Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
Mass of the Holy Spirit
Upper Church, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Sept. 8, 2016

It is a joy for me as Chancellor of The Catholic University of America and also as an alumnus and friend of the University to be with you to celebrate this Eucharist today, which marks the beginning of the new academic year. We come together to invoke on the whole University community the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In a particular way, I welcome the students of the Catholic University of America. In a special way, I welcome the incoming freshmen class, the class of 2020, including all of you from every state in the Union and so many other countries around the world. I also extend a warm welcome to all of you who are joining us through the kindness of Eternal Word Television Network and Catholic TV.

If you came into the Basilica this morning through the main entrance you saw and maybe even used the Jubilee Door of Mercy.

Pope Francis has called all of us this year to reflect on the loving embrace of God’s mercy and how it is always there for us. In the Bull of Indiction for this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis begins, “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy.” He goes on to tell us that we need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.

My brothers and sisters, as we go through the Door of Mercy, we are to envision ourselves entering in to the loving embrace of God’s compassion, care and concern for each one of us.

We are beginning this academic year in a unique moment in the life of the Church. It was only a year ago that Pope Francis walked through this same Basilica and then out onto the East Portico to celebrate Mass having already driven through the campus to be greeted by 25,000 people.

My own recollection of that ride in the Popemobile was the immediate awareness when we came to the section reserved for Catholic University students. The decibel level quadrupled. The cheers were so loud that it was not possible in the Popemobile to hear one another. So touched was our Holy Father by the obvious affection of the students on this campus that he instructed the driver to turn around and retrace the route so that he could see those of you who were on the other side.

At the Canonization Mass, he asked us to embrace the spirit of Junípero Serra, who that day was declared a Saint. He invited us all to be true evangelizing disciples – those who bring the Good News to others. A part of that Good News is God’s loving embrace and compassionate mercy.

He also reminded us that one of the best ways of telling the story of our Catholic faith and what it means to us is the way in which we live it.

The Catholic University of America boasts that it is the National Catholic University and thus we should expect to see on this campus manifestations of our faith alive.

Yes, there is the Basilica and the crucifixes in the classrooms and the active campus ministry as well as the numerous visible indications around campus that this truly is CUA – The Catholic University of America.

But what Pope Francis was talking about was a visibility that grows out of our way of living, our actions, the testimony of our lives.

Among the signs that say very loudly, very clearly, very brilliantly that this is the Catholic University of America is the witness of the lives of all of us on campus, students, faculty, administration, that simply says quietly, confidently, this is a campus that basks in the light of God's Word and where everyone tries to reflect, as best we can, the understanding, kindness, respect that is due all of us, and to live in ways that manifest our respect also for the Gospel message and the teaching of Christ's Church.

Earlier in The Joy of the Gospel, he told us that the evangelizing disciple renews his or her own faith and this includes the deepening of that faith through the quiet moments of prayer and then stands confident in its truth. One of the great joys of life is to know you stand in the truth and that while we are constantly searching for a deeper realization and understanding of that truth, we are already spiritually united to the source of all truth – our Lord.

But then our Holy Father goes on to tell us that the evangelizing disciple then shares the Good News. Going back to the homily of Canonization, the Holy Father quoted the motto of Junípero Serra, “Always forward.” May that be the motto of all of us as this new academic year opens. Always forward.

Our challenge in this Year of Mercy, in this year of basking in the memory of the visit of Pope Francis to our campus is to accept the challenge

1. to go out.  
   He asks us not to remain closed-in on ourselves, to remain focused on the affairs of the Church, but rather to reach out and meet people who should be with us and who are not.
   I often find at the Easter Vigil, when I am speaking with those to be received into the Church or in the process leading up to their reception into the Church that many times when I asked what brought you to this point, the answer is very simply, “Someone asked me, someone invited me.”
2. to encounter
   We need to be able to meet people and to engage in that faith conversation with them. I recognize that this generation of college-aged adults is much more comfortable talking about really significant things including their spiritual life than many people of my generation were. You can take advantage of that reality of life today and actually being to encounter people on their spiritual journey, their faith journey.
3. to accompany
   Here we face the challenge of walking with someone who may not have the same rich appreciation of the faith that we have or claim to have.
   This approach shows an openness to engage people rather than simply pass judgment on them.
4. to engage
   Not only do we attempt to walk with people, we want to engage them in the beauty and wonder of our Catholic faith. 
   You and I believe that Christ is risen, that he walks with us and that we can touch him, reach him and be with him in the Sacramental life of the Church. We need to have the confidence to say this when we are accompanying someone, so that we actual engage them in the life of the Church.  

And this brings us to the last point in the challenge to go out, to encounter, to accompany and to engage, and that is the realization that in this whole process both of us, all of us, are getting closer to the Lord Jesus.

What a wonderful year this will be as we all go forward, always forward in being who we say we are and in trying to live out our declaration that we are The Catholic University of America and that life on our campus will always reflect the love of God, the forgiveness of Christ and the enlivening, energizing power of the Holy Spirit.