With the 2022 academic year drawing to a close, the Class of 2022 celebrated its Baccalaureate Mass this Saturday. Just five days before the class’s Commencement Exercises at the Pontchartrain center, seniors and parents gathered in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs for the occasion. With sacred music provided by the Jesuit choir under the direction of Jeff Miraflor, S.J., students and faculty processed into the chapel for the seniors’ last Mass as Jesuit students.

The Mass was celebrated by Jesuit President Fr. John Brown, S.J., and concelebrated by Fr. Stephen Kramer, S.J., and Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J. Brown’s homily emphasized the real over the performative. Referencing the NASA Challenger catastrophe that became a defining cultural moment for Generation X, he underscored the ways in which the distractions of a performative “show-must-go-on” approach to challenging problems can produce both unforeseen and tragic results.

Brown said, “rather than inspire young men and women to embrace a future, with all of our hope placed in the power of technology, kids on the playgrounds prayed with their teachers—and then the show must go on.”

“I say this not to give you cause for hopelessness,” he continued, “but instead to help you remember what you already know. The glitz and glamor of achievement must never precede the achievement itself.” Contrasting the focus of a Jesuit education with the performative focus of the broader culture, he concluded, “Know who you are and who God made you to be so that you can truly say Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—know that the achievements matter very little compared to the aim of the effort, the sacrifices that you, and those who support you, have made.”

Awards were given out after Mass with award photos taken by Loupe Photography. Award photos will be available here soon.