COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
May, 2000
We’ve all come to Holy Cross from different places, for different
reasons, and with different expectations. We’ve all had a variety of
experiences, some good…some not so good. And now, here we stand together for
the last time, with an array of hopes, on the brink of going our separate ways.
While our paths may never cross again, we will forever be linked by a common
thread; our time here at
There is a reason why each of us was
called to Holy Cross, whether it was the academics, community, location, or as
a stepping stone in our college education. Whatever the reason, Holy Cross was
part of God’s plan for each of us. If we take the opportunity to reflect upon
our time spent here, we will be able to recognize all of the unanticipated
blessings that we have received. (What we have learned, those we have met, and
how we have grown and become stronger.) I’m not suggesting that Holy Cross is
the perfect place, for it certainly is no Utopia. However, we must all admit
that it is a pretty nice place, that
it has helped us, in some way, in developing ourselves and growing into better
and stronger people. After recognizing these blessings, we will have a glimpse
of God’s plan unraveling in our lives. For some reason, (probably still unknown
to us), it was better for us to be at Holy Cross during this time in our lives
than anywhere else.
The whole purpose of college and the
learning experience is not solely the pursuit of information, opinions, and
facts. While it does encompass these
aspects, the main purpose is the pursuit of truth…the objective truth that
everyone recognizes to exist but very few people actually come to grasp. Our
pursuit of truth doesn’t end with a diploma, but it will continue on through
the rest of our lives. We have only begun our pursuit of truth. It is in the
finding and embracing of truth where we will find our true happiness. Truth
will ultimately help us to discover the meaning for our lives, and it will help
us to recognize the plan God has for each of us.
However, I would like to warn you
that this pursuit for truth will not get any easier…it will only get harder!
People can easily be deceived by the presence of evil in the world, which can
lead us astray so easily. The lust for success, money, power, and material
possessions has become so prevalent in the world today that we have started to
become immune to it. The media has abandoned almost all morals in the quest for
popularity and good ratings. Don’t fall into these traps! The greatest way for
our lives to be overcome by evil is for us to be unaware of the evil in the
world. So we should recognize the presence of evil in our lives and resist the
temptations to give in. We can use the valuable lessons that we have learned at
Holy Cross and the lessons we will continue to learn in the future to overcome
these deceptions. We should always stay focused on the pursuit of truth and
doing God’s will and everything else will fall into place for us.
If we ever feel that we are clueless
about some aspect of our lives, (choosing a college major, finding a spouse,
deciding on a job), we should remember to place our trust in God. If we do
this, He’s not going to let us fall flat on our faces. He loves us and knows
exactly what’s best for us. If we had our whole lives planned out exactly,
where would God’s plan fit in? We have to leave some room for God to work in
our lives and, more importantly, invite Him to be active in our lives. Don’t
just live your life the way that you want to live it…this could so easily
result in the domination of worldly lusts. We should strive to live our lives
the way that we believe God would want us to live them.
I heard an analogy earlier this
semester at a talk I went to at Notre Dame which has helped me to place my
trust totally in God. Consider the following situation. You go out one day and
buy a computer. You get it home and set it up. In the box with the computer is
an owners manual which explains to you everything you
should and should not do with the computer in order for it to function properly
and live the longest life possible. For example, the manual might read, “Don’t
put your computer in water.” You don’t say to yourself, “Who are they to tell
me what to do with my computer? I’ll
do what I want.” You, the consumer, read these instructions carefully and take
them to heart. You recognize that the manufacturer of the product knows the
product better than anyone else. Well, the same thing applies to us. God, our
manufacturer, knows us better than anyone else. He knows exactly what will make
us prosper, what will make us happy, and what is best for us in the course of
our lives. So, just like we would listen to the manufacturer of the computer,
why wouldn’t we listen to Him, the “manufacturer” of us? Unfortunately, God
doesn’t provide us with an owner’s manual, so in order to hear what He wants to
tell us, we need to shut our eyes to the world and open our hearts to Him, and
little by little, He will lighten the way, (not all at once, but STEP BY STEP).
As we walk away from