Mass of the Holy Spirit held on campus

By: Delaney Hayden

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 10 a.m., Canisius University held the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Montante Cultural Center. All members of the university were invited to attend, regardless of faith background. Some professors participated in the formal procession of faculty members in their academic regalia to both begin and end Mass.

Commemorating the start of the new school year, Father Fred Betti, S.J., university chaplain, presided over the Mass and delivered the homily, a commentary following the reading of a scripture. In Father Betti’s homily, he recalled a personal story.

He shared that there was a traffic light on his commute while helping out early in the morning at a local organization that would always, without fail, turn red and cause him to come to a stop… every morning. And every morning, a man who slept in the bus stop on the side of the road next to that traffic light would shuffle out to greet Father Betti at his car, asking for a handout at times but also always engaging in conversation.

Father Betti described this man as being the comedian Chris Rock because he looked like Chris Rock — and sounded just like Chris Rock, too. One morning, Father Betti continued, “Chris Rock” came out to his car as he usually did, but on that morning he asked, “What do you have to be smiling about this early in the morning?”

Father Betti called the congregation to ask themselves the same question: what in their lives made them smile? He encouraged everyone to pursue and seek out these sparks of peace, joy and grins in the upcoming school year, as well as in life.