bishop_mass.jpgOn Monday, August 25th, Bishop Michael Mulhall officially opened the Academy’s ninth academic year.   The mass was followed by a special celebration dinner and address by Academy president Dr. David Warner.

During the mass Bishop Mulhall directed his homily to the staff and students as he spoke about the sense of hope which a new school year brings. He referred to the sight of fresh faces and the embarking upon new studies as part of a continuing rhythm of life. He spoke about the “exhilaration of the first days” when we have a “goal before us appealing to something noble within us.” Especially within the context of faith, he said, the studies teach students what is important in life. Referring to the holy temple of the Old Testament, he said, “It’s not the gold that’s important. It’s the sacredness of the place that makes the gold important.” In this way, he indicated that the studies are important because of their eternal significance as they help people live a more fully human life. In this way, a liberal arts education becomes a tool to realize what’s important and what’s not important in life. He stated, “It’s a gift that never goes away.”

faculty_before_bishop.jpgDirectly after the homily, sixteen faculty and adjunct faculty members of the Academy teaching staff knelt before the bishop at the front of St. Hedwig’s Church. They made a Profession of Faith and swore an Oath of Fidelity, pledging to faithfully uphold and promote the teachings of the Catholic Church through their example and work as professors.

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Faculty making Oath of Fidelity

During the dinner that followed mass, Academy president Dr. David Warner addressed the students with words of hope and encouragement for the upcoming year. He stated that it will be a “year of new beginnings,” and said that the Academy will push students towards greater academic excellence. Nevertheless, he also emphasized that these efforts must be kept within the wider, more important context of Christian perfection. In this way, he explained how the studies should give people a further and more profound understanding of how to properly live their lives and reach the ultimate goal of Heaven.

Pointing out the goal of the Academy, he quoted Ex Corde Ecclesiae by John Paul II, saying, “Catholic ideals, attitudes and principles penetrate and inform university activities in accordance with the proper nature and autonomy of these activities. In a word, being both a University and Catholic, it must be both a community of scholars representing various branches of human knowledge, and an academic institution in which Catholicism is vitally present and operative.”

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New students Sister Mary Catherine and Sister Mary Augustine with Bishop Mulhall