Speeches by President DeGioia

Baccalaureate Mass 2007

Healy Lawn
Georgetown University

This is a very special moment. All of you are poised between an ending and a beginning—the ending of your current studies on the Hilltop, and the beginning of the next stage of your life’s journey…a journey that will be of the mind, the heart, and the spirit. You are transitioning from the life you have known at Georgetown, to one that may be very different.

This same idea—of transitioning to a new and different life—resonates through today’s reading for the Feast of the Ascension. The first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, provides a narrative of the Ascension of Christ. The second reading, taken from Ephesians, speaks of Christ already having left his disciples and seated at God’s right hand in heaven. And the Gospel from Luke tells us simply, yet eloquently, “As he blessed them, he parted from them.”

Jesus’ departure and ascension into heaven was both an ending and a beginning for his disciples. While it marked the end of his physical presence with his beloved followers, it signaled the beginning of Jesus’ presence with them in a new and different way—in spirit…a relationship that continues with all of us today.

For most of you, Commencement will mark the end of your daily physical presence on the Hilltop. But the spirit of Georgetown—of your personal Georgetown experience—will always be with you…it will just be lived in new and different ways.

At the core of the Georgetown experience lies our Catholic and Jesuit heritage. This is now your heritage. And it is a heritage that brings with it profound responsibility:

Your heritage challenges you always to remain thoughtful, reflective, and intellectually curious… to promote peace and social justice… to never forget that global equality is the moral imperative of our lifetime… and to accept responsibility not only for your own development, but also for the collective development of the human family.

This is a living heritage that I trust will always compel you—in the Spirit of St. Ignatius Loyola—to engage in the world…to discover how you can contribute…and to live lives of meaning.

This weekend, as your time at Georgetown comes to a close with this liturgy, I ask you to take a brief moment, while you’re still physically here, to reflect on what a rare and remarkable privilege it is to study at a place like Georgetown; it is an opportunity enjoyed by so few in this world. As you walk through Healy Gates, remember that you take the spirit of Georgetown—like the spirit of Jesus that went with his disciples—with you no matter where you go. And as you transition to this next, this new and different, stage of your life—as you continue on your journey— never forget that we are proud to have you as part of our community…to have you as part of our heritage…and to have you as part of the Georgetown family.

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Mass Reflection