Mass of the Holy Spirit 2020

Well here, this evening, we are invited to share in a conviction that animates each of our lives: the Spirit is present, here, now, always present, as we continue in our journeys.

We are invited by three representatives—Father Bosco, Father Schenden, and Father Folan—whose religious order—the Society of Jesus—has been inviting us here, on our journeys, for more than two centuries.

This invitation, this “welcoming” to us, to immerse ourselves in their distinctive style of learning—to meet each of us in our journeys. Their journeys have led them to our journeys.

And each—Father Bosco, Father Schenden, Father Folan—all of the members of the Jesuit Community embody a characteristic virtue and practice—hospitality.

It’s another Jesuit, Father James Keenan, who describes “Jesuit Hospitality” this way: 

“Our hospitality is…a mobile one, mobile…because those whom we serve are found throughout the whole earth.”¹

Tonight, our Georgetown community is certainly “found throughout the whole earth.”

You have and will experience this “welcoming”, this “hospitality” when you are next here in this place. The distinctive aspect of Jesuit Hospitality is that you can experience it wherever you are. I know you have experienced this in our special celebration tonight—in the celebration of this Mass, in Father Folan’s beautiful homily. We are all witnesses to Jesuit Hospitality.

As you heard, this celebration of this Mass of the Holy Spirit, is how we begin every academic year.

When I was an undergraduate, the Mass was celebrated just outside the Chapel in the Quadrangle; later, on Healy Lawn. In the last decade, we moved to Copley Lawn. On rainy days, it’s in Gaston Hall. For many years, the significance of the event eluded me.

And one of the great blessings of living these four decades here on this Hilltop, is to come to understand the significance of what brings us together, in this moment.

The deepest conviction we share is that the Spirit is here, present, now, right in this moment, in each of our lives, guiding our journeys.

We are all recipients of the gifts of the Spirit—first described in the Book of Isaiah—

“…wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-2).

In our faith, they are a gift we receive at Baptism, reinforce in Confirmation, and as members of this community—we affirm, to each other, each year, in this celebration.

Earlier this summer we heard these words in Paul’s Letter to the Romans:

“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray…but that very Spirit intercedes for us….” (8:26-27)

We begin an academic year with the opportunity of deepening our self-understanding, our self-possession, our self-knowledge.

Can we let the Spirit work deep within us?

Can we let the Spirit teach each of us how to pray—teach us to know our hearts, to know our selves, to understand the meaning of our lives—to know and care for one another, to know our God.

“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness…that very Spirit intercedes for us.”

We are bound together by our belief in the Spirit.

This fall, we are separated by some distance.

We are bound together, by our shared membership in this Georgetown University community.

And we share the challenge of responding to the demands of this moment: of finding meaning in the disruptions and dislocations in each of our lives; we share in the work of responding to the implications of a global pandemic; of a financial crisis; of an eroding civic culture; of the enduring legacy of slavery and segregation.

What we believe—what our presence, here, together is witness to—is our conviction that “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness…that very Spirit intercedes for us.” We can trust in the presence of the Spirit to guide us in responding to these challenges.

We have seen again this past week, how urgent it is that we accept our responsibilities to address the original sin of this Nation.

So let me close by sharing these words of Austin Channing Brown, from her book, I’m Still Here:

“Our only chance at dismantling racial injustice is being more curious about its origins than we are worried about our comfort.  It’s not a comfortable conversation for any of us.  It is risky and messy.  It is haunting [It is haunting] work to recall the sins of the past.  But is this not the work we have been called to anyway?  Is this not the work of the Holy Spirit to illuminate truth and inspire transformation…when we talk about race today, with all the pain packed into that conversation, the Holy Spirit remains in the room.”²

The Spirit is here, with us; the Spirit that will “illuminate truth and inspire transformation.” The Spirit that “remains in the room” as we continue our journeys, as we engage in the challenging work ahead.

This is what we celebrate tonight.

1. James F. Keenan, SJ, “Jesuit Hospitality” in Promise Renewed, ed. Martin R. Tripole, SJ, p. 240
2. Austin Channing Brown, I’m Still Here, p. 118