On September 29, 2026, the University community came together for its annual Inaugural Mass at Our Lady of the Seeds Church on the Hadat–Baabda Campus, entrusting the 2026–27 academic year to God and returning to the spiritual foundations that give learning, service, and life in community their deeper purpose.

The celebration gathered members of the Supreme Council and fellow members of the Antonine Maronite Order (OAM), the UA Council, deans, heads of departments, instructors, administrative staff, and students. As they entered the new academic year, one seemingly simple word stood at the heart of the message: “together.”

A Community Gathered in Prayer

The Divine Liturgy was presided over by Abbot Joseph Bou Raad, Superior General of the OAM and UA Chancellor, and concelebrated by UA Rector Fr. Michel Saghbiny and Bursar Fr. Joe Bou Jaoude.

The Music Club accompanied the celebration with music and liturgical chants, contributing to the prayerful atmosphere of the Mass, while members of the Pastorale Universitaire of UA helped gather the University community around the spiritual dimension of the new academic year.

In this shared moment of prayer, the academic year began not simply with the responsibilities and ambitions ahead, but with an invitation to consider how they are lived: in relationship with God, with others, and with the community each person helps shape.

The Meaning of “Together”

In his homily, Abbot Bou Raad turned to St. Paul’s hymn to love, reflecting on a distinction that would shape his message: what gives an action its deepest meaning is not simply what is done, but why and how it is done.

Drawing on St. Paul’s teaching that knowledge, prophecy, and generosity lose their meaning without love, he reflected particularly on patience. Rather than passivity or indifference, he presented patience as the willingness to give another person the time they need, to respect their journey, and to accompany them as they grow.

Abbot Bou Raad then drew from the Gospel proclaimed during the Mass: the disciples’ encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Before they recognize Him, Jesus walks with them. He listens, asks questions, and accompanies them along the road rather than immediately giving them every answer.

In this sense, he connected the Gospel directly to education. An instructor is not called merely to provide answers, but to walk alongside students as they discover, question, change, and grow. Education, seen in this light, becomes an act of accompaniment, requiring patience, trust, and the willingness to take joy in another person’s development.

At the heart of this reflection was an understanding of love as the capacity to go beyond oneself. Another person, he suggested, can become either a mirror through which one continually measures oneself or a window opening onto a world beyond one’s own. Love allows the other to become that window, encountered for who they are rather than through comparison with oneself.

It was within this understanding that Abbot Bou Raad turned to the Arabic word "معًا" (“together”). A simple word, yet one that carries a vision of companionship and shared purpose. He presented it as a key to building a university community: instructors accompanying students with patience; students recognizing the value of the journey through which they are formed; and members of the community understanding that growth does not happen in isolation.

This same perspective reshaped the meaning of achievement. Success, he reflected, is not measured solely by how much one person can accomplish alone, but also by the ability to bring others together and enable them to contribute. Like a team sport, life in community gains its strength from what people are capable of building together.

Returning at the conclusion of his homily to the hymn to love and the prayer “Thy Kingdom come,” Abbot Bou Raad invited the University community to allow these words to move beyond prayer and take root in everyday relationships, choices, and actions, until they become, like music, reflected in a person’s joy.

Carrying the Message Into the Year Ahead

At the close of the celebration, members of the University community received keepsakes to carry the spirit of the gathering beyond the church: a UA-branded mug, a small figurine of Jesus, and an NFC-enabled item providing access to a Bible verse.

The Inaugural Mass holds a particular place in the life of Antonine University, bringing the community together before the rhythm of the academic year fully takes hold and reconnecting the pursuit of knowledge with faith, responsibility, service, and the formation of the whole person.

This year, one word accompanied the community from the celebration into the months ahead: together. Together in teaching and learning. Together in guidance and growth. Together as colleagues, students, and members of a wider community. And, at the heart of the University’s Catholic mission, together in faith and in relationship with God.

As the 2026–27 academic year begins, UA carries forward this understanding of education as a shared journey. Rooted in its Catholic identity and its commitment to integral human development, the University remains a community called not simply to transmit knowledge, but to accompany each person as they learn, serve, encounter one another, and grow.

Because at UA, formation is never only about how far one person can go.

It is also about how far we can go… together.