The Jesuit community came together on August 27 in the Terry Center to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit. The mass, which is traditionally the first mass of the school year at Jesuit schools and universities, was first celebrated 476 years ago. During the mass, Jesuit also welcomed its new faculty and staff. Each new faculty and staff were given the book “Hearts on Fire” as a welcome gift.
Fr. Tan’s Homily
During his homily, Fr. Tan discussed “God’s breath” (“ruach” in Hebrew). He says that God breathes his life into us, and we are called to breathe that life into the world. He then connected it to this year’s theme of being Loving. Being Loving, according to Fr. Tan, means taking the breath God has breathed in us, and breathing that breath out into the world.
“one of the ways the lord breathes on us is trough his gift of reconciliation. we are also called to do that for others.” -Fr. John Polce, S.J.
In addition, he also makes his point by using the analogy of air. Air, while life-giving, can also be dangerous, depending on what we are breathing. Fr. Tan states that it is not only the physical things we breathe, like cigarettes, that can harm us, but the spiritual things, like our attitude and our lack of love for God, can also hurt us. He then talked about a spiritual “suffocation,” which occurs when you do not breathe the breath God gives us, instead choosing to breathe the breath of the world.
New Faculty and Staff
After communion had finished. Mr. Garrison came up to the ambo and asked all the new faculty to come to the front for the blessing. Fr. Tan then gave a blessing over the new staff, asking God to guide them during their tenure here. The Roundup will release profiles of the new faculty and staff in the coming weeks.
Mr. Joseph Acker- Science
Mr. Christian Almond ’20- Alumni Service Corps
Mr. Alex Binkowski- Language
Mrs. Rachel Bission- Science
Mr. Eli Brown- Athletics
Mr. Blake Buckley- Mathematics
Mrs. Anna Buehn- Counseling
Mrs. Grace Burleigh- English
Mr. Nash Crawford ’20- Alumni Service Corps
Mr. Mouhari Daboya- Athletics
Mr. Roberto Delgado- Maintenance
Fr. Paul Deutsch, S.J.- Couseling
Mr. Colin Feehery- Athletics
Mrs. April Gordan- Mathematics
Mr. Kyle Herrema- Athletics
Mr. Richard Joubert, S.J.- Theology
Mr. Michael Kennedy- Social Studies
Mrs. Hannah Kopek- Advancement
Mr. John Lehman ’20- Alumni Service Corps
Mr. Ethan O’Neill
Fr. Jon Polce, S.J.- Theology
Mr. Raul Portillo- Mathematics
Mr. Clarke Wood- Social Studies
Mr. Austin Woods- Athletics
Changes to Campus Ministry
Jesuit has many opportunities for one to enrich their faith during their time here. For starters, there is the opportunity to help out at monthly all-school masses. In addition to the monthly all-school masses, daily Masses will be offered at 8:00 a.m. daily in the chapel near the Senior Courtyard. New this year, confessions will be offered twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch and PRT.
Tune into The Roundup for more campus ministry updates!
