Seton Hall celebrated the investiture of Monsignor Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., on November 4, 2024. This essay was adapted from his investiture address.
As I formally begin my service as president, there is something I want to tell you about myself and an experience I would like to share with you. For more than seven months, I have been waiting to tell you what I treasure the most:
I love Jesus Christ.
I love being a priest.
I love Seton Hall.
Call it the Joe Reilly Trifecta.
When I use the word “love” in this context, it is a formative, foundational and creative love. It is a love rooted in faith that transforms and powers my life every day. These three expressions help define who I am and how I intend to serve the University.
I love Jesus Christ. I was baptized unto Him and His Church on August 15, 1965, a little over two weeks after entering the world. I’m the son of Peg and Ed, brother of Jimmy, Eddie and Thomas. But in my heart, I am His: Jesus the Lord and the love of my life.
My deep desire as I begin my services is that — as your priest-president — I will work wholeheartedly to make a gift of myself to this community after the model of Christ. More and more each day, I love Jesus Christ.
I love being a priest. I have had the desire to be a priest ever since I can remember. When I was younger, I felt God inviting me to receive this gift and to make it my own. Over the past 33 years, my trust in God’s grace has only grown. I have learned to trust that He and His People will sustain me as a priest.
I pray that my tenure as president will be an extension of that priestly call to animate the love of Christ. More and more each day, I love being a priest.
I love Seton Hall. Over half my life has been spent here. It is a place of encounter, education, enrichment, empathy and equity. But Seton Hall is not simply a place. It is a community of people, grounded in fundamental beliefs about God, the human person, the world and the underlying truths that sustain us all.
Because all of us love Seton Hall, I ask you to keep me focused on who we are: a Catholic University that is mission-centered, student-focused, collaborative and respectful — a community where each person’s gifts are welcomed. More and more each day, I love Seton Hall.
A Reflection
I would like to share an experience I have had again and again. The first time it happened was more than a year ago. I was walking across campus and climbed the steps to Presidents Hall.
And then it happened. I grabbed the handle of the outer glass doors … and there I was! I saw myself reflected on the glass. Black suit. White collar. Pirate pin. Balding head. Right in front of my face… was my face!
In that reflection, I saw myself as I am and as I’ve become:
A person with gifts and talents, strengths and weaknesses, ups and downs.
A priest who is now president, who hopes to serve effectively in this role.
A pilgrim who is on my way in the journey of life and the journey of faith.
And a Pirate, who is part of a community of people who love this place, are grateful for this place and want the best for this place.
That reflection has become a lens through which I see myself; I accept myself; I challenge myself; and give myself over to God’s plan for my life.
Perhaps this could be the lens through which we invite our whole community to do likewise. All of us are invited to see ourselves before God with our beauty and gifts that are awesome to behold. Then we are invited to accept ourselves with all our likes and dislikes.
Thanks to Seton Hall, we are also invited to challenge ourselves — to do better and achieve more, to refine and grow our gifts and talents. Finally, to discover why God brought us onto this planet.
Of course, it is to make something of ourselves. But not merely for ourselves — for others! To
make the world a better place — kinder, healthier, holier, more peaceful and compassionate. To make a gift of ourselves, in God’s name, with God’s help, for God’s glory.
My hope as I serve as president is that we can discover the truth of God’s plan for our lives, and have the strength and courage to live it each day.
