The Mass of the Holy Spirit tradition dates back to the Middle Ages and is intended to begin the academic year with a conscious appeal to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
“Every year I look forward to this Mass, not just to dress up and be fancy, but also to spend it with my friends and experience the Bishop’s sarcastic and funny comments throughout,” said junior biology major Elissa Mazkour of Beirut, Lebanon. “This year, the Cathedral was full of people which filled my heart to continuously greet someone I know or just to meet new people!”
On Sunday, Sept. 18th, the Mass began with a procession that included His Excellency Bishop Austin Anthony Vetter, The Reverend Monsignor Kevin O’Neill, The Reverend Fathers Marc Lenneman, Bart Tolleson, Christopher Lebsock, and members of the Carroll College Faculty.
The first reading was delivered by the soon departing Vice President for Student Engagement and Mission Integration Michael McMahon, and the second was delivered by junior political science major and student senator Guillermo Perez-Ochoa of Aurora, Colorado.
“Mass of the Holy Spirit embraces the tradition that needs to continue here at Carroll,” said Perez-Ochoa. “It was great to participate and to see so many students and faculty embracing the faith.”
Father Lenneman proclaimed the Gospel which was followed by a homily from Bishop Vetter, where he encouraged the Carroll community to seek authentic engagement with one another by finding Christ in the people around them.
At the conclusion of the Mass, President Cech gave a short speech thanking all in attendance and providing words of encouragement for the coming year.
By the end of Mass, attendees found the sunny skies replaced with rain as many headed to Firetower Coffee for snacks and warm drinks.
With the Mass of the Holy Spirit beginning the spiritual side of the year at Carroll, there are many plans for Campus Ministry that will certainly continue its work.
“I was delighted to see a resurgence of staff and faculty participation because COVID knocked the wheels off that,” said Diedre Casey Assistant Director of Campus Ministry. “This year, while there was still room for more, it was good to see a lot of people come back and celebrate with us.”
As a sort of the official beginning of the spiritual year at Carroll for Campus Ministry, the Mass of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of another year of faith outreach with an important emphasis on ecumenism, a principle of cooperation between various denominations of Christianity.
“One of the main challenges for campus ministry is always fostering more of an openness to people of different denominations and different faith backgrounds,” said Casey.
“We are rooted in a Catholic tradition, yet it is an ecumenical Catholic tradition. We are always looking for ways to help people grow in their faith and spiritual lives no matter where they are on their journey and take the next step. We are working on “Praise Nights” that have become a cross Christianity night of coming together and praising God together. We started one with Chi Alpha last spring as a joint effort in combining our leadership.”
For students interested in Praise Nights, there will be one Sept. 29 in the Old St. Charles Chapel across from the communications department hallway on the first floor of St. Charles.