June 12, 2008

This Far By Faith

Take a Loving Look...

By Most Rev. J. Terry Steib, S.V.D.

At this time of year, we are into school graduations: graduations and commencement exercises from elementary school, high school, and university. Many of us will probably attend someone's graduation during which a diploma or a degree or a certificate will be presented to our graduates, signifying that they are qualified to move to the next level. For some, this means moving on to more study; for others, it means going to work. But whatever the circumstance, it means an essential and necessary change in life.

Graduations give us a chance to think about the accomplishments of our graduates. Commencement exercises offer us the opportunity to take a loving look at them and what we hope for them in the future.

During these weeks of graduations, I hear wonderful stories from our pastors, principals, and teachers about what the children in our Catholic Schools are doing. Parents of children receiving public and private school and university educations also share the successes of their student children with me, as do their friends. For example, it is wonderful to know that an entire class from one of our Jubilee Schools will be going on to Catholic middle schools, strengthening Memphis Catholic, Bishop Byrne and Immaculate Conception Middle Schools by their presence. It is marvelous to hear how many of our students from our parish schools are going on to all of our Catholic high schools. And, the number of the awards for scholarships for so many of the seniors graduating from all our Catholic High Schools is awesome!

While it was a sad week for Christian Brothers University because of the death of its president, Brother Vincent Malham, just prior to commencement, so many of the young scholars at the CBU will be going to law schools, business schools, working at companies as engineers, and preparing to be licensed teachers in the State of Tennessee. Scores of young people who are members of parishes all across the diocese will be graduating from colleges and universities like The University of Memphis, LeMoyne Owen, Rhodes College, and the University of Tennessee at Martin. It is a feast of intellectual, social and - yes - spiritual adventure.

If I were able to sit down and chat with every graduate, I wonder: what would I say to them? I could say the short, pithy things that speakers at graduations often say. I would hope to be able to inspire the graduates like the speakers who give commencement addresses do. But most importantly, I think I would urge the graduates to be believers, to have faith, to allow God to be God, and to know God as a friend. When Moses went up Mount Sinai for a second time to bring tablets to God so that God could inscribe them with the Ten Commandments, God told Moses who He was. "Lord, Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness." (Exodus 34:6) Our God is a God of love, and God is always faithful. This is God's covenant with us. And believing in the covenant is to have a personal relationship with God. This relationship may not always be scientifically provable; at times we may even wonder about the logic of it all; it may not work out precisely as we would wish. But deep within our hearts we know by faith that God exists and that God is indeed a God of tenderness and compassion. We know that our God is a God of love _ with a love that is unconditional. We can see it happening every day of our lives if we care to look at life with the eyes of faith. We know also that our God is faithful. Regardless of what we may do, or how sinful we become, God will be faithful to his covenant with us. "What an awesome God we have…" so the song says. How true that is! Our God is truly awesome because God remains with us always!

So, I would say to our graduates: as you begin a new phase of your journey, take a loving look at the God who looks so lovingly at you. As you journey on with your life, embrace in faith the love and faithfulness that our God gives to you. Take God with you on your adventure!