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Saint
Gregory’s University My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: I wish first of all to extend congratulations to you, Abbot Lawrence, and to your monastic community of the Benedictine Monks of Saint Gregory Abbey. Today you observe the fifty-second anniversary of the solemn consecration of this, your beautiful abbey church. It was October 26, 1955, that Bishop Eugene McGuinness consecrated your abbey church which had already been in use since 1942. Truly, therefore today is a most appropriate moment to congratulate you, Abbot Lawrence and you, the monks of this monastic community. Today is also an important moment to express joyful and enthusiastic congratulations to you, Dr. David Wagie, as you are formally installed as the fourteenth president of Saint Gregory’s University. Congratulations and best wishes to you, Mrs. Sue Wagie and to the entire staff and all the personnel whose combined talents and efforts make Saint Gregory’s the outstanding university it is. Through your mutual efforts and your dedication and vision, you are building the kingdom of God through education in our Catholic faith and the Benedictine tradition. Thank you for continuing the good work which God is effecting through you. To properly celebrate these two observances, the anniversary of the dedication of this abbey church and the installation of the new president of this university, we gather together in faith. We have listened to God’s words in the Scriptures to be led into the Eucharistic Mystery of God’s unique presence in the Mass. Therefore, let us briefly examine these Scriptures so that we will worship God in spirit and truth. The book of Genesis which is the first book of the Bible recounts for us the magnificent creation which God accomplished. It reveals to us the plan which God has for human beings whom He made in His own Image and Likeness. Despite the fact that we have sinned, He does not abandon us. Rather, He outlines the path we are to travel on this created world as pilgrims meeting and following His Son Whom He will send to redeem us. God not only established the inherent dignity of the human person, He also showed the sacredness of all His creation and especially those places where He encounters His people. In the reading from Genesis which we heard today, we, like Jacob, are shown a ladder or stairway from the earth to God. Jacob took the stone he had used as a pillow. He anointed it by pouring oil over it. He exclaimed, “Truly the Lord is in this spot. Although I did not know it. How awesome is this shrine. This is the dwelling place of God and the gateway to heaven.” This abbey church, like the sacred place where Jacob’s ladder rested, is also truly the dwelling place of God. Here Jesus comes to us in the Eucharistic Sacrifice when bread and wine are consecrated and changed into His Body and Blood. Here the Eucharist is reserved in the tabernacle as a place for adoration and praise of God. This is God’s house. It is our special meeting place for us to find and follow Jesus. Thus, this abbey church has been set aside and consecrated to praise and honor Almighty God and to lead us to eternal life. When we enter this consecrated abbey church or indeed any other church where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, we stand on sacred ground in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord. We are reminded, as Saint Paul said, that we are no longer strangers or wanderers. We are members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the capstone. Indeed, while a place of worship may be very beautiful and important and sacred, it is so only to bring us into the presence of God and to unite us with the Almighty. Jesus said in today’s Gospel: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” Every time we gather together in joyful response to the invitation of Jesus to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we do indeed worship God in spirit and in truth. Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist so that we could adequately and rightly praise and honor Almighty God. The Mass is therefore the most sublime prayer there is, for through the Mass, we worship God in spirit and truth. “Take My Flesh and eat It,” Jesus said. “Take My Blood and drink It and you shall have life everlasting.” Because we believe in Jesus and in all that He has revealed to us, we gather here today in faith and with joy. We celebrate the anniversary of the dedication of this abbey church. The monks of this abbey continue their ministry of service by sponsoring Saint Gregory’s University. Therefore, this afternoon, we will install Dr. David Wagie as the new president. But before that, we come to this sacred place and worship God in spirit and in truth. Then, from the sacramental grace of this Mass, we are enabled to go out as Jesus said to proclaim the Good News. The Good News, simply but profoundly, proclaims that God is love and He is with us. Indeed, God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God in us. So long as we are pilgrims on this earth, there is no better or more intimate way for us to experience this love and unity with God than by receiving Holy Communion. Jesus said: “Take and eat; take and drink; that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Amen. |