OCIA Mass

Fr. Angel Rivera-Fals, S.J. celebrated a special Mass in the Chapel of the Holy Cross on Thursday (May 15), during which 19 Jesuit students received sacraments of initiation, including 11 who were baptized and eight who were received into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The students were accompanied by their godparents and confirmation sponsors, typically either a close relative, friend, or Jesuit faculty member. Many more family and friends also were there to support them. Afterward at a reception in the Antinori Center for the Arts, they received gifts from the Office of Mission and Formation – assistant principal Jimmy Mitchell, and assistant directors Thomas Killackey and Patrick Phelan – as well as from principal and interim president Mike Scicchitano. The Office of Mission and Formation leads Jesuit's OCIA program – the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (formerly RCIA, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).

Jesuit received special permission to celebrate these sacraments from the Diocese of St. Petersburg, and from the pastor of the parish in which Jesuit is located, Rev. Msgr. Mike Muhr of St. Lawrence Catholic Church.

The 19 sacraments is the most celebrated during a single Mass at Jesuit, and it is among the most ever in a single school year.

Those who received sacraments on Thursday were:

Baptized – Jayden Bourdon '28, Griffin Corr '25, Ma’Ckari Johnson '26, Jacob Judson '25, Antray Lee '26, Colin Maloney '28, Malachi Ortiz '25, Liam Parker '28, Brady Parrado '26, Zeb Rogozinski '26, and Greyson Wright '25.

Received into full communion – Agustin Aljure '27, John Alvarado '28, Jack Bedell '27, Alexander Hacker '28, William Higgins '28, Noah Kreye '27, Zachary Larson '28, Kaleb Smith '26.

Since 2010, a total of 141 students have been baptized or received into the Church at Jesuit, including 94 in the past five years, of which 35 will be students at Jesuit during the 2025-26 school year: Austin Blewitt ’26, Henry Bravo ’26, Kenneth Brown ’26, Alex Campbell ’26, Nolan Dooly ’27, Jack Garrity ’26, Hayden Gilmore ’27, Brock Glover ’27, Lucas Hernandez ’26, Tristan Kelly ’26, Ronan Krummrich ’26, Traynor Little ’26, Max Morgado ’27, Cannon Murtagh ’26, Nate Pento ’26, C.J. Pinder ’26, Brady Santo ’27, Richard Scott ’26, Brady Simmons ’26, Brock Stepp ’27, and K.J. Vazquez ’27, along with Bourdon, Johnson, Lee, Parker, Parrado, Rogozinski, Aljure, Alvarado, Bedell, Hacker, Higgins, Kreye, Larson, and Smith.

Downloadable photos from the OCIA Mass are available at this link. Also, many images from the Mass are posted to the Facebook page Jesuit High School of Tampa.