Jesuit Heritage Week 2006 Opening Mass

It is always a privilege to have Cardinal McCarrick with us at Georgetown University, and we are especially grateful for his wonderful words this evening, here at the Opening Mass of this year’s Jesuit Heritage Week.

Many thanks as well to Fr. Boroughs, Fr. Godfrey, Campus Ministry, and the Jesuit Heritage Week Planning Team for their efforts – especially Pilar Siman, (F’07) and John Coghlan (C’06), the student co-chairs. You have truly organized an exceptional series of activities. There is no doubt that they will assist the Georgetown community continue in its understanding and appreciation for the Jesuit tradition that enlivens this campus. So thank you for your hard work and dedication.

The impact of the Society of Jesus on this University is impossible to measure, for we would not even exist without it.

Thankfully, through many trials and tribulations from 1789 on, the Jesuit influence remains strong here on the Hilltop.

It remains as the inspiration for our students to be thoughtful, to be intellectually curious, and to be part of a community that cares for the entire world.

It remains as a desire for the education of the whole person, as a striving for the greater good of all humankind, and as a deep respect for all religious traditions – which has an added blessing in that true respect ends up illuminating our own traditions.

And the Jesuit influence remains here as a commitment to social justice, evidenced by our students helping educate Washington D.C. schoolchildren, volunteering their all in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and standing strongly against genocide in Somalia.

Here at Georgetown, as at every university, we have all the anxieties and distractions mentioned by St. Paul.¹  And here in Washington, as in every major city, we are subject to being bombarded by false prophets, as warned about by Moses.²

But when we come to a place like Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, and we take the time to really listen, as David pleaded in the Psalm, we can hear God’s voice quite clearly.³  And because of the remarkable efforts of key members of the Society of Jesus, we have access here to truly astonishing teaching, as St. Mark wrote of in his gospel.⁴

As our young men and women draw nearer and nearer to commencement time, one of the largest decisions of their lives looms ahead: What will their vocation be?. But because of the Jesuit influence here, our graduates are far better able to think of their lives as vocations, not simply about their careers. They are able to realize more clearly about how God can lead them into the service of others – and to obtain a true discernment of spirits.

The heritage of our Jesuits – as teachers, as mentors, as advisors, as friends – has been the very essence of the Georgetown experience. It has been that way for every student: from our first graduate, William Gaston, to each and every member of this year’s freshman class – whether they realize it at first or not.

Thanks be to God for that rich and blessed heritage. And may it continue to be the essence of Georgetown for the next 217 years as well.

1. Reading II is I Corinthians 7:32-35
2. Reading I is Deuteronomy 18:15-20
3. Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 95
4. Gospel reading is Mark 1:21-28