A Chaplain’s Thoughts: The Bread of Life
By Rev. James F. Quigley, O.P. ’60
Associate Chaplain, National Alumni Association
Many years ago, my friend Bishop Robert Barron ’13Hon. and I were invited to distribute holy communion at a Papal Mass in Rome. There were many thousands of faithful present, as is usual for Papal Masses.
We took our positions and lines of people moved forward to receive the Eucharist. As I stood there, clean hands, dirty hands, smooth hands, rough hands, white hands and black hands, young and old hands reached out for the host. If Bishop Barron or I moved from our spot, people would beg us not to leave. They cried out for holy communion, for the Eucharist, for the Body of Christ, for the Bread of Life.
I am reminded of that experience when I consider the impact of St. Dominic Chapel on the Providence College campus since its doors opened 25 years ago. The architecture, the stained-glass windows capturing the Dominican ethos, the alcoves, and the patio are among the features that capture your attention. The heart of the chapel, though, is the tabernacle on the altar where the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, is present. He is the soul of the Providence College community. Everything that this Catholic, Dominican college is, and everything that it does, is ultimately about Jesus Christ, the living Son of God. Our community of students, faculty, and staff, like those pilgrims visiting Rome, find nourishment for their souls in the presence of our Saviour.
Pope Saint John Paul II urged Catholic people to regain a sense of “Eucharistic amazement,” amazement that Jesus Christ would give us his body and blood, soul, and divinity and remain with us, be available to us, and intimately love us.
When you enter St. Dominic Chapel, you will feel that sense of amazement when you see students, faculty, and staff kneeling in prayer and adoration. On Sundays, you will see some 1,000 students worshiping Christ at Mass, receiving communion, adoring, begging, praising, and thanking the Lord. They believe they are fed by Christ and changed. The Eucharist is God’s love and, as Eucharistic people, they leave to express their love for their brothers and sisters.
This Easter, some 75 students will come to St. Dominic chapel for the Sacraments of Initiation – baptism, confirmation, and first holy communion. The doors of that holy chapel are always open to welcome those students, faculty, and staff who want to be part of the community, to be connected sacramentally through the Eucharist to the living Lord Jesus Christ.
As a very senior Dominican and former chaplain, I say to those of you who have disengaged from Catholic practice, struggle with belief, or doubt Catholic teaching, to “come and see,” to witness the beauty of the Lord’s presence at the spiritual heart of Providence College for these past 25 years. Come home to the Lord Jesus Christ.
