Baccalaureate Mass 2021

The bookends to every academic year are two celebrations of Mass: we begin each year with the Mass of the Holy Spirit and we bring closure when we come together during Commencement, with Baccalaureate Mass.

And every few years, depending on the liturgical calendar, we celebrate Baccalaureate Mass on Pentecost Sunday.

We begin each year remembering the conviction at the heart of the tradition of this University: the Spirit is present, here, now, always present, and will be present, in each of our lives, as we continue in our journeys.

In Paul’s Letter to the Romans:

“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness…that very Spirit intercedes for us….” (8:26-27)

We especially needed this conviction, this faith that the “Spirit intercedes for us” throughout these past fifteen months. 

And on Pentecost Sunday, this faith is reinforced. Can we imagine a better day in the life of the Church to celebrate “commencement” than on Pentecost?

Jesus is sending forth those closest to him with these words: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And then this most extraordinary gift—the gift that has changed our world—the gift that enlivens our every moment:

“…he breathed on them and said:…’Receive the Holy Spirit….’” (John 20: 21-22)

When you hear these words do you feel a sense of what Saint Ignatius calls “consolation”—a feeling of such profound resonance—an alignment—an intensity— a serenity—that we are where we are supposed to be—that we, too, have received this breathe—this gift of the Spirit?

No doubt there have been moments of doubt as we tried to come to terms with the unimaginable suffering from this pandemic.

Our patterns and rhythms, our expectations and plans—all disrupted by the radical uncertainty of the virus.

But our presence here, together, is a testimony to our faith—we are witnesses to each other that we are shaped by the conviction that we share: we are “all filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2: 1-11).

And while we may not be speaking in different tongues, we have all needed to find new ways of understanding, new ways of expressing the depth of our conviction, new ways of caring for one another.

Radical uncertainty requires radical empathy.

In the tradition that animates our University, we hope that during your years here you have had moments when you had a sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps you had such a moment when together in our weekly liturgies here in Dahlgren.

Or perhaps in your studies—moments when you knew that what you have grasped transcended your reading and writing.

Perhaps you felt the presence of the Spirit when on retreat or during a lecture in Gaston, or performing in a play or in athletic competition, or on an immersion experience on the US-Mexico border; perhaps in shared worship with our Jewish or Muslim or Hindu, Jain or Sikh or Protestant or Orthodox communities, or perhaps within a deep, personal relationship.

Much has been asked of you over these past fifteen months. I hope you were able at times to find consolation in knowing that you “walk by the Spirit.”

We are the beneficiaries of our membership in this extraordinary community—animated by a tradition that celebrated 500 years this past Thursday.

We see elements of this tradition captured in the banners that hang around campus and in practices—retreats, service, music—in which you have participated.

In closing, I wish to share some words from one of those resources, from the Preamble of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, The First Principle and Foundation:

The goal of our life is to live with God forever.  God, who loves us, gave us life.  Our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit.

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all these created gifts…For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening his life in me.

We strive to live our lives in this balance—with each decision, in every action, seeking this “deeper response to our life in God”—a God who loves us—a God who sent His only Son—a Son who “breathed” on us.

At times, it can be difficult to know which choice will lead “to God’s deepening his life in” us. It is in these moments—moments all of us have felt so acutely during these past fifteen months—that we can trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit—a Spirit that is guiding us, teaching us, directing us—“…the Spirit [that] helps us in our weakness…that very Spirit [that] intercedes for us.”

Sometimes you just know—you can feel the presence of the Spirit flowing through you. Other times you may struggle. But as you now prepare to “commence”—as you now move forward, know that wherever you go, you carry with you the resources of our faith, a faith that you may have deepened here, perhaps right here in this Chapel.

And wherever you may find yourselves, whether in moments of doubt, or of struggle—in moments of triumph and joy, if you close your eyes, if you find yourselves right back here, to this place to which you are forever connected, remember the deepest conviction that holds us together as a community: the belief that Jesus “breathed” on us and gave us the gift of the Spirit, a gift that is with us, always.