Bishop Cullen, Father O’Connor, and all of you who are associated in any way with the Allentown College family, I am pleased to be here for this happy occasion, and honored to be asked to preach on today’s scriptures.

Allentown college of St. Francis de Sales is a Catholic institution. That means many things, principally among them is this: it engages in higher education from within the living context of a vibrant faith in Jesus Christ. This college has as its patron a great saint and doctor of the Church who jointed a superior and gifted intellect to a deeply personal faith, and then placed both at the service of the human family for its lasting betterment.

It is appropriate, then, during this inaugural liturgy of the College’s Third President, Father Bernard O’ Connor, that we reflect a little on his role as President from the context of both faith and Salesian spirituality.

The readings chosen for today’s liturgy speak to the essentials of that faith. First Peter, for example, speaks of our new birth unto hope which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus.

We can only imagine the unspeakable joy of Mary and the apostles when they experienced the crucified Jesus now risen and glorified before them. It did not take them long to realize that that wonderful event shed saving meaning upon his ignominious death on the cross. In light of the resurrection, the cross is now seen for what it truly is: the instrument and channel of present grace and the sure foundation of lasting glory. It is a saving victory, not only for believers but for all of creation as well. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we are promised new heavens and a new earth.

The fact of faith means that every earthly endeavor must be undertaken in such as way that it betters the human condition so as to ready it for the transforming glory which awaits it. This must also be the faith context of a Catholic institution. In this context, learning is never an end in and of itself. Nor is it ever simply a means to better the economic and social condition of its seeker. Rather, for the believer, knowledge gained is always somehow to be placed at the service eof others and of the entire created order. In this way, learning and accomplishment will help to transform human life into the arena of God’s saving grace and human history into salvation history.

As President of Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales, Father O’Connor will be called upon to serve this community of learning in many, many ways, from the pursuit of excellence in academia to skilled administration, fund raising, building and expansion of every kind. But above all that, he will be called upon to deepen this institution’s Catholic character so that it builds minds that lift and care for the human spirit and prepare creation for its transforming perfection in Christ.

This is, by and standard, a daunting task. Which is why the readings today bring such comfort. The prophet Isaiah speaks God’s word, not only to the people of his own time but to our new President who will be inaugurated today: "Fear not, I am with you…I am your god, I will strengthen you and help you."

Father O’Connor, in the days and months and years which lie ahead; in the midst of so many challenges great and small; in your tireless ministry on behalf of this College community which has been served so well by your two predecessors, by your Oblate confreres and by so many gifted and generous colleagues, take comfort in knowing that you will shoulder this service not alone, but with a God who is very near to you and who comforts you with his strength and help. Listen and take courage from what Jesus proclaims in the Gospel today: "Do not be afraid of anything!" God is near. And this work is his work. Since you will be aligned wit him in will and purpose, success is secure.

Let St. Francis de Sales serve as a model for you. He dedicated himself to the pursuit of Christian perfection by the practice of virtue and by daily communion with God in prayer and sacrament. Each day he went from that comforting and prayerful presence with god into the routine of his relational life with others. He was, thus, both a man of learning and a man of prayer, placing both at the service of others so that they, too, might find Christ, reach perfection and , in turn, become themselves instruments of betterment for others and for all of creation.

We all appreciate the importance of learning in a college president. He must be a leader among those who seek truth. We Oblates are equally convinced, because of our Salesian heritage, that he must be a man of prayer as well. Let me explain.

Our Patron, St. Francis de Sales, was captivated by the Song of Songs. In its story of reciprocal love between God and each human person, he saw the only appropriate prism through which to fully grasp the ministry of God’s relationship with us. Tenui nec dimittam means: "I have laid hold of you and I will never let you go!" God whispers those words to each of us; we, in turn, whisper them to him. They tell of a burning love which forms out of two hearts but one heart and which fashions from tow wills but one will.

Any effective Salesian leadership begins in the quiet familiarity of prayerful union. It is nourished there, where the heart learns directly from god how much he loves us, each of us, even by name, and where we hear his word to us and heed his will for us, not our of fear or force, but simply because it is the Lord, our Beloved, who asks it of us. Through the transforming furnace of daily prayer, we are refashioned into what he wished to make of us, becoming increasingly the vessel of his will among those with whom we share life. Salesian leadership of any kind begins in the still, quiet moment of prayer, cor ad cor, heart to heart. And it frequently returns there for nourishment, strength, guidance, and support. In prayer we become pure capacity for good and, as such, truly effective channels of his foot-washing love for others.

A leader in the Salesian tradition, then, draws strength daily from the Hear of Jesus through prayerful communion with him. Through the years he remains faithful to that source despite the pull and tug of increasing responsibilities and even greater demands on both his time and his energy. He knows, almost instinctively, that he can only really be of service to others if he becomes ever more totally a vessel through which god draws near to them. And that can only happen through prayer.

This must be true of you, Father O’Connor. And it surely will be if, like St. Francis de Sales, you bring your considerable gifts to the transforming place of prayer, learning there from God himself how to use those gifts in service to others, specifically to the trustees, students, faculty, administration, alumni and all those associated—past, present or future—with the faith community of Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales.

In acting in this manner, this college will not only bear of the name of the gentleman saint; it will also make tangible in the lives of those who sever here his double dedication to the love of god and to the loving service of others. May you, its new President, lead those you sever here in bother word and example!

And may you be strengthened each day in this endeavor by the word of scripture, by the bread of life, by the transforming power of prayer and by the continual pursuit of knowledge which you will then place generously at the loving service of this community.

We congratulate you, Fr. O’Connor, and promise you our prayerful support. We join you in your efforts to deepen the Catholic character of this college and to bring the Christian humanism of its Patron to those it serves so that, with them, we may lead all creation to Christ!