Celebrating a Jan. 27 Mass at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory urged students to appreciate the education they have received at the school and to support it in the future.

“We have to share from the bounty that we have acquired to make sure that other people are equally successful,” the cardinal said, adding that alumni who support their Catholic schools “applaud the hard work and success of our schools and institutions from which they have benefited.”

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the spike in cases of the omicron variant of the virus in the community, the Mass was offered in the school’s chapel with what Cardinal Gregory called a “small but worthy gathering of students and faculty.” The Mass was streamed over the school’s YouTube channel.

The cardinal offered the Mass as the school celebrates the 70th anniversary of its 1951 founding by Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle, then the archbishop of Washington. The school’s John Carroll Mass also commemorated the birthday earlier this month of its namesake, Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States who was born Jan. 8, 1735 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The Mass was also offered prior to the start of Catholic Schools Week, which this year is being celebrated Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. In 1789, then-Bishop John Carroll became the bishop of Baltimore, and that diocese then included all 13 original states. Also in 1789, Bishop Carroll founded Georgetown University, the first Catholic university in the United States.

Concelebrants of the Mass included Father John Mudd, himself a 1961 graduate of Archbishop Carroll and who works in the school’s advancement department, and Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in Washington.

Cardinal Gregory, referring to the Mark 4:21-25 Gospel reading from the Mass, said, “When I hear this Gospel, I often think of those occasions when the successful alumni come back and share with their generosity with the institutions that have permitted them to be successful. Those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

“You and I probably have all seen stories where very successful sports figures, actors or actresses, or public persons come back to the community and make generous donations. They realize, I hope, that their success has allowed them to be generous, but it’s also required them to be generous,” he said. “That’s what this Gospel is a reminder of. If we have received a lot – and let’s face it, all of us have probably received a lot – then we in turn are required to make a contribution, a gift of our resources, our success to the places, to the people that made it possible for us to succeed.”

He reminded students that at Academy Award ceremonies and other events of public recognitions of accomplishments, “people often start (and say), ‘I’d like to thank my mother, I’d like to thank my parents, and my coach.’ We’ve got to do more than simply thank people verbally, we have to share from the bounty that we have acquired to make sure that other people are equally successful.”

He said, “That’s really the lesson I hope our young people hear and heed, that as you leave Archbishop Carroll and go off to your futures and colleges and workplaces and jobs and you accomplish great things – which we expect of you! – that you then become generous and caring and supportive of both the institutions and the people who have made it possible for you to be successful.”

Calling his visit to the coeducational Catholic high school sponsored by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington “a personal joy for me,” Cardinal Gregory noted that he is “very, very grateful to all who work so hard and so generously to make Archbishop Carroll the wonderful learning and spiritual place that it is.”

During the prayer intentions at the Mass at Archbishop Carroll, Cardinal Gregory prayed for peace in Ukraine, one day after Pope Francis had asked the world’s people to pray for peace in that country as more than 100,000 Russian troops have mobilized at its border.

“And let us this day also continue to remember the people in Ukraine who are living in this moment with the possibility of violence, but through our prayers and our concern, we hope they will enjoy peace, prosperity and hope. For all the people in the Ukraine, let us pray to the Lord,” prayed Cardinal Gregory.

Larry Savoy, the president of Archbishop Carroll High School, thanked the cardinal for celebrating Mass at the school, and called the liturgy “a reminder that prayer stays the most important thing we bring to our students.”

Cardinal Gregory promised to return to the school and noted that “my great prayer and hope is the next time I gather with the Carroll community, we can do it face to face – all together – with all the energy and noise that young people can generate.”

Afterward, Archbishop Carroll students who attended the Mass said they appreciated what the cardinal told them.

Carroll senior Kassidi Auld, who read the responsorial psalm and prayer intentions at the Mass, said, “It’s always a blessing when the cardinal comes and blesses us with his presence.”

Kingsley Ndukauba, a Carroll junior, said, “It was a very powerful message. It empowers young people to pursue their dreams and make a difference in the world. It helps people come together as a community and make a connection.”

Carroll sophomore Bianca Ward Washington, who read the first reading at the Mass, said, “I appreciated how Cardinal Gregory was talking about going back to people who help you succeed in the future.”

Summing up the cardinal’s message, Carroll senior Leslie Ponce said, “It’s about remembering your roots.”

(Mark Zimmermann contributed to this article.)