schoolscolleges2020 hed news

Red Mass 2017
Acts 2, 1-11; Jn 20, 19-23


RED MASS. This is the full text of the homily of Xavier University president Fr Roberto “Bobby” C Yap SJ during the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit, commonly known as “Red Mass,” on June 22 at the XU Gymnasium. All photos by Caryl Be Trabadillo and Billy Jo Macale of The Crusader Yearbook. 

The Mass of the Holy Spirit has been a tradition at Catholic universities since the 16th century. At the beginning of each academic year, this liturgy offers us an opportunity to reflect on our shared aspirations and trepidations, in order to ask God for the gifts we need to live, study, work, and celebrate life together. Ultimately, we pray that the school year that lies ahead will be life-giving and transformative for each of us.

Experience Excellence … Xavier Ateneo. Our tagline exhibits pride, bravado, a boast. As members of Xavier Ateneo, we can all be proud of our university, our traditions, our reputation. Historically, we are the first university in Mindanao and the first Jesuit university in the Philippines. Academically, we stand among the top schools in the country and are among Asia’s best according to the 2016 QS rankings. Our programs have achieved the highest levels of accreditation and recognition. Our rankings gain attention across the nation because of the achievements of XU students, faculty, staff, and graduates. Graduates such as those who are with us today. Graduates of what is definitely the Number 1 Nursing School, not only in Cagayan de Oro, not only in Mindanao, but in the whole Philippines. New Xavier Ateneo nurses, please rise. Dean Heidi Palad and the faculty and staff of the College of Nursing, please also rise. Friends, let us give them a round of applause. Xavier Ateneo … Experience Excellence.

Spiritually, God looks at the world – including the academic world – from a different perspective. As we know from Jesus, God focuses on other values and sees matters from the point of view of the poor, the sick, the neglected, the suffering. God does not study QS rankings, nor does God get excited about who are the Filipinos who made the Forbes 500 list of the world’s richest people. Jesus revealed that God loves all people, in every rank of society, particularly those with no rank, those in the peripheries, ang mga nasa laylayan ng lipunan.


FATHER OF XU. Xavier Ateneo president Fr Roberto "Bobby" C Yap SJ frontlines the celebration of this year's Red Mass on June 22 at the XU Gymnasium.

God asks very different questions about who experiences excellence. God’s rankings start with God wanting to know from us: What are you doing for the least of my brothers and sisters? How are they better because of what you do? How is our society a little more just, a bit more compassionate, a tad more merciful because of what you have done for others in need? How is the world a site more joyful, a place more peaceful, a location more beautiful because of your actions to others? How is creation more cultivated to be sustainable because of your environmental stewardship? Have you touched wounded creation with reverential care?

“Today's Scripture passages illustrate God's values. In both the first reading and in the Gospel, the disciples of Jesus are huddled together in fear, with doors locked and heads down. They deserted Jesus, and he was killed. They want to be invisible, well barricaded. Jesus, however, seeks them out, finds them, and blesses them with God's Spirit. They do not earn the blessing; Jesus greets them with peace because of his love for each person, because he wants friendship renewed. Jesus opens their eyes to the fact that they are forgiven, they are loved, they are not forgotten or overlooked.”1

“In the first reading, also, the disciples are hidden away again, locked in hiding, fearful. This time it is the Spirit of God that rushes in noisily, spectacularly, with tongues of fire. Love and friendship are renewed; they are affirmed and in this discovery of the enduring love of Jesus, the disciples react boldly.”2 They experience excellence, “because they have experienced the Spirit of God, the reality of being loved and forgiven, no matter what they had done.”3

Which leads us back to Xavier Ateneo. These Biblical stories reflect the experiences of so many of us. Life can get us down. Relationships can get complicated. Friends can betray us. Misunderstandings can fester. Our projects can fail. Moving to a new place – like a university – can overwhelm us. Home situations can upset us. Parents can misjudge. We make mistakes, sometimes stupid mistakes. Sometimes we are simply confused. The challenges of the K-12 transition, lower college enrollment, deteriorating finances can discourage us. Trust can be broken. Divisions can deepen. The external threats of violence and terrorism, ISIS, Abu Sayaff, Maute can frighten us. Fear can drive us to hole up, fall down in depression, to hide out, to turn in on ourselves.


EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE. Xavier Ateneo community members celebrate the 2017 Mass of the Holy Spirit centering on God's role in our pursuit to achieve excellence in our endeavors in life. 

At Xavier Ateneo, a Jesuit, Catholic school, no one is isolated, no one need stand alone in despair or darkness. Our summons from Jesus animates our mission and beckons us to walk with those with whom we work and study, play and pray. Our invitation is to advance the work of inclusion and belonging that enables every member of our community to thrive. Our curriculum integrates the Jesuit education values of the highest academic standards, concern for service of the world, and opportunities for direct compassionate contact with the neediest of God's family. Our shared purpose is to heal our divisions and rebuild trust so we can come together as a community, better and stronger to face the challenges of the K-12 transition. Our mission consists of living out the Spirit of Jesus, of developing a growing consciousness of others, a wider awareness beyond our desires and issues.

Today, we ask Jesus to breath his mighty Spirit on Xavier Ateneo, the Spirit who forgives, the Spirit who calls, the Spirit who can make a difference. In your classes, in your studies, in your sports, on the stage and in the laboratories, in the offices, in seminar and meeting rooms, in prayer and retreat houses, and on service learning activities: may you experience the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of love and compassion, the Spirit of passion and courage. And as we advance through this academic year, may God bless us in our wonderful mission, so we can truly claim that empowered y the Holy Spirit, we … Xavier Ateneo … Experience Excellence.


EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE. Xavier Ateneo administrators, faculty, staff, students, and guests come together at the 2017 Red Mass centering on God's role in our pursuit to achieve excellence in our endeavors in life. 

* * * * * 

1Homily for the Mass of the Holy Spirit by Fr Michael E Engh SJ, President, Santa Clara University, California, USA, 03 October 2012, downloaded from https://www.scu.edu/president/selected-writings/homilies/mass-of-the-holy-spirit-2012/
2Ibid
3Ibid