The University of Saint Joseph is the only Catholic university in Macau and a good number of its professors, staff and students are also Catholics. Normally, four or five masses are yearly celebrated in different occasions, in order to attend to the spiritual needs of the members of the university. The Mass of the opening of the school year is one of the main Masses celebrated at USJ during the academic year.
The Eucharistic celebration started at 12:30 pm on the14 September 2016, at the Speakers’ Hall in NAPE-1 campus, USJ. The holy Mass was presided by His Excellency Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-Sang, accompanied by three concelebrant priests. Since the Mass was especially offered for the staff and students, the hall was fully occupied by the university’s population, among them some fifty Catholic students, present to attend the solemn Mass.
On the 14 of September, the Church also celebrates the feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In his sermon, the bishop emphasized the harmonious cooperation among the professors, the staff and the students, by helping each other while carrying one’s own cross along the journey. Besides, he went on repeating that all the good and beautiful things should be carried out in this academic year under the guidance of the Rector, Fr. Peter Stilwell, as Moses, God’s chosen one, who successfully led the whole Israelite people in the desert with the providence of the heavenly Father.
The Mass ended with the blessing of the bishop. Hopefully, every one of us felt inspired and enhanced by the strengthening and encouraging words of our Pastor, in order to begin the new academic year with full rigor and attentiveness.
Bro. Stephen Saw Lej, O.P.