A Graduation Reflection by Cory Dixon

Graduation can be such a sad time. Of course, there is the joyful sense of completion, the excitement of moving on to new things, but there is also a sense of loss. Many of those who have accompanied you all this way, those to whom you have grown close—be they classmates, teachers or administrators—are leaving you or you them. And there can be the fear of what comes next. New expectations, new challenges cause excitement or trepidation. I remember when my first class of high school freshmen, grown after four years, left for college and the world beyond. Yes, they were excited, but they were uncertain as well. At that same time, I myself was leaving, moving from Detroit to Seattle, uncertain myself as to what exactly God might be calling me to next. I would have liked to but never got to share with those students a message of mission. So to you Sacred Heart students, as you leave for the next stage is your life’s mission, this is my valediction.

I think we can best make sense of this period of leaving by looking at the stories of the Ascension and Pentecost. It is interesting that graduations are always scheduled sometime around our celebration of those two feasts, for in the Ascension the apostles lost the teacher who had transformed them so dramatically and at Pentecost they were pushed out into the world to take what they had learned and live it out. They were certainly sad and fearful, but, as they learned, they were being called to something more.

Why did Jesus leave the apostles? Jesus left in bodily form so that they and we can be the bodily form of Christ. As Paul affirms (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12) and Vatican II reaffirms (LG #7-8), the Church is the body of Christ. The Church is the primary way that Christ is present in the world today, and it is for this reason that the Church is called by theologians “the basic sacrament.” It is because the Church is a sacrament that the rites of the Church are called sacraments, and those very sacraments are designed to make Christ continuously present through the Church. The Church has a saying, “the eucharist makes the Church,” and this saying reminds us that the point of the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Christ in the consecration is so that when we eat and drink them we ourselves are changed into the body of Christ.

As the apostles were staring at the sky, “two men in white garments stood beside them.” With their noses pointed upward, we might wonder how long it took the disciples to notice these dazzling figures in their midst. Perhaps not until the angels ask them pointedly, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” There is a tacit reprimand in that question: don’t you have anything better to be doing? Yes, Jesus was taken away, but, as the angels remind the disciples, he will return. In the meantime, they were not simply to be waiting around–they had a task given them. Jesus left his apostles with a mission, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That is what it means to be an apostle; the title “apostolos” means one who is sent. We, too, are called to be apostles. We, too, are sent out by Christ to preach the Good News of his salvific death and resurrection.

But Jesus didn’t leave his apostles to fend for themselves on this mission. Before he ascended, he promised them they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and ten days later the Spirit did descend on them, turning them from quivering cowards to bold proselytizers. We, too, have the Spirit descend on us in confirmation. In baptism, we enter the Church, and in confirmation, we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, receiving its gifts so that we may carry out the great commission of the Church. It is not just in confirmation, though, that we receive the Spirit. In the mass, there are two epicleses, two times when we call the Spirit down in blessing. The first is on the bread and wine at its consecration as it is turned into Christ’s body and blood. The second is on us, at our own consecration as we are turned into Christ’s body. The reason for the second blessing is so that we might fulfill Christ’s work for the Church. At the end of each mass, we are sent out to take the fruits of the mass and share them with the world. In fact, the mass is named for this very dis-miss-al, a sign that our miss-ion (that great co-miss-ion that Christ has given us) is at the heart of the mass. Every time we go to mass, we should remember the missionary work that is at the heart of the Christian life.

So, congratulations to you, Sacred Heart graduates! This is not the last graduation you will have, nor are you at this point really being sent out into the world. Nevertheless, as you take this next step in that process, use this time to think about the direction to which God is calling you and the gifts that he is awakening in you to fulfill that divine calling. What is it that inspires you? What future profession interests you, and how can you use it to share God’s message with others? Whether you find that your vocation is to the clerical or religious life or you discover you are called to live, married or unmarried, as a secular lay person in the Church, you are certainly called to be an evangelist and apostle. You are called to be the body of Christ to the world. Go forth, then, into this new stage of life without sadness or regret. Though your future path may involve separation from some of those people who have been meaningful in your life so far, the Spirit will lead you to new people who are eager to hear from you the marvelous things Christ is doing in your life.

May your path forward be blessed.

Cory Dixon
Faith Formation Coordinator
Sacred Heart Parish, Saratoga, CA