Academic Mass celebrates inclusion, community at STM College
Power of togetherness, support, and prayer message of 2024 Academic Mass
By Paul Sinkewicz“All are welcome in this place” was the refrain to the opening hymn of the 2024 St. Thomas More College Academic Mass held on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Sung by the STM Alumni Choir, the message of All are Welcome was apropos of the history and mission of STM College, a place “built of hopes and dreams and visions,” and it inaugurated the 2024-25 academic year perfectly.
Each year, members of the STM community – made up of faculty, staff, students, alumni and supporters – come together in the Chapel to look for divine guidance in the mission of educating the College’s students.
Celebrating the Mass were Most Rev. Mark Hagemoen, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, as well as Fr. Andre Lalach, Fr. Ron Griffin and Fr. Daniel Yasinski.
Deacon Harry Lafond, with the Diocese of Prince Albert, and STM’s Scholar in Indigenous Education, shared his thoughts during a Grounding Moment to kick off the proceedings.
Lafond spoke of the tradition of inclusion and welcoming cherished by Indigenous people, and the strength to be found when people share time together in community and celebration and are supportive of each other. It is in prayer at gatherings like the Academic Mass that we connect with each other and those that have come before, he said. The Holy Spirit is present, and no one leaves unchanged.
“We have this hope, that whenever we pray together in this life, those who have gone ahead, our ancestors, pray with us,” said Lafond.
As is tradition at the event, Dr. Tammy Marche, Dean of STM College, led those assembled in the Commissioning of the STM Community with an affirmation of the mission of St. Thomas More College.
After the mass ended, attendees were invited to a reception in the STM Cafeteria, and the start of the academic year was celebrated with food, laughter and friendship.
