Commencement Mass
Before we knew that Bishop Zinkula
would be our commencement speaker, he was to be the homilist for this Commencement
Mass, as is our custom here. You may
have noticed that in your worship aids.
But given that we will get to hear from him a little later today, we
thought we would lighten his load at least a little bit. And so, I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for
me this morning.
“It was not you who chose me, but I
who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.”
The Gospel passage that we just heard
is very familiar to us. If you’re
thinking that you just heard that somewhere recently, you did! This was the Gospel for just this past
Sunday, the Sixth Sunday of Easter. But
in looking for possible readings for this Commencement Mass, my fellow campus
ministers and I felt that this passage captured beautifully what this day is
all about. Also, if repetition is indeed
the “mother of all learning,” it doesn’t hurt a bit for us to hear this again.
Today we are charged – we are “appointed”
– to “go and bear fruit that will remain.”
This is especially so of our graduates, who in a few short hours will
“commence,” will start forth from this place that has become a second home for
them on the next leg of their journey, whether that is in further study or in
the workforce. Of course, our graduates
are also, in some sense, the “fruit” of others’ labors. No doubt, no one knows this more than the
parents in the Chapel this morning. These are your children, whose
ultrasound images you held up in wonderment and proudly displayed. These
are your children, who you held and nursed and laid to bed. These
are your children, who you first taught to ride a bicycle and whose skinned
knees you cleaned and dressed and kissed.
These are also your surly
teenagers, who you had to practically drag out of bed and explain for the
“umpteenth” time that piles on the floor did not constitute a “system of organization”
for their clothes. These are your children, to whom you gave the gift of life, who you
raised and taught and loved. These are your children, who all too
quickly were not children at all, but
truly young men and women of character and integrity, as we have had the
privilege of knowing them during their time with us here. “Go and bear fruit
that will remain.” What beautiful fruit you have born!
Now, that I have all the mothers
crying, there are some others who have also shared in bearing this “fruit” –
certainly grandparents, siblings and other family members, but also your
teachers, professors, administrators, mentors, coaches, (I hope) campus
ministers, and close friends. To all of
them, too, I say, what beautiful fruit
you have born in these graduates!
But
here’s the thing about fruit: fruit has
seeds, which in turn have the capacity to bear more fruit. And so, as much
as we rejoice in the “fruit” of these graduates in having completed their
degrees, they’re not done yet! They’re just getting started. I suppose that is why we call it
“commencement” and not “completion.” As
much as we rejoice in the accomplishments of these graduates today, in a sense,
today should be less about what they
have already done and more about what
they will do. I for one am very
excited about that. What fruit will they yet bear and will it be
fruit that remains? I pray it will be.
At this point, I would like to address
our graduates in particular. How, dear
graduates, can you be sure to produce
that fruit that will truly remain? There is more than ample wisdom on this in
the readings we have just heard. I would
direct you first to that list of virtues from St. Paul’s letter to the
Colossians. He says, “Put on, as God’s
chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Of these I would single out a few in
particular that I think are very important.
First, humility. This is perhaps
the most misunderstood virtue in our times, but it is the foundation of all
other virtue, the “garden,” if you will, in which all of the other virtues
grow. Humility is not self-deprecation, beating ourselves up,
“putting ourselves in our place,” nor is it “milk toast” timidity, or hand-wringing
bashfulness. In fact, at times these can
actually be twisted forms of pride, “fishing for compliments” or relying solely
on other’s approval for our own sense of self-worth. No, humility is none of these things. Humility is understanding who you are in relationship to God. Humility says, simply, “God, you are God and I am not.” Humility says, “I don’t know; teach me.” Humility says, “I am the servant of the Lord,
may it be done to me according to your word.”
Humility, acknowledges that we are not ourselves the source of our own blessing. Isn’t this precisely what we prayed in the
opening prayer for this Mass? Bishop
prayed these words: “O God, the Father of
every gift, we confess that all we
have and are comes down from you; teach us to recognize the effects of your
boundless care.” This is humility. Be cloaked in this virtue so much so that it
is a second skin, and I promise that you will bear abundant fruit and fruit that
will remain.
I would also point out from this short
list patience. Not everything happens in the time in which
we might like it to happen. Not
everything has to be as we would like it right now. Be patient. You don’t have to have that “dream job” right
out of college. You’re not a “failure”
if you don’t have the “perfect situation” right
away. You aren’t expected to have everything figured out now just because
you are a college graduate. Again, be
patient. Of course, you know that the
root word of “patience” is passio,
the Latin word for suffering. And so, be prepared for that too. Waiting, struggling, toiling, suffering –
that’s all part of the process as well, as undoubtedly you have already begun
to understand during your time here.
This passio, this suffering
need not be in vain. In fact, it is only
wasted, if you waste it. Place it on the altar, unite it to the
perfect passio, the perfect suffering
of Christ crucified, and it will bear fruit in time and in eternity, I promise.
Last, but certainly not least, from
those virtues that St. Paul lists: love. He says, “Over all these put on love, that is, the bond of
perfection.” And this is no mere
emotional love, over which we have no control.
After all, St. Paul says to “put on” this love. I can no more “put on” a purely emotional
love than I can cause it to rain or stop raining. Emotional love comes and goes as it
pleases. But this love, a love that we can “put on,” is a choice, a choice for the good. This is the love that makes the hard choice
because it is the right choice, even
at great personal cost.
This is the same love that Jesus is
talking about in the Gospel when He urges us to remain in His love by keeping His commandments, and when He says,
“No one has greater love than this, to
lay down one’s life for ones friends.”
There is no lesson in all of your upbringing and education up to this
point that is more important than this: to actively seek the good, the true and
the beautiful and to lay down your lives in service to others. There are many ways of doing this, as you
know, but to do this in some way
every day is, I think, the key to “bearing fruit that will remain.” And I hope that, above all, your time here at St. Ambrose has taught or more firmly
rooted you in this love.
Our mission states that, “St. Ambrose
University – independent, diocesan and Catholic – enables its students to
develop intellectually, spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically and
physically to enrich their own lives and
the lives of others.” “And the lives of others….” What is this but another way of saying, “Lay
down your lives for others…go and bear fruit that will remain?”
Graduates, know how happy we are for
you, and how proud we are of you. Know
too of our continued prayers for you and that you always have a home here at
St. Ambrose. May God bless you so that
in humility, patience and love you may go forth to bear fruit that will remain
now and forever. Amen!