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Youth attending The Franciscan Experience (TFE) expressed that “everything” was the highlight of their week – including toiling in the graveyard, engaging in deep theological discussions, and hanging out at night.

Perhaps in its ideal form, innocence might be described as a human heart stripped of ego and lust, something akin to what James Joyce describes in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when his hero, young Steven, sees a half-naked girl on a beach and instead of being moved by sexual desire is moved only by an overwhelming wonder and admiration.

School bells rang around the Diocese of Baton Rouge for the first day of school beginning on Aug. 7. At St. Francis Xavier School in Baton Rouge, Principal Dr. Christopher Rogers, Sr. greeted students as they arrived on campus. He is pictured with, from left, Leola, Christ'lon, and Leola's twin sibling, Loleia. The children also gathered for a morning assembly, which included prayer, the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, and motivational talks by Rogers and St. Francis Xavier Church Pastor, Father Ugochukwu Henry Ihuoma SSJ. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator

At the dawning of this new school year, teachers are called to the missionary work of caring for their students through educating them and accompanying them during life issues.