Baccalaureate Mass Homily
Delivered by
Most Rev. Martin Amos, DD,
bishop of the Diocese of Davenport
As we get older there is a place we might like to revisit, but no one can — that is our past. Certainly, we revisit it in our memories, but it can’t be visited to change it. Back to the Future was a movie; it’s not real life.
But, as you prepare to graduate, I’m sure you have looked back and remember. I would imagine your parents and family have looked backed and remember. I know Dr. Rogalski has looked back and remembers. I think the faculty looks back at you and remembers.
I would also image there are some thing you would like to forget. There are some things you have forgotten. All these are now a part now of your past. They can only be revisited in your memories and they can not be visited to be changed.
I remember finishing my master’s work in education and being so glad I was through with classes and lectures and quizzes and exams. Just when you think you’re through there are lectures in the form of homilies and commencement speeches. So, I don’t want to let you down. I’m going to give you a quiz to see what you have learned.
There are ten questions:
- Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
- Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
- Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
- Name 10 people who have won either the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
- Name the last six Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
These questions weren’t about second-rate achievers. These were the best in their field. They were the people who made the news, who were known by millions, who achieved greatness in the eyes of the world. But as you can see the applause dies and the awards tarnish, the achievements are forgotten and the accolades and certificates are somewhere.
Next five questions. See if you can do any better on these:
- List two profs who really taught you here at St. Ambrose and I’m not thinking about class material.
- Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
- Think of four people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
- Think of five people you enjoy spending time with
- Name six heroes whose stories have inspired you.
I would suggest that our degrees and honors don’t mean much by themselves. In not too short of time some will be tacked to a wall or stashed away in a box in the closet. But what you will do with your past — with the knowledge and the degrees and friendships and experiences, with the successes and failures — is important. If you only fit into the first five quiz questions they mean nothing. It you fit into the last five quiz questions you have really learned something.
What really matters in life?
What are my values?
In what do I truly believe?
What will bring me true happiness?
Oh, and there is a final exam as well.
There will be three essay questions that will be answered by looking at how you answer those questions and look at your past.
Am I in right order with God? “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you.’ Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”
Am I in right order with myself? I am created in God’s image and likeness. I am a vessel of clay, but I contain a treasure.
Am I in right order with others? He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least of mine, you did for me.'
Just as your past is your past, all you create today, next year and with the rest of your lives will be the answer to that final exam.
I began by saying you can never revisit the past so as to change anything. Actually, there is one place where the present can meet the past and change everything. That is here in Eucharist. May God who has begun the good work in these past years at St. Ambrose, bring it to fulfillment.
Let me end with a quote by Charles Swindoll that I keep on my computer: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.”