Bethlehem University celebrated the beginning of the new academic year 2019-2020 by holding the Mass of the Holy Spirit on Thursday, 5 September 2019.
The main celebrant of the mass was His Eminence Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine and a member of the Bethlehem University International Board of Regents, together with Father Peter DuBrul and Father Iyad Twal, faculty members.
In his welcoming speech, Vice Chancellor Brother Peter Bray said “we gather here to thank God for the opportunity to be at Bethlehem University and to ask God’s blessing for the new academic year.”
“This is a mass of the Holy Spirit because we believe that the abundant graces of God come to us through the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that teachers and students are inspired,” he said.
In his homily, Bishop Marcuzzo prayed to the Holy Spirit to guide the Bethlehem University community to spread wisdom through education.
His Excellency Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, the Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine and the Chancellor of Bethlehem University, and the De La Salle Christian Brothers attended the mass.
It is a tradition at Bethlehem University to start the new academic year with a Mass of the Holy Spirit. The mass is an occasion where the administration, faculty, staff, and students come together in prayers to offer thanks to God and to pray for the success of the new academic year.
