The Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Higher Education community held the traditional Mass of the Holy Spirit, or the Red Mass, on 18 August 2023 at the XU Gymnasium. XU President Fr Mars P Tan SJ presided over the mass which was concelebrated by Fr Ismael Jose V Chan-Gonzaga SJ, Fr Ruben Reyes SJ, Fr Amado Tumbali SJ, Fr Arman Samonte SJ, and Fr Tex Paurom SJ.

“Why do we need the mass of the Holy Spirit? What does it mean to invoke the Holy Spirit?” Fr Tumbali posed these questions in his uplifting homily. He said that just as the Apostles felt afraid when their Master died, everyone is also haunted by fears. But through the Red Mass, the community invokes the Holy Spirit to set us free from this bondage with the grace of its seven gifts - courage, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, and fear of God. “And so today, God sets us free again - NOT to commit the same mistakes but, instead, to overcome, this time, that dark part of our selves that hostages the good, honest, merciful, and loving in us.”

Fr Tumbali implored the Holy Spirit to become one of the administrators, of the faculty, of the staff and of the students. He said XU is empowered by God’s grace; hence, it is “gifted with the ability to set others free.” He ended his homily by saying, “our University motto is, Veritas liberabit vos. The Truth will set you free. But today, and for this year, dear Xavier-Ateneans, let it be Spiritus nos liberabit. The Spirit shall set us free.”

Communications & Promotions Office

 

Homily, Holy Spirit Mass, 18 August 2023
Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan
Spiritus nos liberabit
Amado Jr Tomeldan Tumbali, SJ

Why do we need this Mass of the Holy Spirit? And what does it mean to invoke, to call down, to call forth, to summon the Holy Spirit?

Prior to the coming of the Spirit, the Apostles were afraid, paralyzed by fear following the death of their Master, whose death burdened and haunted them, causing them to lose sight of their relationship with Jesus, and numbed them from moving on with the next steps that must be done.

And finally, the Spirit descended upon them: igniting their courage, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, and fear of God - the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit - and the very gifts that propelled them, 2,000 years ago, and us today to align our lives only for the greater glory of the God, influencing every word, action, and every inch of our existence.

What fear paralyzes and haunts us right now? What have we done the past months and years that distanced our friendship with God, hindering our search for the deeper purpose in life?

Today, we implore the Holy Spirit to liberate us from these limits. Today, we invoke, call down, summon the Holy Spirit to set us free.

We pray that the Spirit of God will free us so that we can move again, to be generous again, to serve again, to be committed again, to forgive again, to love again. 

Thus, if you find yourself currently weighed down – and in some way, we all are – we may be grappling with lethargy, toxicity, clouded thoughts, irritation, or maybe, some of you here just came from a breakup - THEN - this gathering is for you, for us.

Today, God is setting us free again, with the strength of the apostles, who from fearful losers became strong pillars of the Church.

Today is the feast of San Alberto Hurtado. He said, “Christ roams through our streets in the person of so many of the suffering poor, sick and dispossessed.” But we cannot see Christ in others, if we are not free from our selfishness, from unrealistic ambitions, from paralyzing nostalgia.

If we shall not allow the Spirit to liberate us from our mad rush for vanity, fame and power, our studies will be shallow, running only after degrees that we cannot even bring to the next life, our interpersonal relationships will be conditional, our service for the poor will just be a show – and everything will just revolve around ourselves, which eventually leads to that dismal sadness and anxiety of a life that simply refuses to be led by the Spirit.

Enough of self-imagined glory and self-afflicting dramas. Pwede bang Diyos naman ang bida?

Can we just admit how un-free we are and that we need badly God as liberator?

And so today, God sets us free again - NOT to commit the same mistakes but, instead, to overcome, this time, that dark part of our selves that hostages the good, honest, merciful, and loving in us.

And, ultimately, as an establishment of education in this part of our nation, empowered by God's grace (capax Dei), we are gifted the ability to set others free.

Our University motto is, Veritas liberabit vos. “The Truth will set you free.” But today, and for this year, dear Xavier-Ateneans, let it be Spiritus nos liberabit. “The Spirit shall set us free.” Amen.