a priest. To build his Church one person at a time. This mission is accomplished by the education of our children.

The passing on of our Catholic faith is a beautiful gift and is accomplished significantly in a Catholic School. Our school is more than the 3 "R's" of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Religion is the 4th and crucial "R" and is expressed in all subject matter. The value of a Catholic Education is its investment to a better future. Each individual child is seen as the gift that they are and realize that the future of our Church is a bright one because they are in it.

Holy Name of Jesus School provides a safe nurturing environment in which I am proud of. I invite all of you to come and see what an incredible place our school truly is.

Miracles happen every day, they happen right here in Valhalla, come and see God's presence in our young people, especially the children of our school.

God Bless,

Father Joe

Pastor