BY PRISCILLA GREEAR

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--At a morning Mass at the Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan School Nov. 7, Archbishop John F. Donoghue encouraged students to be honest and to act thoughtfully, but to look to God and others for help.

The Mass in the cafetorium, attended by parents, faculty and students, was concelebrated by chancellor Father Mark Lacey. The school has 184 students in kindergarten through 6th grade taught by a faculty of 20.

Introductory remarks were made by sixth-grader Joel Reeves while fifth-grader Meghan Corcoran gave the first Scripture reading and fifth-grader Katelyn Anhut read the responsorial psalm.

Archbishop Donoghue began his homily encouraging students to continue working hard and obeying their teachers and parents.

"I know that you are doing your best to study, and to learn everything that you need to know to be able to get along in the world, and I want you to keep working hard, to do what your teachers and parents want you to do, and I promise you that God will be good to you if you do these things," he said.

Referring to the Gospel reading about a manager who dissipated his master's property and then tried to deceive him, the archbishop described the tendency for people to think and speak negatively.

"God gives us the ability to speak, for instance, but sometimes we say very bad things. And God gives us the ability to think, but sometimes we think things that we would never say out loud, they are so bad...But then, if we get caught doing something that isn't so good, we get very worried, and we try to figure a way for us to get out of the trouble we are in."

He advised students to monitor their thoughts before speaking to prevent words from hurting themselves and others.

"The answer is to try and be totally honest from the start--to try and do only good things with the talents that God has given us--so that if we say something, we should think it out first, so that what we say is good, and will not hurt anybody else--or if we think something, we should try to make our thoughts good, so that they do not hurt us on the inside, and lead us into doing something that we don't really want to do, and that might be bad."

When they make mistakes, he said, students should ask God's forgiveness, make up with those they have hurt and ask for help if they are not certain what to do.

"I want you to be sure and ask for help if you need it, help to understand what you are learning, or help to know what to do, in case you get yourself into a tight situation," he added. "We are all here to help one another--that's what Christianity is all about, and it's the only good way to get along in the world."

Ashlyn Kohl, a sixth-grader offered prayer petitions. Jessica Rometo, also in sixth grade, announced the gifts brought to the altar by fourth-graders of a crucifix, a school handbook, a Bible, a statue of Our Lady, a relic of Saint Marguerite D'Youville, foundress of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, the religious order of two school administrators, and the bread and wine.

Music teacher Erin Shern led the congregation in traditional liturgical music and concluded singing "Let There Be Peace On Earth." Natalie Upshaw, a sixth-grader, played "Amazing Grace" on the violin.

Follow Mass the archbishop visited all the school's classes where he answered students' questions.

"It is very important for children to get to know Archbishop Donoghue as the shepherd of the archdiocese. He got to know our children by having liturgy together and meeting them personally in all our classrooms," Sister Dawn Gear, GNSH, the principal, said later.

Sister Rita Marie Raffaele, GNSH, the administrative assistant who coordinated the Mass, said, "We hope to do this on a yearly basis. This is a little tradition that we like to have the bishop to benefit the school."

"(The students) were very happy. They were very excited. They feel it was something very special. It was a wonderful example to hear the head of the church in Atlanta. He explained that he is the leader in the church and that he is the leader of the priests and the laity...I think that they were very attentive and very excited," she said.

Two classes individually attend Mass each week in a temporary chapel. Construction of a permanent chapel is expected to begin in December.

Upcoming seasonal activities include a food drive for the poor for Christmas, a St. Nicholas Day celebration, a Christmas pageant and the lighting of Advent wreaths in classrooms.

The school is located at 4820 Long Island Drive and opened in August 1996. It is projected to house 540 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and school officials are adding a grade each year as the sixth grade progresses.