Between June 1 and June 5, I will have had the privilege to congratulate over 800 graduating seniors from Bishop Ireton, Bishop O'Connell and Paul VI High Schools. An exhilarating sense of camaraderie and anticipation is in the air at each of these celebrations. I would like to echo for our HERALD readers a summary of my reflections with these high school graduates.
Dear graduates, your energy, time and talents are gifts. You received them first from God and then from your parents, and they have been nurtured by you and many people along the way. You have faced many decisions regarding how to spend your time and energy, and how to use your talents for the benefit of others.
Over the past four years, you have used your time and energy well. You have forged a special bond with your classmates and teachers. You have experienced challenges and joys. You have been there for one another on tough days. You have been together to witness small successes as well as great miracles.
You have also been surrounded with great people who themselves possess talents and have vision. You have found in these great people a key to success which will serve you well not only in further challenges and joys in your academic and professional pursuits, but especially as you grow spiritually. You are in good company with this key to success. The Letter to the Hebrews refers to this: “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1).
The talents God has given you, talents you have nurtured and developed under the guidance of the Holy Spirit during these high school years, will enable you to serve your brothers and sisters in this life and prepare you and them for eternal life with God.
So as you go forth as sons and daughters of your school, continue to surround yourself with the great people of the past and present " the saints! Who are the saints but those men and women who give their time and energy to the Lord, and allow Him to be their guiding vision? Decide to be a saint of this third Christian millennium, because I can tell you that, in the words of one writer, “there is only one sadness, that of not being saints” (5).
You have used your time and energy well to lay a solid foundation in the midst of many great people over the past four years. Your classmates and teachers, coaches, staff and your principal, have become like family to you. Take a moment today to look them in the eyes and thank them for the ways in which they demonstrated Christ's love and vision to you.
Dear Graduates, on this joyful day, you are moving on! God is sending you forth " with all your energy, time and talents " into a challenging future to be great people, His disciples of the light. All of us gathered here to celebrate with you today are eager to watch your lives unfold. Do not hold back from God. Give Him your whole heart. Do not settle for anything less than becoming saints of this new millennium! Congratulations!
