GRACE BEFORE DINNER
Heavenly Father, as we enter this holiest of weeks bless this holy house and those who gather in it. Bless its seminarians, with perseverance and grace. Bless our benefactors for their goodness and generosity. And bless our Cardinal for his steadfast love. Bless this food, which we are about to receive from your bounteous goodness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
REMARKS AFTER DINNER
Welcome to this holy house…made holy not because it is the oldest and largest Seminary in New England, but because of the men who sit among you tonight.
These good men, these Boston seminarians, come to us as engineers and doctors, philosophers and educators…successful men from every profession. And they come because the still small voice of Jesus has called them by name…and they and the Church are now enagged in this great adventure of discernment and formation we call Seminary.
It is a time of growing to love Jesus and his Church, of coming to master the study of philosophy and theology, of gaining those pastoral skills which will help them to get you and your grandchildren to heaven, and it is, most of all, a time of learning to be a bridge to Christ and not an obstacle.
And maybe that’s the hardest part of being a seminarian, when the Lord invites you to help him to carry his cross by examining your life and even your personality, and so conforming yourself to him that you can act in his person, and just by the way you move and speak, lead people to Christ and to his Church.
That’s what this house and Father Kiley’s house are all about…leading Boston seminarians to be like Christ, to learn how to wash your feet, to receive Holy Communion, to be forgiven and carry your own cross.
It’s the work of the young seminarian who looks at you with tears in his eyes and says, “Monsignor, all I want to do is to give my life to Jesus and to his Church.”
God bless him, and God bless each one of you.
