(Remarks as prepared)
Once again, welcome, everyone!
This is a momentous weekend for those of you who are graduating.
Of course, we call it Commencement Weekend because it marks the beginning. You are about to begin the next stage in your life.
But, before you do so, you will part company with friends and leave the familiar sights, sounds and, yes, smells of this campus. And those smells may vary in aroma depending on whether you lived in a men’s residence hall or a women’s residence hall. Believe me, I know. I am speaking from experience.
I do not know about you, but I have never found it easy to say “goodbye.” It seems so … final.
Instead, I suppose like many of you, I say, “See you later!”
I say “see you later” to people I almost certainly will not see later (at least not this side of heaven).
But, let me defend this way of parting company, that is, “See you later!”
I do think that in a certain way it speaks of Christian hope — the hope that in fact we will somehow stay connected.
That the bonds of friendship we have forged will not be broken by physical distance or completely erased by time … and that somehow, sooner or later, we will see each other again.
I certainly hope you will see each other again and again ON THIS CAMPUS that you have helped make special and sacred through the friendships you have formed … and, of course, Christians hope that, come what may, ultimately we see each other again in heaven.
However, on this side of heaven, my hope is that we always STAY CONNECTED. That we do our best to encourage one another during tough times, celebrate with each other in good times, and inspire one another to reach out to those in need. To be, in short, the people God has created us to be — the force for good that Father Sorin envisioned when he founded this University.
If you are like me, there are people in your life who are great examples of what it means to stay connected.
For me, my grandfather is one person who comes to mind. He was a tough guy. He was a warden at federal and state prisons for much of his career.
Long after he retired, when I was a kid, he would take me with him to visit Indiana State Prison, located in Michigan City, Indiana, my hometown.
The visit always began with a haircut in the prison barbershop, where I got a haircut whether I needed one or not … I had more hair then … I know it may still look like I get my haircut at the prison.
After the haircut, I would wait in the warden’s office while my grandfather would go back to the cell blocks to visit inmates/prisoners he knew from the time he was warden, 15-20-30 years prior.
It only dawned on me later how remarkable it was that my grandfather continued to visit these inmates he knew.
He stayed connected to them and took a sincere interest in them, and this was 10-15 years after he retired.
Knowing how hard it was for them to get their lives right after being released from prison, he even made a point of visiting them after they were released just to see how they were doing. He traveled up and down the state throughout the Midwest in order to do so.
My grandfather was a person of deep faith. And I have no doubt that it was his faith that inspired him to stay connected to and encourage them through the ups and downs of life.
In the Gospel of John that we just heard, Jesus says he must part company with his disciples. He has a parting wish:
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
Later in this same Gospel, Jesus encourages his disciples to remain in his love …
He tells them he is the vine and they are the branches. He urges them to stay connected to him and to one another …
Not in a way that closes them off from others, but in a way that always makes room for others.
The followers of Jesus are never to be a close-knit, inwardly focused, exclusive clique, but a cohesive community of diverse individuals always moving beyond their comfort zones in order to serve … a community that is always ready to welcome and always ready to give!
And, not long after this, in John’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “In a little while the world will not see me, but you will see me.” Which must have really confused them at the time.
In time, the disciples do begin to see him again. After the Resurrection, they see him, though it took them a while to recognize it was truly him.
After the Ascension and sending of Spirit, they develop the insight to see him in each other and in all people.
The first Christians went to great lengths to stay connected to each other. It was a matter of survival in a world that was at best indifferent or suspicious and, at worst, openly hostile to the message of Jesus. In the first reading we hear how Paul and Barnabas visited Christian communities to ensure that the individuals who were a part of them were connecting with each other in charity, to ensure that their connectivity was grounded in the message of love that Jesus proclaimed, and to ensure that all such communities were connected to and supporting each other.
Staying connected to each other is as important or more important as ever. And I don’t just mean staying connected via social media, though certainly that may be a valuable way to communicate. That’s easy and can be very superficial. Such connectedness is often very superficial and is all too often focused on trying to impress with professional achievements and accomplishments in ways that are not very healthy.
As we celebrate this Mass today, let us pray that God might help us to stay connected in ways that focus on the things that matter the most. Let our connectedness be deeper and substantial, grounded in charity and a sincere desire to be there for each other in times of need.
Father Hesburgh put it so well in his final charge to the class of 1987, my class. I was sitting out where you are now when Father Ted said, “Let us agree that we shall never forget one another. And whatever happens, remember how good it felt when we were all here together, united by a good and decent feeling, which made us better people … better than we would probably be otherwise.”
Let us stay connected to one another. Let’s not let physical distance keep us from connecting with each other, not in a superficial way, but in a deep and substantial way … a spiritual way.
Let us keep encouraging one another through good times and challenging times.
And, let us stay connected to God, who is always mysteriously present in the people around us and always seeking to connect with us, reminding us of his unconditional love for us, reminding us of who we really are, reminding us of what matters most in life, reminding us of our responsibilities to one another, and always speaking these words in our hearts: “Love one another as I have loved you.”