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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

Outlined against a dark blue September sky ...

Notre Dame reigned victorious this past weekend. No offense to Coach Kelly and the hard work of his entire team, but this is a contest that could not be won on any field, a contest no amount of turnovers could change the outcome of, for life is not just a game. Life is all we have. What I experienced this Sunday could have no proper post-game analysis. No television personality could critique it, for it truly was the work of the spirit, the work of the spirit of Notre Dame and the work of the Holy Spirit. On Saturday night, the entire campus, myself included, and the body that makes up the family of Notre Dame across the entire nation was looking out for one thing — itself. We were hoping, through means of a meager game, to increase our stock in this world. But no simple game combated on the gridiron will ever truly be able to do such.

Notre Dame reigned victorious this past weekend on Sunday night. Jesus was our quarterback, proclaiming "Touchdown" with arms spread wide open, exclaiming that he is "The Word of Life." In the shadow of Rockne's House, the Notre Dame community gathered together in memorial of all of those involved in what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. We followed Christ as he continuously leads not only the Notre Dame community, but all of humanity into "the endzone," participating in the Paschal Mystery, Christ's life, death and resurrection.

As our community gathered there sharing the candlelight with one another, we literally shared the light of Christ. We let go of our identity as the Fighting Irish and embraced our identity as members of the Body of Christ. In this gathering, we relinquished our desire for self-gratification and self-importance and found ourselves embracing the pain and sorrow of a world remembering tragedy. It is only in this losing of ourselves that we are truly able to become the people that we are created to be. That is what I felt on Sunday as we processed from the library to the Grotto. What I experienced as the trail of lights meandered to Our Lady made me more proud to be a part of the Notre Dame community than any athletic victory ever could.

I offer up a great thank you to Fr. Jenkins, Fr. Malloy, the Congregation of Holy Cross and the Department of Campus Ministry for allowing us this sacred expression of our identity as we learn to lose ourselves for the good of others. But there are many contests yet to be won. Let us continue to grow and be the light of Christ for one another, for other universities and for the world. Let us continue to pray for peace, and to remember all those that have suffered as the victims of terror, war, or any violence.

Peace be with you all,

Michael Urbaniak

grad student

Asst. Rector, Siegfried Hall

Sept. 11 


The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.