This morning, in the gym, almost one month into the school year, La Salle students, teachers, and staff held the first Mass of the year — the first of many planned for the upcoming school year. 

“I’m really grateful for the ability to just gather all in the gym together and be a community together,” Mr. Noah Banks said.

For the Mass coordinators, religious studies teacher Mr. Banks and religious studies teacher and Director of Faith Mr. Tom McLaughlin, also referred to as Mr. Mac, Mass is all about community and gathering everyone together to learn and practice the Catholic faith, the gospels, and all of God’s teachings. To them, it is a place where people go to pray and receive the Eucharist, which is a very important and sacred part of Mass.

“My hope is that the homilies give students who are not Catholic [or] may not be religious … something to think about,” Mr. Mac said.

La Salle is made up of many students, not all of them being Catholic, so it is the hope of the Mass coordinators that those who may not practice the same religion will still see themselves as part of this religious community. At Mass, different objects were brought forth for a blessing to represent all the sports and groups of the school in hopes of including and representing everyone in some way. With this new practice, Mr. Mac hopes that people may reach out to bring other objects to represent even more of La Salle’s different communities at Mass.

“I really want to be a welcoming and inviting person, and I want to learn about other people,” Mr. Mac said.

During Mass, Father Mike Moynahan spoke about La Salle being a home and making room for others. Mr. Mac also hopes that La Salle is a place open for all, where those who are religious and those who are not want to participate in Mass. 

While Mr. Mac and Mr. Banks have taken on the role of planning Masses for this year, there are many other people who help make each Mass possible, including the choir and students who read, altar serve, and help with Communion.