The Fordham community gathered on Sept. 11 to kick off the academic year at the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on the Rose Hill campus.
President Tania Tetlow asked those in attendance at the University Church to think about the meaning of the ceremony, both current and historic.
“This is bigger than this particular moment, than this particular community,” she said. “When we do the Mass of the Holy Spirit, we perform the rituals that people just like us— students, faculty, staff—have performed for almost 500 years, of opening the semester of a Jesuit university.”
Tetlow told the students that the community gathered there on Sunday would be there for them along their journeys—both for their successes and when they hit bumps in the road.
“What tonight is about is telling you, above all, that in that work, in those choices, in those decisions you make—that you are loved by God, no matter what, for who you are, and that you are loved by Fordham, no matter what, for who you are,” she said. “We will wait with bated breath and hope you make the right choices. But we will be there for you when you stumble, when you learn, when you find a new path and a new way. And we want you to keep coming back to this community as a source of strength and above all, as a source of love.”
