First, I wanted to let you know there will be no collection
today. I hope this makes you
parents happy as you have given enough money to the college the last four
years.
Also,
I have to admit I am a little terrified to be in front of you this
morning. The last time I was on
this stage with a packed house was in the Mr. CSS pageant while I was a student
here. I lost. To my best friend. It has taken years of therapy and
counseling to build up the courage to come back to the Mitchell Auditorium.
Congratulations
to our graduates. Completing a
four-year degree is no small task and we are all very proud of you for your
discipline, perseverance and dedication to your education. If you haven’t heard it before, welcome
to the world. Welcome to a life of
no more finals’ weeks, papers and exams.
Welcome to a paycheck which is soon to come.
You’ve
probably heard a lot of graduation talk recently and you will continue to hear
it today: “What’s next?” “Go out
and touch the world.” “Make a
difference.” Today I would leave
you with a different thought: why are you here?
I
mean this question on several levels.
First, why do you exist?
Why are you able to think, see and love? Why do you have the gift of health? Second, why did you spend four or more
years at CSS? What motivated you
to go to college, study and receive a degree? Finally, why are you at Mass this morning? It is a busy day with a lot going on
and you decided to come. Why?
I
suggest there is at least one common answer to all of these questions: God has
given you many gifts. He has given
you the gift of life. He has given
you cognitive and emotive abilities.
He has given you support from family, friends and teachers. And above all He has given you the gift
of faith.
There
is a basic principle in the Christian life—gifts from God must be given back to
God. Jesus Christ is the exemplary
model of this interchange. Jesus
is the greatest gift our world has ever seen. As God, he became man and spent thirty-three years on our
planet, healing, forgiving and teaching a long the way. Jesus gave us the gift of his own
suffering and death in atonement of our sins. Finally, Christ rose from the dead, giving us the gift of
victory over sin and death.
It
is fitting that we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension as part of your
graduation weekend. Christ’s
ascension is his victory lap of a mission accomplished. Now he returns to the place from which
he came—heaven. God’s greatest
gift returns to the Father.
You
are to take the gifts you have received in college—your education, leadership,
friendships and most of all your faith—and give them back to God. Today you are sent into the world to
consecrate it for the Father. Have
you ever noticed that each Mass concludes with the word go? Go in peace. Go forth, glorifying the Lord by your life. Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord. Today you are to go forth with God’s
gifts and give them back to God.
In a moment you will receive a lamp from the Sisters of St. Scholastica
as an image to remind you of this great call.
Two
thousand years ago a group of men and women—probably smaller in number than our
crowd here at Mass—received the gift of watching Jesus teach, forgive, heal,
die and rise. They did not hold
these gifts to themselves. Thanks
to giving their gifts back to God, we Christians are two billion strong around
the world.
Imagine
where our world will be in two thousand years if each of us takes the gifts God
has bestowed upon us and give them back to Him.
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