Convocation kicks off St. Bernard's year

By SISTER KATHERINE HANLEY, CSJ- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

It was a festive evening when students, faculty, graduates and friends of St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry in Albany gathered at nearby St Vincent de Paul Church to hear Bishop Howard J. Hubbard speak at the opening convocation for the academic year.

Twenty trustees, administrators and staff came from Rochester for the occasion - among them, Sister Patricia Schoelles, CSJ, president of St. Bernard's; board chair Daniel Meyers; and Bishop Matthew Clark, a native of the Albany Diocese and retired bishop of Rochester. Prayer was fervent and music-filled; Bishop Hubbard spoke of his pride in St. Bernard's and his gratitude that the Albany Diocese has a fully-accredited graduate school of theology. He reminded attendees that Bishop Edward Maginn, an earlier pastor of St. Vincent's, had been one of the Council Fathers during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Bishop Hubbard had been a seminarian studying in Rome when Vatican II convened.

If, as historians note, it takes 100 years for the teachings of a council to be fully realized, we are only halfway there. The 16 documents of Vatican II are a treasure trove of gifts and riches - even though, Bishop Hubbard noted, we have not implemented all of them and in some cases there has been vigorous pushback.

He gave one example that startled and amused his listeners: The English translation of the new Roman Missal, although worked on by committees, scholars and episcopal conferences in the world's English-speaking countries, received more than 10,000 changes when it went to the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship, resulting in some language many Catholics struggle to understand.

The Bishop spoke of the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity" as returning the Church to its origins, with lay women and men involved in dozens of ministries and truly helping to build up the Church.

He added that one area in which this document has not been fully realized is the call of the laity to engage in evangelization. Our approach has principally been, the Bishop suggested, programmatic rather than pastoral: Many fine programs have been implemented, but often these benefit the already-churched.

The Bishop urged everyone to commit to the work of evangelization. He concluded with notes of hope: Much has happened as a result of the Second Vatican Council. We place our trust in the Spirit, moving forward in this Year of Faith.

The Bishop's conclusion set a perfect tone for the final part of the evening: an announcement by Sister Pat that St. Bernard's gift to the Bishop on the occasion of his anniversary and impending retirement is a contribution to the Hubbard Scholarship fund in excess of $38,000 - well beyond the original goal of $35,000.

The Hubbard Fund, begun on Bishop Hubbard's 20th anniversary as Bishop, assists students beginning their graduate studies at St. Bernard's. This gift will ensure that students seeking to study theology will receive this aid well into the future.

(Sister Kitty is associate dean and director of St. Bernard's.)[[In-content Ad]]