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HENDERSONVILLE — During a visit Tuesday afternoon to Immaculata Catholic School, Bishop Michael Martin gave students an impromptu lesson on faith, helped them with their math problems, and said hi to parents in the carpool line.

It was Bishop Martin’s first visit to the school in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene, which devastated western North Carolina just a few weeks ago. The school responded to the crisis by becoming an emergency aid distribution center for the stricken community.

On Tuesday, the bishop saw a school recovering from the storm and focused again on its education mission. And he clearly enjoyed the visit, spending several hours there.

“We don’t live our faith just for ourselves,” the bishop told eighth-graders when he stopped by their class. “When you’re studying together, you’re helping each other. It’s the same way with faith.”

Before Bishop Martin was installed as Bishop of Charlotte last May, he had worked extensively in Catholic education – serving as a teacher, coach and administrator at Catholic high schools in New York and Baltimore, then later as director of the Duke University Catholic Center, which serves about 2,500 Catholic students. That depth of educational experience explained his natural rapport with Immaculata’s middle schoolers.

Telling people about Jesus Christ “is one of the hardest things to talk about,” he told the teens. “It’s a risk. Take that risk!”

“He’s really nice,” said eighth-grader Luciana of the bishop. “It’s really good to hear (from) someone who knows a lot about God.”

Before leaving that classroom to meet other students on his walk through the school, Bishop Martin placed his zucchetto on the head of a student and explained the history of the small, round skullcap.

Bishop Martin also talked with administrators about the outpouring of support after Helene.

He first visited Immaculata on Oct. 4 to see firsthand and help with emergency relief efforts that the school had quickly marshalled in coordination with the diocese and its Catholic Charities agency. When flood damage forced the cancellation of classes, school leaders turned the gymnasium into an aid distribution center and the carpool line into a pick-up line for local residents in need. Dozens of trucks from the eastern side of the diocese arrived every day for weeks after the storm, delivering desperately needed donations of bottled water, food, diapers and more.

On Tuesday, however, Bishop Martin saw the Immaculata School community back in action: the flood damage repaired, students at their desks, the gym again a place for games and sports, the carpool line rolling. He walked throughout the building, lingering to talk and spend time with students, teachers and parents.

“It was wonderful to see our bishop taking time to be with our kids,” said Principal Margaret Beale. “From playing hockey to getting down on the carpet to work math problems, he got on their level to witness Christ to them. We are blessed!”

— Jay Siltzer. Photos by Brittany Whitehead and Jay Siltzer