The Greatest Commencement Speech

Commencement speeches come and go. Most of you don't remember what was said at your own graduation or you might remember the feeling of being sent. One chapter closes, another opens, and suddenly your life is your responsibility.

Steve Jobs said at Stanford's 2005 commencement, that "the reality of our death is the most important tool for making decisions. Death strips away illusion, pride, fear, the need to impress, and leaves only what matters." It's a jarring thought, but an honest one.

Anne Lamott pushes in another direction at the 2003 Berkeley commencement. She said, "what you're searching for is already within you. You won't find it in success, money, or security, because those things never satisfy; there is always just a little bit more that we want..."

And Anna Quindlen at Villanova's 2000 commencement speech puts it bluntly: "get a life, not a résumé, not a polished image, but a real life. One where you notice beauty, love people deeply, and refuse to reduce your existence to achievements and metrics, because a résumé will not comfort you when you are suffering; only a real, rooted, relational life will."

These voices are powerful, yet they leave a deeper question unanswered: what is a real life?

As we reflect on Christ's Ascension, we are given an answer that is far more demanding and far more beautiful than anything a typical commencement speech offers. The Ascension is not Jesus leaving the world behind or performing a distant departure; it is a beginning!!! It is the honoring of the human person to carry the baton and become the hands, feet, and voice of Christ on earth!

You see, Christ does not disappear! He opens the door to heaven within us!! He enters the deepest place of the human person, the heart, and reveals that our life is not meant to remain on the surface. Our homeland is not limited to what we can see or achieve; it is found in communion with God.

If Christ were to give a commencement speech, it would not be "follow your dreams" or "be successful," but rather: live in a way that reveals glory, not your own, but God's!

This is what I imagine our Lord's commencement speech would be to us today:

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Dear Class of 2026,

As I ascend to My Father, I do not leave you, but I send you. What lies before you is not simply a future to build, but a life to become. And the life you are called to is this: to glorify God.

You may wonder what that means. The glory of God is revealed in the way you live, in your humility, your obedience, your willingness to love when it is costly. I have shown you the way. It is not the way of power or recognition, but the way of sacrificial love. This will be your greatest and most sacred calling, and it will also be your hardest.

You will carry crosses. Do not be afraid of them. I have shown you that the Cross is not the end. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world. Your crosses will not destroy you; they will reveal your true nature. They will teach you that you are My beloved sons and daughters, that your life has meaning, and that eternal life is not something that happens when you take your last breath but is experienced now, it is to know My Father and to know Me!

You will face confusion, suffering, and moments that make no sense. Remember this: life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. When you do not understand, enter that sacred space of your heart and pray, I will meet you there: "Glorify me, Lord, that I may glorify You." Let that prayer shape your life. In your struggle, in your uncertainty, in your weakness, offer yourself. And trust that what you cannot yet see is being transformed.

When you look at the world and see darkness, do not give in to despair. You will be tempted to believe that evil has the final word. It does not!! Do you hear Me? I am the Light, and you are called to be light. I am the Bread, and you are called to feed others. You are called to bring hope where there is despair, love where there is indifference, and truth where there is confusion.

To live this way, you must learn to live simply, to love generously, to care deeply, and to speak with gentleness. These are not small things. This is the work of heaven lived on earth.

You will fall. You will feel betrayed, exhausted, and even angry. You may cry out for your suffering to be taken away. When you do, know that I hear you. Come to Me honestly. Do not listen to false images of who I am. Know that I am with you. And I will send you the Spirit, who will guide you, strengthen you, and remind you that what seems like an ending may become something greater than you imagined.

So I leave you with this command, burn it into your heart, etch it into every fiber of your body and soul: love one another as I have loved you. Not partially, not when it is easy, but fully. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving. Put others before yourselves. This is not a suggestion, it is the path to life.

I call you My disciples. I entrust you with My work. Like my beloved daughter Teresa of Ávila once said, "you are now My hands, My feet, My eyes in this world." Receive the Holy Spirit. Go with courage. Live boldly. Love deeply. And know that: I am with you always.

With unending love, I call you My beloved.

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+Fr. Tom

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