Just as I stood patiently on the sidelines with my son, our Lord has stood patiently with me. He has led me out into the field to spread his word, and he has coaxed me to fulfill my baptismal calling to make disciples of others.

Students — many of whom are exploring careers in science — conduct hands-on, faculty-mentored research, design and perform experiments, analyze and interpret data, and present their results.

In his homily during St. Maximilian Kolbe’s canonization Mass Oct. 10, 1982, St. John Paul II said the Polish Franciscan was granted the grace of carrying out “in an absolutely literal manner” the words of Christ: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

A funeral Mass for Redemptorist Father Stephen Vanyo was offered June 6 in Brazil, where the priest had devoted decades of ministry. Father Vanyo died June 5. He was 88.

Summer is mission trip season — which usually conjures up images of a few dozen Catholic teenagers and their chaperones practicing the corporal works of mercy in developing nations while simultaneously expanding their cultural horizons.