Blue Jays Celebrate Mother-Son Relationship at Annual Mass
For one Jesuit mother, the tears started even before her son started talking.
About 450 Blue Jays and their mothers participated in Jesuit’s Mother-Son Mass & Breakfast, which took place on Saturday, February 28.
The morning began with Mass at Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church on Baronne Street and concluded with a breakfast at The Roosevelt Hotel. The menu included coffee and juice, assorted breads, berry-infused and granola textured yogurt, scrambled eggs, bacon strips that were thicker than a winter fog around City Park’s lagoons, and asparagus.
The Mother-Son event was moved from Sunday to Saturday in response to the Archdiocesan initiative to move school events away from Sundays.
In his homily, Fr. John Brown, S.J. talked about the special role mothers play in their son’s lives. Mass was concelebrated by Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, S.J. ’76 — Jesuit’s special assistant to the president — and Fr. Donald Saunders, S.J., who serves as school chaplain. Assisting with Communion were Society of Jesuit scholastics Jason Lalonde and Julio Minsal-Ruiz. The Jesuit choir, accompanied by IMJC organist Paul Wattigny and directed by Mrs. Kate Arthurs-Goldberg, provided music for the Eucharistic celebration.
Fr. Fitzgerald introduced the senior speakers, Henry Creel and Scott Crabtree, who ad-libbed his introduction line. “My mom’s crying and I haven’t even started talking yet.” In heartfelt remarks, Scott and Henry talked about the love and dedication of their mothers. Watch their videos below.
In both cases, it’s a shared love. Liz and Terry Creel have four Blue Jays (Cal ’11, Zac ’13, Henry ’15, and Benji ’16). Breni and Skip Crabtree are the proud parents of three Blue Jays (Kyle ’12, Scott ’15, and Todd ’17).
Jesuit offers its thanks to Fr. Frank Reale, S.J., the pastor at IMJC for his warm welcome, and to all those who attended this meaningful event of connection.