Reunion Weekend Mass 2004
This morning we gather together as Georgetown community members have every Sunday for more than two centuries. In the tradition upon which this University is built, we believe that God is here, right now, present among us. When we are asked about the nature of this institution, at the deepest level, we hold that the Spirit is at work here. And has been at work in all of the hustle and bustle, chaos and confusion, late nights and early mornings, in group projects and club activities, in victories and defeats, in friendships, in classrooms and concert halls. In all that we do.
There is something mysterious about the presence of the Spirit. We don’t always have the confidence – the faith – in this presence. We don’t always have the words, the vocabulary, the syntax, the grammar to capture this experience. But at different moments, sometimes in the most unlikely times and places, we have a feeling, deep within ourselves, that we are not alone. We have a feeling, deep in our bones, of consolation, of peace, of joy, the feeling of love, and knowing we are loved.
Here, we sustain a tradition that attempts to give meaning to these moments – to provide us with a capacity to experience them more deeply. In this tradition, we believe that one way of deepening this capacity is to come together, just like this, and together feel this presence and find sustenance from each other.
During your years on this Hilltop, we hope you deepened your own self-understanding of these moments. When you are in need of sustenance and consolation, when you struggle and doubt, when you look into your own soul, we hope you find yourselves back here, remembering this feeling, a feeling you may have at this very moment or have had at different moments during your years here.
There is no more fitting way to bring our reunion weekend to a close than in this celebration of the Mass. In this gathering, we come together acknowledging our common, shared belief, our faith, in a God that sent forth the Holy Spirit, so that we could know “the hope that belongs to his call.”
I hope that for you this weekend fostered a sense of renewal. I hope that it has served as a reminder of Georgetown’s mission, of the value and urgent necessity of what we do on this campus.
Wherever and whenever you find yourselves feeling the Spirit, experiencing the presence of God – it may be in the smile of a loved one, or in a moment of unimaginable suffering, or at the moment of the birth of a child, or a moment that demands a deep reservoir of courage – in these moments, you will find the renewal that gives you strength. In that experience, you may well recall what you shared here on this Hilltop, as a member of a community shaped by a shared commitment.
And you will know that you are living the “promise” of the “hope that belongs to his call.”
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- Mass Reflection