Rector's Dinner

SAVE

- THE DATE

The 29th Annual Rector’s Dinner: April 20, 2023!

Guests at the Rector’s Dinner Welcome Reception enjoy the pleasant April weather and each other’s company at the College’s Cortile degli Aranci.

Dinner is Finally Served

REV. MR. ALEX LANCON ’22, DIOCESE OF LAFAYETTE

For the past year, one date on my calendar has been circled in red. That day was not Tax Day or even the first day of finals—it was the Rector’s Dinner. Ever since I was given my first house job in the refectory, I knew this great event would eventually be mine to organize. However, the advent of COVID-19 threw a wrench in this neat timeline. For the next two years, the dinner’s date would come and go without a single guest filling the halls of the College. This year, however, would be different. Growing confidence in travel brought a tempered hope that this could be the year we restarted the dinner. As such, the team of students, faculty, and staff quickly got to work and made up for lost time. We consulted past documents for guidance, sought students to lead various groups, reached out to our beloved benefactors, and much more, all with bated breath until the week of April 28th arrived. The coast at last seemed clear once again. The guest list was set, the menu fine-tuned, and the seminarians fresh from our Easter break. The dinner would indeed take place.

left to right Very Rev. Peter Harman '99 (Springfield in Illinois) addresses guests at the Rector's Dinner; Seminarians prepare dinner plates for guests at the Rector's Dinner.

There was only one problem. How do we host the Rector’s Dinner? The deacon class was the last group to experience the big evening, while the remainder of the student body only held ideas from distant rumblings of years past. Nevertheless, the challenge was set, and I can happily say the College rose to meet it.

The week leading up to the Rector’s Dinner took on a life of its own, as did the refectory. The dining room was transformed from normalcy to banquet-ready. Early in the week, energized and motivated, the seminarians met with their respective group leaders (capi) and ran through their jobs in preparation. Everyone had a part to play. By Thursday evening, our doors were open again and familiar faces were welcomed back into our Roman home away from home. It was clear everyone felt comfortable here. At one point during the night, I looked out into the dining room and saw nearly half the people out of their seats, conversing with friends or making new ones, having an exceptional time celebrating the College. Any toil up to that point was worth it.

In truth, the Rector’s Dinner was more than a fundraiser this year. It marked a return to normalcy—a return to what it means to be human. God has imprinted his image within man and set him above the rest of creation. This means we do more than exist. Indeed, we can gather as fellow Christians, dine together at table, drink the fruit of the vine, laugh together, pray together, and support the mission of the Church together. We can be human again. To an outsider, the Rector’s Dinner may seem like mere fanfare. Yet in reality, it is a time for community, celebration, and support of what is most important—the mission of the Church—by none other than those who love her most. n