CDH Baccalaureate 09
CDH Baccalaureate 09 Congratulations to the Cretin-Derham Hall Class of 2009. Today you gather with your parents and guardians, family members and friends to celebrate a mile stone in your journey of faith, giving thanks to our God who has blessed you so abundantly.
Faith is a journey not a destination. Graduates, your very existence was given birth in an act of faith on the part of your parents, faith in themselves that they could give you most if not all of what you would need to arrive at this day; faith in God that their vocation as guardians of life and transmitters of love would be strengthened by spiritual blessings, material well-being and deeply held moral values. We are, all of us, products of homes that have nourished, of faith that has sustained, and of hopes that have endured.
Faith is a journey, not a destination. Graduates, as you have grown through childhood and teenage, you have received much. Those who have loved you have protected you from yourselves, from childhood risk-taking to adolescent missteps. You have been loved into learning by your teachers, coaches, friends, and classmates. You have been encouraged to love God on your own, and to embrace Jesus Christ as your daily companion. Though still young, you have been challenged by time: when to laugh and when to cry, when to build and when to tear down, when to be silent and when to speak, when to plant and when to uproot. Yet, with all that has been your life thus far, you have only just begun. Like all of us, you have one life to live and one life to give, with most of it still to come.
As you accept now the gift of future time, I offer two special prayers for you. First, I pray that you will embrace Jesus’ gift of the Eucharist. There is nothing more important in your journey of faith than genuine participation in Sunday Eucharist. It will keep you grounded morally and spiritually, and give you strength no matter the challenge or need. The Last Supper that Jesus left us as a memorial of his death and resurrection is the only lasting meal we can count on. We are saved in community. Get to Church. It will serve you well. Do not let the secular environment of our times nor the failures of religious institutions and people trick you into believing that organized religion has little to offer. Though still young, you are wise enough to know that no institution is perfect. Government, education, business, medicine, religion, –even family– deserve the best we can give them. When our institutions are healthy, everyone benefits.
My second prayer for you is this. For many of you, your college environment will promote science over faith. You know better. You know that both science and faith are God’s gifts and the world is blessed when they complement each other. You have learned that science answers when, what and how, but faith alone can answer who and why. Ultimately, who made you and why are the more important answers for your faith journey. Don’t ever forget who made you and why. That is my second prayer.
So, get to Church and keep the faith. Those are my two prayers for you. Do so and you will be an example in your love, purity, and self-control. Do so, and you will know the peace that God gives in the person and name of Jesus. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God and faith in Jesus. May Jesus live in your hearts, forever.