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“I said, ‘I want to make Thomas Aquinas a pilgrimage site. I want people to be able to see not only this great campus, but also this magnificent chapel,’ because I wanted everyone to see that I was blessed enough to have you be part of my flock.”

“It's wonderful that we are in this chapel during this Jubilee Year of Hope, when, in fact, I, through the gift of the Holy Father, had the privilege to be able to designate pilgrimage sites within the Diocese, which with it attached a plenary indulgence for those who fulfilled the requirements,” Bishop Byrne said in his homily. “And so — perhaps with a bit of hubris and maybe holy pride — I said, ‘I want to make Thomas Aquinas a pilgrimage site. I want people to be able to see not only this great campus, but also this magnificent chapel,’ because I wanted everyone to see that I was blessed enough to have you be part of my flock.”

In his homily, Bishop Byrne spoke on the theme of the Jubilee year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” touching on topics of reconciliation and pilgrimage. “The Catechism tells us that hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness.” His Excellency said. “It is the vision of nothing else but Heaven itself.”

Following Mass, Bishop Byrne bestowed a special papal blessing on all in attendance. “The other chaplains and I agreed this was a ‘super-blessing,’” he joked. Afterward, he joined students and faculty for lunch in Gould Hall.