STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEECH

Michael Rea

May, 2001

Faculty, family, friends and fellow graduates, I am honored and grateful that I have been given this opportunity to speak with all of you today. When I found out that I was to give this commencement address, I was truly amazed, for I know that each and every one of my peers has had a unique and very personal journey through Holy Cross College and will take from this experience many and different lessons on life. My two-year journey here started like many others I’m sure, full of nervous excitement and unshakable doubt. This doubt I speak of was nothing new, but rather a lingering burden I chose to carry with me from those irresponsible high school days, when I knew everything except the remarkable truth. Prior to having been shown the long and winding road of this real truth, I, like so many others, was looking in all of the wrong places and at all of the wrong people for direction and answers. I took shelter in many outlets and ideas, most of which were not in line with the good moral life and provided me with no real lasting satisfaction. How could this be?

Today in our very country, there has been a death, a death of outrage, a death of morality, a morality that God gave each and every one of us as dignified human beings, His law written on our temporal hearts and immortal souls. Unfortunately for the youths of America, morality has become obscured by the glaring lights of the media and our now hollow shell we call “progress,” so much so that we as a society have become inoculated against outrage. Suddenly we have removed ourselves from the harmony of God’s Law and morality is understood to be a purely subjective preference by the individual. As a result of this disregard for an objective morality, which binds all people equally, we are no longer outraged by sin, as long as it is in the name of progress. How can we be outraged if there is no objective and true moral standard that is the measure of sin? We as a nation are not enraged by the possibility of Aldous Huxly’s Brave New World science fiction becoming a history text on the removal of human dignity from American society. Something is amiss.

So where then do we begin, how do we realign our lives in the way and order of God the Father and Jesus Christ His son in these confusing times? The answer, as my father would say is a simple one, with a swift kick in the pants. In other words, a wake up call, a full dose of God’s message on why to choose love and goodness in our lives over the terrifying consequences of ignorance. For my self, that radical awakening was Holy Cross. In a day and age when many young sheep are lost or are astray form the flock, Holy Cross, through God’s divine grace, is our meek and humble shepherd. In preparing for this address, I was forced to reflect, to look back not only on my past two years, but also on my last years in high school. I clearly remember my first day at Holy Cross two years ago and remember those feelings of distrust and doubt. Distrust in a college I knew nothing about, other than the fact that it has got to be one of the only colleges with a bright orange dinning hall and doubt about what Holy Cross even had to offer me. But I guess it’s easy to find fault in a small college tucked away in South Bend Indiana that lies in the shadow of such a well-known university.

However, standing here now, on my last day at Holy Cross, I realize that while Notre Dame may have its Golden Dome, Holy Cross is a golden opportunity. An opportunity to make lasting friends. An opportunity to learn the truth about life, love and morality. An opportunity to show God, our families, ourselves and other universities that we are now better and stronger students than before. Beyond our academic pursuits here, many of us, thanks to the tireless mission of Campus Ministry and the true presence of God, many of us have started a profound spiritual endeavor as well.

I remember back, last year up on third floor Basil talking with my roommate James about your typical college stuff: like the wonderful dinning hall food, the party at Turtle Creek or perhaps most of the time about why the Midwest is better than California. But this year, although we still do discuss Californian deficiencies, our longest and most incredible talks have been about God, about the future, about challenging each other to live better lives in the ways of our Catholic faith. I know that my roommates and I are not the only ones who have strengthened our relationships with God. Many of the students here who were lucky enough to go on a Spes Unica retreat must know what I am talking about. Aside from my new academic confidence, the most amazing gift that Holy Cross has given me over my time here, was not in the brochure or on their informative recruitment video. In fact it was something I did not even know I was looking for. Holy Cross showed me the essence and beauty of God’s message, wherein we find happiness and eternal salvation. This can only lead me to believe one thing: that the Holy Spirit dwells within these walls, and in the hearts of many Holy Cross professors. Any institution of higher learning can provide students with the skills required to solve complex math problems, remember history or understand classic works of literature, but it is much more meaningful to attend a school which freely and openly invites God into the class room. There is compatibility between faith and intellectual pursuit. It is no surprise that extremely intelligent men like Pope John Paul II, C. S. Lewis and Peter Kreeft ponder deep issues of faith and God. The more that we sharpen our minds in the intellectual aspects of life, the more apparent God becomes in all things. As our understanding of life deepens with intellectual endeavors, the dignity of human life becomes clear as well as its source. Our faith is the greatest gift our parents can give to us. It is a gift, a gift more powerful than any book or diploma, a gift that is strengthened through the sacraments of Baptism, the Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation. Holy Cross has given us the important skills to understand this faith more fully so that we, as members of a society and of a nation in need, can become tomorrow’s moral leaders wherever we wind up. Each of us comes from a different walk of life and will pursue a different path over the course of our lives. It is up to us to take this golden opportunity and carry it, to allow it to replace any of the doubts we may have.

I came to Holy Cross unaware of what life is really all about, why I was here, why my parents made me go to church every Sunday, where I would be in the future. Now, through countless hours of studying, lots of prayers and strong friendships, I am confident. Today I leave Holy Cross College with all of you, ready to take on the world and along with it any challenges that may lie in the future, across the street or even across the country. I leave Holy Cross today unafraid and unstoppable and thanks to God, our parents, our friends, and the Catholic mission of this wonderful little college with the orange dinning hall, so too will all of you. May God send his Holy Spirit down to guide each and every one of us into the future and throughout the rest of our days.

Thank you.