New England
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August 24, 2024
Freshmen in the New England Class of 2028 awoke on Saturday excited to matriculate into Thomas Aquinas College and begin their academic year.
The new students, their families, and upperclassmen gathered in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel for the Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit, offered by an alumnus priest, Rev. Fr. Joseph O’Hara (’92). “To know God with love brings Him to us, and He forms within us His Home — the Home of the Triune God,” said Fr. O’Hara in his homily, encouraging students to embrace the community life of the campus. “There is a strong and manifest family structure here at this Catholic college that is keeping you securely and freely open to the working of the Holy Spirit to purify and enlighten you.”
Photos: Convocation Mass of the Holy Spirit
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Following Mass, freshmen and families enjoyed coffee and doughnuts on the St. Augustine lawn before making their way to Moody Auditorium for the Matriculation ceremony. The faculty processed into the building as students and guests sang ‘’Come Holy Ghost.” After Head Chaplain Rev. Greg Markey led the invocation, College President Dr. Paul J. O’Reilly presented an opening address. “It has been said that ‘all’s well that ends well,’” he said. “But I would also like to say that all’s well that begins well. One of the best things you can do here as freshmen at TAC is make a good beginning in your academic journey.”
At the conclusion of his address, members of the Class of 208 made their way, one by one, onto the stage to shake hands with Dr. O’Reilly and Fr. O’Hara, then sign their names into the College’s registry. Each announced name was met with thunderous applause as faculty and students welcomed the new members of the TAC student body.
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Fr. O’Hara then spoke to the newly enrolled freshmen, urging them to cultivate a particular virtue: mercy. “My experience of Thomas Aquinas College was that of an ongoing, many-leveled exchange of mercy,” he said. “I challenge you to be renowned of all the graduating classes of this finest college of Catholic liberal education for being the class of mercy! The class of mercy will be very reluctant to leave one of its own behind. … It will be close-knit, joyful, and hardworking.”
Many freshmen nodded silently, ready to rise to the challenge. “Class of 2028, be the class of mercy! Fulfill the law of Christ by bearing each other’s burdens in this life so that, together, you may sing in heaven God’s glory and praise, forever and ever. Amen!”
May God bless the Class of 2028!
