InsightOut: A Special Day for the St. Mike’s Community
Fr. John Meehan, SJ, is the Interim Director of Mission and Ministry at the University of St. Michael’s College. He is an historian and the former president of the Jesuits’ Campion College and of the University of Sudbury. A graduate of McGill, Oxford, Johns Hopkins who holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, he is active in reconciliation work with Indigenous communities. He has worked in ministries with troubled youth in Mississippi, immigrants, prison inmates and people with disabilities. He is also a Visiting Fellow at St. Michael’s and Senior Fellow at Massey College.
Monday, September 29 is a special day for the St. Mike’s community. On this day, we celebrate Michaelmas to honour our patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel. This feast dates from the fourth century and, in some countries, this semester is still known as Michaelmas term, reflecting the significance of this tradition.
St. Michael is also the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Toronto and many institutions in the city are named after him, including a beautiful cathedral, a major hospital and several schools and parishes. The name “Michael” comes from the Hebrew meaning “who is like God?”, inviting us to reflect on the spiritual dimension of our lives and our community.
Our college community, rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, welcomes people of all traditions and cultures to explore the spiritual dimension of what it means to be human. We celebrate the diversity of our community, creating spaces of dialogue and encounter in our search for truth and justice.
As I reflect on this day, especially in my new role as interim Director of Mission and Ministry, I see how the tradition of Michaelmas connects so well to not only our past but also our common values today, in particular:
Caring Leadership: As chief of the angels and archangels, St. Michael evokes our value of caring and compassionate leadership. In scripture, he plays a leading role in advocating, protecting and caring for God’s people. This inspires us to look after those entrusted to our care, particularly the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. As St. Michael cares for all people, we too are called to exercise compassion in caring for others, living out our holistic mission of caring for the whole person, mind, body and spirit. This includes care for our vulnerable planet, our common home, as Pope Francis encourages us to do in his encyclical Laudato Si’.
Struggle for Justice: Often depicted with a sword, St. Michael traditionally battles a dragon, which represents the forces of evil. In our world, we too are called to be fully engaged in the struggle against the evils of poverty and ignorance, oppression and indifference. This reflects Catholic social teaching on human dignity, justice and solidarity, as outlined in Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti. Since angels are divine messengers and intermediaries, we are not alone in this battle: God hears the cry of the poor and sends us to support one another in the struggle for justice and the common good.
Culture of Inclusion: St. Michael is one of seven archangels present in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, calling to mind the rich diversity of our college community. In such a way, he invites us to find God’s presence in other traditions, serving as a bridge between people of all cultures, religions and spiritualities. He inspires us to go beyond ourselves and our particular traditions to find God in others, to create spaces of respectful listening and dialogue where we enrich one another in our pursuit of “goodness, discipline and knowledge”, in the words of our college motto.
As we celebrate our patron saint, we renew our commitment to be servant leaders who care for others and our common home; people who fight for justice and find goodness and beauty in our own tradition as well as those of others.
I look forward to celebrating with you at the Michaelmas liturgy on Monday at 12:00 pm in St. Basil’s Church, where faculty will don their regalia for an academic procession and Mass. Celebrations will continue outside on Elmsley Lane where student clubs will have food trucks, cake and games. Two distinguished members of the St. Mike’s community will be honoured by being added to the Legacy Wall in Brennan Hall. A special concert of sacred music by St. Mike’s Schola Cantorum on Friday, October 3 in St. Basil’s Church will be an additional highlight of our celebrations. All are welcome to attend.
Together, let us honour our traditions, our common values and our distinctive community at St. Mike’s. Wishing you all a wonderful Michaelmas celebration! May St. Michael inspire you to be an angel for someone in need.
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