PROSPECT HEIGHTS — With a bumper crop of around 1,800 graduating eighth graders from more than 60 schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Catholic schools, Bishop Robert Brennan would not be able to attend all of their graduation ceremonies. So, he invited them to Mass instead.

With so many graduates, the schools were split in two groups for Mass with the bishop on May 2 and 9 — the first two Fridays of the month — at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights.

Bishop Brennan said he originally planned to deliver similar homilies for both Masses, but the introduction of the new shepherd of the universal Church required a change-up for the youthful congregation on May 9.

“I guess you heard we have a new pope,” Bishop Brennan said, tongue-in-cheek.

He said he was so impressed with the first comments from Pope Leo XIV that he had to share them with the students.

“[Pope Leo XIV] said, ‘God cares for all of us. God loves all of us, and evil will not prevail,’ ” Bishop Brennan recounted. “ ‘We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward.’ ”

Those words, Bishop Brennan said, were profound and appropriate for graduating eighth graders.

At both Masses, he shared the story of how Jesus fed people with the help of a boy — perhaps the same age as these middle schoolers — who had five loaves of bread and two fishes.

“I want you to think about this,” he continued. “There were 5,000 people on the mountainside, but only one young fellow came to give what he had to Jesus.”

The savior miraculously multiplied the food and fed everyone (Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-15).

“I’m telling you the story because that’s you,” Bishop Brennan said. “You are the amazing young people of 2025, and you are willing to share what you have, your gifts, your talents, and I just gotta say, oh, man, I am so incredibly proud of you.”

Deacon Kevin McCormack, superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese, backed up Bishop Brennan’s comments, urging the students to continue strong in the faith through high school and on into adulthood.

According to the diocese’s schools’ website, 75% of eighth-grade graduates will attend Catholic or other private or specialized high schools.

“The Holy Spirit will guide you in changing the lives of people not even born yet,” Deacon McCormack said.

Students seemed to take the exhortations to heart — not so much because that’s what they were told to do, but because it’s what they want.

Ethan Canales of St. Brigid Catholic Academy in Bushwick, who attended the May 2 Mass, said he planned to attend Christ the King High School in Middle Village.

“I hope to become an altar server in that school, and become someone known for their passion through Christ, and to do his works through me,” he said. “He died for our sins, and I want to repay what he has done. He always has a job for all of us, and I just want to work.”

On May 9, Orla Roche of St. Sebastian Catholic Academy in Woodside said her secondary education would be achieved at Loyola School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

“Over the years, I’ve found myself praying more and being more in tune with my faith, especially through school,” she said. “Going to this Mass was very fun, to see all the young people the same age as me in tune with their faiths.”

Bishop Brennan said he also had fun. During the May 2 procession he moved up and down all of the aisles, greeting the students and singing along with them to music provided by the diocese’s Jornada Music Ministry.

“Eighth graders are a special group of people,” Bishop Brennan said. “They’re sort of the kings and queens of their schools, and, yet, they’re about to step into a whole new world at the bottom rung of the ladder in high school, so this is a special time for them.”

He added that he was proud of how the students, many having never met each other, fed off one another’s exuberance during the worship music.

“And, then, when it comes to Mass, they settle right in,” he said. “They know how to pray — they’re reverent. That’s one of the fruits of our Catholic schools and academies.

“They have a familiarity with the holy Eucharist and with the Mass.”