Blue Jays offer each other a sign of Christ’s peace during the Mass of the Holy Spirit.

Watch the Video of Fr. McGinn’s Homily at the Mass of the Holy Spirit

The Mass of the Holy Spirit — concelebrated Friday morning for almost 1,400 Jesuit students and 130 faculty and staff in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs — is a tradition that goes all the way back to the first Jesuit schools in the early 1500s.

Fr. McGinn’s homily focused on choosing truth over power, a familiar theme for returning Blue Jays, and one that was especially appropriate for the 2016 Mass of the Holy Spirit.

The Mass is traditionally celebrated by Jesuit schools throughout the world at the beginning of the school year to invoke the Holy Spirit to guide us in the year’s pursuits.

The Mass celebrated in the large chapel on Jesuit’s campus was for students, teachers, and the administration and staff to invoke the Holy Spirit in the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and to be men of faith and men for others.

“I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for one thing this year that you are in need of, the one thing that the Holy Spirit can guide you in this year,” said Mr. Peter Flores ’06, who serves as campus minister and a teacher in the theology department, in a brief address prior to the start of the Mass. “During Mass, as you prepare to receive the Lord, what is it that the Spirit is going to give you this year?”

In part of his homily, Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. ’66, president of Jesuit High School and the main celebrant, challenged Blue Jays to embrace the truth, “which is always inconvenient.”

Fr. Norman O’Neal, S.J. greets Blue Jays as they exit the Chapel of the North American Martyrs following the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit.

“We choose power over truth,” said Fr. McGinn. “The challenge that the Holy Spirit presents to us is to choose the truth over power, the power that you are developing in your life over these years in high school, all the skills you are developing, all the knowledge you’re developing, all the great things that God has given to you and is developing in you. All that power that you have must be used for the truth. It must be used for the truth.”

Fr. McGinn encouraged everyone to “ask Almighty God to give you the power of His Holy Spirit that will accept the challenges that your life presents to you, not to run away from it, but rather to embrace the truth, which is always inconvenient because it means following God’s plan for us, which sometimes means we have to sacrifice ourselves. Sometimes we have to follow in the footsteps of our Saviour, who gave His life for us. Sometimes the truth means that we don’t always have to be the one in power…”

Fr. McGinn concluded by urging Blue Jays, “especially at this Mass of the Holy Spirit,” to pray that the Holy Spirit “gives us the confidence of knowing, as I’ve said so many times, that the truth is our best friend.”

Concelebrants joining Fr. McGinn at the altar were Jesuit Fathers Kevin Dyer, Billy Huete ’71, Don Saunders, and Norman O’Neal.