THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE
A Graduation Homily for the Class of 2020
Proverbs 4: 1-7; 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11; Matthew 5: 14-16
“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
Graduates, that’s a line from Psalm 118 and it is very fitting for this day, the day of your graduation . . . a day on which you and we look back and celebrate the years you’ve spent here at St. Therese: your academic success - the knowledge you’ve gained: of the world around you through the study of science; of the grandeur of words to express ideas through literature; of the interrelationship of numbers and concepts and formulas through mathematics; of the successes and follies of humanity through history; of the commonality yet diversity of the human family through the study of cultures in social studies and foreign language; of the strength and capabilities of the human body through your participation in physical education; of the creativity of the human mind to capture beauty through art and music; of the mystery of God and his overwhelming love for us in religion.
“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” as we celebrate YOU! – the outstanding young men and women that you’ve become . . . your talents, your values, your goodness, your kindness, your sensitivity, your personality, your sense of humor.
And although we mark this day differently than we ever have before because of circumstances that we never could have imagined, it gives us even more to rejoice and be glad over because, despite all that life has thrown your way in the last two and a half months, despite how life has been different, despite the disappointments and sacrifices you have had to make in your Eighth Grade year, you have handled it with grace, you have surpassed its roadblocks, you have met and conquered its obstacles. Yes. “This is the day the Lord has made.” And we have much to celebrate on this day of your graduation.
But today is more than just a day to look back and celebrate what has been. And it’s more than just a day to savor the present moment. For today is not just the day of your graduation . . . it’s the day of your commencement. It’s a day of beginning. Today you stand on the threshold of your tomorrows. Today, your future is inaugurated. What will that future look like? God, I wish I knew. All the pundits are saying that we’re about to embark upon what they’re calling “the New Normal.” What is the “new normal?” How will what we’ve been experiencing the past two and a half months effect how we learn, how we conduct business, how we interact socially, how we shop, how we recreate, how we worship in the future?
Is hiding our faces behind masks and keeping safe social distances between each other the new normal? Is all the evil that’s been demonstrated this past week: the lack of respect for human life, racism, the glorification of violence, the destruction of property all part of the new normal? Are the values that are often demonstrated on Tik Tok and other forms of social media the new normal?
Graduates, are you ready for the future that you commence today? Well, you are if you strive for two things that the readings you just heard talk about.
First, become WISE. As Paige read to us in our First Reading from the Book of Proverbs: “The beginning of wisdom is: GET WISDOM! Forsake her not and she will preserve you; love her and she will safeguard you.” WISDOM! What is wisdom? Well, if you look online you’ll find this definition: “Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgement.” And that’s a pretty good definition. But for a Christian, wisdom is so much more . . . so much richer.
Wisdom is a Gift of the Holy Spirit. You received it the day of your baptism. And it will be strengthened within you the day of your Confirmation. Listen to what Pope Francis has said about wisdom: “Wisdom is the grace of being able to see everything with the eyes of God - to see the world, to see situations, circumstances, problems, everything through God’s eyes. The Holy Spirit makes the Christian “wise,” not in the sense that they have an answer for everything, that they know everything, but in the sense that they “know” about God, they know how God acts, they know when something is of God and when it is not of God.”
Graduates, ask the Holy Spirit to grant you the gift of wisdom that teaches us to see with God’s eyes, to feel with God’s heart, to speak with God’s words, so that, with this wisdom, you will go forward to build our world, to build our Church, to build the “new normal” according to God’s vision, in God’s love, ever faithful to God’s Sacred Word.
Second, be LIGHTS. In the Gospel that Deacon Murphy proclaimed, we heard the challenge from Jesus to be lights to the world: “A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
The light you will want to shine will not be your own light; you will be mirrors that reflect God who is that light. This light must be expressed in your words, by your service to those in need, and in the example of how you live your life. YOU must become a GOSPEL. Everything you are, everything you say, everything you do must be Good News that proclaims Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life!
But I can hear what you’re saying: “Nice thought, Deacon Bruce, but how is that “the new normal?” Christianity has been around for almost two thousand years!” And in reality, in the real world, in the lived experience, in the mainstream of life, money, success, power, possessions, and prestige are the driving force in people’s lives, not Christian values. Christian values just don’t work” . . . BUT as British writer, philosopher and theologian GK Chesterton once wrote, it’s not that “The Christian ideal has been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
And so my friends, when you are lights to the world - when you are daring enough to be different; when you are strong enough to break away from the strong undertow of society and refuse to go with the flow; when you are brave enough to stand up for what is good, decent, noble, moral, true and just; when you are faithful enough to the values your parents have instilled in you; when you are wise enough that the lessons you learned at St. Therese’s are more than mere lessons in a book, but lessons for life; when you are committed enough to live what you and I prayed at the end of every prayer and you allow Jesus to live in your heart forever - then, it will be YOU: Paige and Jared and Thomas and Jack and Amelia and Emma and Frank and John and Themelis and Kyle and Grayson, then it will be YOU who will be creating the “new normal.”
Trappist monk, writer, theologian and mystic, Thomas Merton wrote this prayer. Let it be your prayer, O wise lights to the world:
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I trust you always. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
My dear graduates, this IS the day the Lord has made, and we DO rejoice in it. We rejoice in it because of all you have accomplished. We rejoice in it because of who you are. And we rejoice in it for all you can be and the difference you can make in our world. May God bless you. We are so proud of you.
