A quick search of my email shows October 2021 as the start of Franciscan University’s formal discussions about the expansion and renovation of Christ the King Chapel. Over the last four years, hundreds of emails dealt with that topic.
I found one email particularly telling. It contained notes from our initial meeting with MCF Architecture. The top note read, “Father Dave’s initial comments: ‘The time is now!’”
I had a strong conviction about this project. I believed God was opening all the doors for us to make the expansion and renovation of Christ the King Chapel a reality. But, after that first meeting, a staff member approached me and pleaded, “Father Dave, we’ve started and stopped so many times. Please, not again!” I assured him we would get it done this time. I said our campus community needed it, and many generous people seemed to agree.
So, it was a great gift to participate in the Solemn Blessing of Christ the King Chapel on August 17. The chapel was packed with faculty, staff, students, and donors, all in awe of the new chapel. Many walking in for the first time were moved to tears. It was such a graced moment.
From the stunning icon of Christ the King that greets every visitor to the baptismal font reminding us of our salvation to the crib, the cross, the tabernacle, stained-glass windows, terrazzo flooring, and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it really is beautiful.
But the chapel’s renewal extends beyond mere bricks, stained glass, and stone. It symbolizes a renewed commitment to keep Christ at the center of everything we do at Franciscan University.
Our chapel is where students begin their day in prayer, where families gather for baptisms and weddings, and where men and women say yes to their vocations. It’s where our community brings its deepest sorrows and its greatest joys before the Lord. It is where our sacramental life is lived out. It’s the locus of conversion.
Every weekday, at each of four Masses, the focus and attention of our community is on Jesus. Every Sunday, at each of the five Masses, the focus and attention of our community is on Jesus.
At a recent Sunday Mass, the chapel was packed. What was most touching for me—and I do not take this for granted—was that every seat was taken. I would dare say most priests have never experienced what I experience several times a week: a chapel full of young people.
Our students worship with a beauty all their own. Some lift their hands in praise; others with veil-covered heads bowed; still others with hands folded in prayer. Their voices rise in song as one congregation pouring their hearts out to God, participating generously, not watching passively. This, more than marble or stained glass, is what makes Christ the King Chapel so beautiful. It is the living Church, radiant with faith and filled with the joy of young disciples. I am so grateful God continues to shower our campus with his grace. I’m so grateful our students say yes and receive his grace. We are so blessed.
As I walk through the chapel doors each day, I am reminded of the generations of alumni who prayed there. I think, too, of the generations yet to come who will kneel in this space and discover Christ’s love in a profound way.
A beautiful chapel is not an end in itself. It is a sign pointing to the eternal beauty of God—who he is, what he has done, and what he will do.
So, I invite you to come and see. Walk through the doors of Christ the King Chapel. Let its art and architecture lift your heart. More than that, join our Franciscan community in worship. Come, experience the joy, the reverence, and the devotion of a student body that believes, that prays, and that loves. It will change you as it’s changed me. I promise.
To God be the glory!
Father Dave, TOR
