Baccalaureate Mass 2023

There is always a profound resonance at this time of year—between the rhythms and life of the Academy and the season in the life of the Church.

As a university community, at this moment we celebrate commencement—on this weekend we celebrate your moving out beyond this Hilltop, beyond those Gates—and out into the world.

Nothing could be more appropriate than the reassurance we receive—from this community of faith that shapes our lives and work together here on this Hilltop.

In this season in the life of our Church—we celebrate the moving on of Jesus.

We celebrate the Ascension of our Lord today.

Next Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost.

These past weeks have all been building to these moments.

Throughout this season we are given reassurance, promises, that even though Jesus will be leaving—we will all be ok.

In the Gospel of John last Sunday, we heard Jesus say:

“…I will ask the Father, and he will give you an Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of Truth….” (John 14:15-21)

Today we heard these words:

“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you….” (Acts 1: 1-11)

Next Sunday, we receive the most powerful promise, again in the Gospel of John:

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit…” (John 20:19-23)

The work that shapes a university is the work of formation. This is the process through which each of us is able to pursue an interior freedom—an interiority that allows us to discern our deepest, most authentic self.

There are many ways to engage in the work of formation—options could include the military or a religious vocation or an entrepreneurial venture.

In a university, the work of formation is constructed around knowledge—the pursuit, discovery, construction, and transmission of knowledge. Whether in one’s major, or in a research project, in our archives and libraries—the work of knowledge guides the work of formation.

And there are other resources to support this work of knowledge: community service, artistic expression, recreation and intercollegiate athletics; there are countless opportunities for experiences outside the classroom.

For some of our community, this work is inextricably linked to our practices of faith. We engage in the work of formation in our prayer, in our Sacred Spaces, on retreats at the Calcagnini Contemplative Center, in meditation, in our reading of Scripture.

We engage in this work in moments just like this, when we come together, as a community, witnesses to each other of the deepest aspects of our being.

One of the most wonderful compliments about Georgetown I can ever recall: we were hosting a significant interreligious conference and one evening I was walking across the campus with a participant, one of the most distinguished Biblical scholars of our time.

At a certain point in our conversation she stopped and looked up at Healy said to me:

“I always love coming to this place.  It feels prayed in.”

If it “feels prayed in”—it is because of all of you. Your prayers, your worship, your song enable this place, this community to come alive.

It is through these prayers that we can understand the words of the Apostle Peter, when he said:

“…you…like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house….” (1 Peter 2:5)

Moments like this can be bittersweet. Baccalaureate Mass brings our days of commencement to a close. Now, you are going out. But you are never alone. Remember the promise we are given—Jesus asked the Father for an Advocate for us.

This is the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Truth.

Again, as we will hear next Sunday, we receive the gift that has changed our world: he breathes on us and says “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Never forget what you built here. These walls of Healy, the bricks of Dahlgren—these are all “living stones”—you built this into a spiritual house. You did that together.

And you did so much more.

You are a “spiritual house” and you bring that with you, wherever your journeys take you.

And wherever you may find yourself, in moments of joy or sadness, in moments of triumph or tragedy, just close your eyes and remember those moments when you knew you were in the presence of the Spirit.

And when you do, you might just find yourself right back here on this Hilltop, surrounded by each other, knowing the Spirit of Truth.