ROME, OCT. 12, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Participation in the Eucharist “gives us the strength to apply the truths of our study to daily life,” says the grand chancellor of the University of the Holy Cross.
Bishop Javier Echevarría, prelate of Opus Dei, gave that counsel at the start of the academic year of the pontifical university.
He presided Monday at the Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Basilica of the Apollinare. During the Mass, he received the traditional profession of faith of the university’s faculty.
On the eve of the start of the Year of the Eucharist, the prelate said that with this sacrament “we are given a new principle of energy to begin a new academic year of joy and generosity.”
Bishop Javier Echevarría urged students to “put the charity of Christ at the summit of your intellectual work.”
“May the study of the sacred Scriptures help Christians to respond to the challenges constantly posed by life, with a comprehensible language and with the example of personal life,” he said.
The prelate had a special thought for Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá and founder of the university.
“May Don Álvaro help us to discover the smiling and encouraging face of God,” he said. The cause of beatification of Bishop del Portillo opened a year ago in Rome.
Later, the university’s secretary-general, Monsignor Alfonso Monroy, reported on the activities of the academic year 2003-’04. He said 1,376 students were enrolled, including 593 in the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences.
