Every     year Campus  Ministry comes together to select a theme for the year. This year’s theme, Celebrating God’s Grace for 20 Years, will be portrayed throughout Xavier.

“The goal is for it to evolve over the year and for people to understand it better at the end of the year than at the beginning,” Campus Minister Mrs. Jody Esker said. “It is also a way to reflect on the past and everything God has given Xavier.”

To start off the 2018-2019 school year, Xavier held a Mass to bring the community together and to begin demonstrating this year’s theme. This year, Xavier had the privilege of welcoming Archbishop Michael Jackels at the first Mass. He was appointed by the pope and was ordained to exercise leadership and oversight in the Church’s threefold mission of sanctifying, teaching and governing the people of God.

Archbishop Jackels is responsible for unity in the local Church and communion with the worldwide Church. Xavier had asked him the previous year if he could attend this school year and found out the day before the Mass that he was able to attend.

“My first thought is that it shows how much of a shepherd he is and that he cares about the students here. For me that is love,” Father Dustin Vu said. “He went that extra mile and really believes in the mission we have here and strive to show.”

Father Vu said Archbishop Jackels is a person who is joyful, humble and lives out the gospels in his daily life. This was seen in the homily the archbishop shared with the school on the first day. He talked about how the students are the future and if they want to see a change in the future, they need to do something. He said that the hopes of society are now pinned on the students.

The theme of the homily can be connected to the overall theme of the year. Through God’s grace, the students can determine the future.