On Thursday, Sept. 13, the entire Detroit Mercy community came together for Celebrate Spirit! “Be the Joy” in the Fitness Center. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and friends of the University celebrated this annual event to welcome everyone to the fall semester and set our spiritual path for the year.
Celebrate Spirit! Mass Banner Flags brought in by studentsThis year, Celebrate Spirit! was co-hosted by the Detroit Mercy Athletics. In addition, Fiat Chrysler Automotive sponsored the Student Organization Fair Lunch, for which Detroit Mercy expresses deepest thanks.
This year’s featured speaker was Patrick Kelly, S.J., ’83. He is a native of the Detroit area and an alumnus of University of Detroit. He played three sports in high school and football at Grand Valley State University, where he was a team captain and an all-conference free-safety.
Fr. Kelly completed his doctoral studies in theology, ethics and culture at Claremont Graduate University, where he worked closely with psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the originator of the “flow theory.” He is currently associate professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University, where he teaches classes such as “Sport and Spirituality” and “Religion and Sport in a Global Context.”
Fr. Kelly is the author of the book Catholic Perspectives on Sports: From Medieval to Modern Times (Paulist Press, 2012) and the editor of Youth Sport and Spirituality: Catholic Perspectives (University of Notre Dame Press, 2015). He has worked closely with the Vatican offices that address sports as an expert. He contributed to the revision of the first major Church document about sport, “Giving the Best of Yourself: The Christian perspective on sport and the human person.”
Fr. Patrick Kelly ’83Fr. Kelly’s Jesuit vocation was sparked when he met the Jesuits at Detroit Mercy as an undergraduate student; he was inspired by their teaching and their spirituality.
This year, hundreds of students, faculty and staff turned out for the Student Organization Fair following Celebrate Spirit! Students registered for the many clubs and organizations offered through the University.
See the photo gallery here!
