The following is a transcript of Bishop Caggiano’s homily, given Thursday morning Mass at St. Augustine, to graduating 8th graders in attendance.
Good morning, everyone.
First and foremost, welcome all of you to the Cathedral here at St. Augustine’s. This, my young friends, is the mother church of the diocese, the oldest parish, and this is the church from which the entire unity of the diocese comes. For those of you who have never been here before, welcome home, for this is your home, and it will always be your home.
Allow me to begin by just offering you my personal congratulations. In a few weeks, I presume you will all be graduating and setting off to the next chapter in the adventure of your young life. I know I speak for everyone, your teachers, your principals, your parents, to say we are all very proud of you and all that you have accomplished. It was a lot. You’ve done it successfully through hard work and perseverance, and because many have loved you along the way and helped you. So congratulations. I also imagine, now maybe I’m wrong, but I also imagine that you’re coming to these last weeks of your elementary school education with some mixed feelings. Is that fair to say? I’m sure you’re excited about going to high school wherever you have chosen to go.
You’ll have much more to learn, experiences you would never have in elementary school. You will make new friends, and you’ll begin to forge your path towards college. And please God, whatever career God has in store for you, it’s exciting. But it isn’t also a bit sad, to be able to leave a place you have called home? Some of you, perhaps for eight, nine years, 10 years. Classmates you’ve grown up with, some of whom may be coming with you to the school you have chosen, and perhaps may not be. I’m sure everyone makes the resolution, We’re going to keep in touch, and we’re going to keep in touch, and we’re going to social media, and we’re going to keep doing, and we’re going to get together. I hope that’s true, but life sometimes gets in the way, especially when you start high school and realize you will have even more to do in high school than you ever had in elementary school. There is a bit of mixed feelings, and that’s normal. My young friends, this is perhaps the first great transition in your life. You will have many others as you get to my age.
You always have to remember that the Holy spirit is with you during this time to help you, to seize the opportunities before you, and to give thanks for everything he has given you up to this point. For graduation looks back and looks forward. Now I have to ask you a question. What are the things God has given you these years in elementary school? What are the gifts you bring to high school? I’m sure there are many. First, you’ve all had a first-rate education. You have learned and beginning to learn the depths of the truths of this world, which was created beautifully by God in a universe that is even more beautiful. You can spend your entire life learning more and more about the truths that govern the natural law, our lives, and the way God wants us to live together as sisters and brothers. You’ve begun to learn all that, and that’s a great gift. You’ve also have made friends. And some of you will be friends your whole life, which is a great gift. My closest friend I met in second grade, and we still keep in touch from prehistoric times to now. And then there is the gift of your faith.
For you came into school with your faith as a seed in your heart. And these years, the people who love you, your teachers and principals, have helped to water that seed so that you may begin to open your eyes to see not just the beauty of the world, not only the beauty of the universe, but the beauty of God’s life who dwells in you in the power of the Holy spirit. And that spirit, as I said, is always there, as your faith will always be the rock of your life. But there is one gift I want you to consider because there’s one gift you may not necessarily immediately recognize that you received these years. It’s the gift I want you to think about over the summer because it is extraordinarily important that you remember you have it and you use it so that high school is a happy, prosperous, joyful, fruitful time and not one that can lead you in the wrong direction. And that gift is wisdom. Because wisdom and knowledge that comes from books are not the same thing. You see, my young friends, you have learned many things about life, but you have also begun to learn how to live life and to live life well.
That is wisdom. And wisdom comes to us through the gift of the Holy spirit. It’s an intuition. It’s a way of looking at life. It’s a way of looking at the people around you. It’s a way of appreciating all that is as part of your life. It is a divine gift, and each of you have it since baptism, and those of you who are confirmed received it even more in confirmation. I want you to consider that it is there for you, and you are called to allow it to grow so that you can be truly successful, not just successful in the eyes of the world, but to be successful in the eyes of God. You may say, Bishop, well, what does that look like? What does that look like? You say, I have this gift and you want me to develop it in high school. But what does a wise person look like? Oh, my gosh, I could paint a picture. We’d be here till dinner. I’m just going to give you three examples. Example number one. A wise woman or a wise man knows that truth comes in many different forms. If I were to ask you, do you love your mother or father?
Do you love your grandmother or grandfather? Whoever else you may love in your life, that’s not something you can prove. That’s not something you can measure. That’s not something that the world says that you can demonstrate, like in a scientific test or hypothesis or a math formula. All those are important, but you know it. You know it. And wisdom is a person who seeks love, to love those around them, to do what’s good for them, even those you do not know, even those, believe it or not, you do not like, even those who will oppose you. You’re going into a world that wants you to believe if you can’t measure it, if you can’t If you can’t prove it, if you can’t buy it, it’s not worth it. You have begun to learn the opposite is true. The things of the spirit, the things of love, Those are what makes a person truly wise. It is no different that a wise person knows that your friends are not the people you choose just to hang out with. It’s not the people who happen to be in the inn who are the most popular, the ones that you walk with them and everyone thinks you’re the best thing since slice bread.
They’re great, lovely. They could be your friends. But a friend is someone you can trust, someone to whom you can tell your story of life and know that they will continue to walk with you. My mother used to say, a wise person, you want to know what type of person you are? Look at the friends you keep. When you go to high school, I’m going to ask you, remember Consider what you learned here in our schools, in your school, your elementary school. Choose wisely the people you spend time with. Make sure they are people you can trust, people who are interested in your good, people to whom you can truly speak from the heart, people who are your good companions, people who you can spend a lifetime together, walking through life together. That’s the difference between living like the world does, knowing what you think you could get out of someone and being wise. My young friends, you have every gift and talent you need to grow into women and men of great distinction, of great success. You are all capable of becoming leaders in the years ahead. God has given you those gifts, and through the love of your teachers, you have those gifts.
I’m going to ask you, as you celebrate your graduation, as you start packing up, as you get swept up with the excitement of the life to come, when you enter into high school, bring the gift of wisdom with you. Open your mind, your eyes, your ears, to all that you will learn, not just out of books, but from the hearts of those around you. And most importantly, my young friends, remember to pray every day, every day. Ask God to guide you, to accompany you, to make his presence felt in you, even when you’re challenged. Because if you want to grow in wisdom, prayer is the greatest way to do that. My friends, congratulations. As I said, we’re all very proud of you. And go on to high school and continue to make us proud of you as men and women of wisdom in the power of the Holy spirit.
