IHA students and their families celebrate mass together.
Photo courtesy of Olivia Cantarella’18

IHA students and their families gathered together to begin the school year in prayer at the first annual Family Welcome Mass at IHA on September 10^th. The mass was celebrated by Fr. Ted Kalaw and was held in the IHA gymnasium. Students of all grade levels were in attendance.

Christian Service Board Ministry President Lauren Foote’17 commented, “IHA’s first Family Welcome Mass was a huge success. It was a wonderful way to come together through prayer and song as a family and an IHA community to celebrate our new school year. I am sure this will become a valued tradition here at IHA.”

Students pose together for a picture while they enjoy refreshments in the cafeteria.
Photo courtesy of Olivia Cantarella’18

After the mass, all students, family members, and teachers were invited into the cafeteria for refreshments and home-baked goods made by the members of the Christian Service Board and Campus Ministry Core Team.

Mrs. Shutrop, Director of Campus Ministry, remarked, “The family mass was a wonderful opportunity for IHA families to come together as one community to celebrate together the love that God has for us, and consecrate our school year to Him. It was such a blessing to see how many families came out to gather around the table of the Lord to entrust their daughter’s school year to God!”

In addition to the IHA Family Welcome Mass, the annual school Opening Mass was held the following Friday, on September 16^th. During this mass, the seniors that have been preparing to become Eucharistic Ministers were commissioned and served the Eucharist for the first time.

Seniors Olivia Dematteo’17 and Kayla Itez’17 participate in IHA’s opening liturgy on September 16th.
Photo courtesy of Immaculate Heart Academy

Ms. Gansley, the moderator of the Eucharistic Ministers at IHA, described the process that the Eucharistic Ministers went through before they were commissioned at the IHA Opening Mass. “The student Eucharistic Ministers prepared during the Spring to be ready to serve the school community this year. They first complete an application process and then must pass the approval of the faculty. After they read a training manual, there are three training sessions. After they are accepted by the Archdiocese, they are ready to be of service to the school community. We are blessed to have so many students willing and able to serve in this ministry.”

The students at IHA certainly had a great start to the beginning of the school year, and the Eucharistic Ministers are excited to serve throughout the year!

By Bernadette Goratowski’19, Photography Editor