Jesuit Heritage Mass 2023

We are the beneficiaries of extraordinary gifts.

We see these gifts captured on the banners that hang on campus at the start of every academic year.

We experience these gifts in moments like this—when we draw upon our shared membership in this community—and know that there is a good we can pursue together that we could never hope to achieve alone—a “common good.”

The most appropriate response to these gifts: gratitude.

There is a priority given, in this tradition, to the practice of gratitude. St. Ignatius taught a prayer—the Examen—a daily practice of review—at the end of the day, of entering into a quiet moment of time with God—seeking to discern the movements of the Spirit in our lives throughout the day.

This prayer of discernment begins—the first step in this practice—gratitude.

We gather in this Mass in gratitude of the gifts that have been shared with us.

• The continuing presence of these men—on this Hilltop—their lives shared with us—for these centuries.
• The witness these men provide to us—their faith—and the commitment to place this faith in service in our world—and for us—on this campus.
• The adaptations they have made as the nature of their roles have evolved.
• For the incalculable generosity of inviting us to share in the tradition that shapes all our work here.

As we gather now, we can express our gratitude for the dynamism of this tradition—for new gifts that are shared with us.

There are two new gifts. The first: the Universal Apostolic Preferences—Jesuit values for our time—four themes that we are asked to embrace…engage…reflect on.

These Preferences—these values—can inform our prayer, our interiority, our efforts of making meaning in our lives. What are the four?

• Embracing the Spirituality—the spiritual resources of the Jesuits—to deepen our self-understanding and to illuminate our responsibilities to one another;
  
  
• Caring for the most vulnerable among us—helping to build a culture that protects and respects the inherent dignity of those who live at the margins, the poor, the outcast, the most vulnerable;
  
  
• Caring for our common home—building from the teaching of Pope Francis on the environment—his 2015 letter—Laudato Si and then just this past month, in Laudate Deum;
  
  
• Accompanying the young into a hope filled future.

The second gift? The process through which these four preferences were identified and adopted.

Building from the very first gift of St. Ignatius—the practice of discernment—the process through which we come to experience the consoling presence of the Spirit in each of our lives—this interior process within each of us—we are now invited to develop a practice for work we can do together—in common—to develop new capacities for communal discernment.

This is a practice that we have seen at work this past month in the meeting in Rome of the Synod on Synodality—an historic meeting of the Roman Catholic Church—the most important meeting in the 60 years since the Second Vatican Council.

What makes this convening so important?

In order to engage the most pressing issues facing our Church and our world—there are two characteristics that shape the Synod: first, the voices of the full Church were invited and contributed to the deliberations—to the work of the Synod.

For the first time, women were given the opportunity to participate fully.

And second, the style of the Synod—characteristic of the Holy Father—is one of communal discernment.

In preparation for the Synod, a planning document was produced—The Instrumentum Laboris—providing a touchstone for the discussions and deliberations of the Synod. In the days just prior to the Synod, the participants convened in a retreat that was led by Father Timothy Radcliffe, the former superior of the Dominicans.

In a series of six meditations, Father Timothy, provided much for the participants to pray on. In the final meditation he identifies a core theme for the Synod, one that has a profound resonance with the “preference” of “accompanying our young people into a hope filled future.”

And I quote:

“The Instrumentum Laboris calls us to make ‘the preferential option for the young’ (e.g. B.2.1).  Every year we remember that God came to us as a child, new-born.  Confidence in the young is an intrinsic part of Christian leadership.  The young are not here to take the places of us old people but to do what we cannot imagine.”

We gather like this three times in the Fall: first, at the start of the academic year, with the Mass of the Holy Spirit, where we acknowledge the present of the Spirit, here, right now, in this moment and in every moment, guiding us, teaching us, protecting us; second, this evening—in gratitude for the gifts of the Society of Jesus, of the Jesuits of Georgetown; third, in a little over a month—at our Advent Mass.

The symmetry of these three moments could not be more powerful.

We acknowledge the Spirit.

We express our gratitude.

We “remember that God came to us as a child….”

These moments provide the foundation for our work together.

Again, Father Timothy:

“Being led by the Spirit…means letting go of the present, trusting that the Spirit will beget new institutions, new forms of Christian living, new ministries…We must let the Holy Spirit work creatively in our midst with new ways of being Church that now we cannot imagine but perhaps the young can!”

We are here tonight to say “thank you.” 

Thank you for the work we share, as a community, committed to the Holy Spirit working through us, with us, in us—together—seeking to imagine and realize a future, filled with hope.