"Now bring your finger down your face to your chin," Bishop Gilmore requested. "What is that object directly above your chin?"

"Lips?" one child said.

"Yes," the bishop responded, "but what else?"

"Your mouth," another child answered.

"Yes! And what is your mouth good for?"

"Eating," came the first answer, which was followed by "breathing," "talking," "smiling," and "cheering". …

"How about pouting?" Bishop Gilmore asked. "Or teasing?"

A child quickly raised his hand and said softly into a microphone held by Bishop Gilmore: "I told my little brother that there was a monster in his room."

And when it was suggested that the mouth was also good for kissing, the entire group gave a simultaneous, "Ewwwwww!"

The bishop’s visit to St. Dominic School was the first of several visits he would pay to Catholic schools across the diocese. This first visit happened to be upon the Feast of St. John Chrysostom — known for his "golden words" — whom Bishop Gilmore referred to during the morning Mass celebrated with the children.

"A mouth is a very special part of us; a great gift the Lord has given us," Bishop Gilmore said.

He explained that during the Fourth Century, people were very impressed with the words that the future St. John spoke. In fact, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, St. John is today considered one of the greatest preachers to grace a Christian pulpit.

"When John spoke to his people, when he proclaimed the Gospel," Bishop Gilmore explained, "people began to feel it was almost the ‘gold of God’ coming from his mouth … something precious. The words were called ‘gold’ because of his deep understanding of the words of God."

In fact, John was given the name "Chrysostom," which is derived from chrysostomos, meaning, "golden mouthed."

Bishop Gilmore told the children that he wanted them to be like St. John, to speak "words of gold." He told them of Father Dennis Reed, a former St. Dominic pastor who recently died of cancer, and who offered up his intense sufferings for vocations.

Bishop Gilmore asked the boys gathered to consider being like St. John by becoming a priest.

"Promise me you will think about that possibility," he said.

He asked the girls gathered to give the same thought to St. John, and to promise they would consider entering the religious life. "I need some of you eventually to give yourselves completely to the Lord and become religious sisters."

And those who become wives and mothers, husbands and fathers, can also be like St. John, the bishop stressed.

Whatever they do, if they speak with a faith and love for God and his people, "God will probably do for you what he did for St. John," the bishop said, adding that God would give them words of gold that would "give joy to the heart."

Following Mass, children stood lined up for lunch and uttered, "Where’s the bishop?" and "Is the bishop coming?"

Soon after being seated, Bishop Gilmore came in with his tray of food and dozens of children turned to see if he would sit at their table. When the SKR asked a table of third grade girls if they liked the bishop’s homily, they gave a resounding, "yes." When asked if they would consider becoming religious sisters, they weren’t quite as committal. Only one said no; she wanted to be a veterinarian, after all. But the others? They looked at each other and nodded, making clear that even the third grade isn’t too young for a seed to be planted.