Mass of the Holy Spirit 2016: A Spiritual Beginning

by Ginny Prior, September 12, 2016 | September 12, 2016

Last Wednesday during Community Time, Saint Mary's marked the beginning of the new school year with the annual tradition of the Mass of the Holy Spirit. Several hundred students, staff, and faculty members gathered to celebrate unity, beginning with the academic processional and ending with the blessing of a new sacred space for worshippers of other faiths.

Father Hai Ho presided over the Mass, which emphasized the peace that the Holy Spirit brings to believers. A day after an interfaith evening of prayer for peace held at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, Father Hai's homily spoke to the Saint Mary’s community about the power of the Holy Spirit to move and inspire—even in the midst of our own worries and fears.

“As we begin this academic year, we face various intangibles. Perhaps some unknown variables that just might make us nervous and anxious,” Father Hai said.

Father Hai referenced last spring's Black Lives Matter rallies on campus and called on the community to continue looking for ways to encourage dialogue and create inclusivity.

“Did the Spirit guide us to scrutinize and investigate the power of God at work? It is the Spirit that enlightens our minds and touches our hearts to recognize and remember the holy presence of God in the midst of all this,” he said.

At the end of Mass, President Jim Donahue asked attendees to consider three questions as the school year unfolds. The first request involves an awareness of God and how you might act differently if you felt God was in the room with you.

“What does it mean to be in the holy presence of God?” asked Donahue.

In his second question, Donahue asked the campus community to consider what it means to be in formation. “How is God forming us? Shaping us?”

Donahue ended with a call for us to be open to God’s grace and to “allow ourselves to know what God is doing in this community.”

“The Mass of the Holy Spirit,” said Father Hai, was a reminder for us to trust the Spirit to help us find what is holy and be “ever hopeful for great things to come.”