Page 13 - The Gonzaga Record 1990
P. 13
HOMILY AT 6th YEAR GRADUATION MASS
Gonzaga Graduation Homily: Friday I June 1990
Fr Bruce Brad ley SJ - Headmas ter of Belvedere
(Gospel: John 17,20-23)
··Holy Father. I pray not onl y for these ... ··
Gathered with the Class of 1990 on thi s so lemn evening, the last time
they will ponder on th eir coll ecti ve journey through the years of sc hool
as an entire group and the years that li e ahead, we pray for them ...
thi · is a turning-point, the end of an era- a familiar world, not always
loved perhaps but familiar and , often, we hope, loved, is being left behind ,
inspiring nostalgia fo r a past whi ch is now memories and th e rea li sa ti on
that childhood will not return and things will never be the sa me agai n;
inspiring, too, regret for lost opportunities, di sappointed hopes, talents
unfulfilled . hi gh id eals of honour and truthfulness and generosity and
un selfi shn ess sometimes betrayed .. .
We pray for them as they leave all thi s behind , let it go, let themselves
be forgiven fo r th e pas t and whatever painful memories left behind be
healed.
We pray for them, too, as they fac e th e unknown future-the future
of the Leaving Certificate, locked away in the boxes in Fr Sexton's office,
but also the future lying beyond the Leaving, alluring, excitin g, promising
possibilities of liberation and adventure and fulfilment, but st ill
un certain. . .
We think of Yeats's lines:
''What youthful mother, a shape upon her lap
Would think her son, did she but see that shape
With sixty or more winters on its head ,
A compensation for the pang of hi s birth,
Or the uncertainty of hi s setting forth? "
We pray for them as they face a new world, which those of us who
are older cannot completely imagine and will not completely comprehend
when it comes about, not least through the agency of young people like
these who graduate tonight. ..
We pray very specially in gratitude for all the goodness and grace which
has blossomed in them - all the wonderful human poss ibilities wh ich
have appeared in them - unique in each one.
We pray in gratitude for the great public accomplishments and the
obvious human gifts and talents, known and remarked on by everyone.
And we pray too for the hidden goodness, the hidden kindnesses never
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Gonzaga Graduation Homily: Friday I June 1990
Fr Bruce Brad ley SJ - Headmas ter of Belvedere
(Gospel: John 17,20-23)
··Holy Father. I pray not onl y for these ... ··
Gathered with the Class of 1990 on thi s so lemn evening, the last time
they will ponder on th eir coll ecti ve journey through the years of sc hool
as an entire group and the years that li e ahead, we pray for them ...
thi · is a turning-point, the end of an era- a familiar world, not always
loved perhaps but familiar and , often, we hope, loved, is being left behind ,
inspiring nostalgia fo r a past whi ch is now memories and th e rea li sa ti on
that childhood will not return and things will never be the sa me agai n;
inspiring, too, regret for lost opportunities, di sappointed hopes, talents
unfulfilled . hi gh id eals of honour and truthfulness and generosity and
un selfi shn ess sometimes betrayed .. .
We pray for them as they leave all thi s behind , let it go, let themselves
be forgiven fo r th e pas t and whatever painful memories left behind be
healed.
We pray for them, too, as they fac e th e unknown future-the future
of the Leaving Certificate, locked away in the boxes in Fr Sexton's office,
but also the future lying beyond the Leaving, alluring, excitin g, promising
possibilities of liberation and adventure and fulfilment, but st ill
un certain. . .
We think of Yeats's lines:
''What youthful mother, a shape upon her lap
Would think her son, did she but see that shape
With sixty or more winters on its head ,
A compensation for the pang of hi s birth,
Or the uncertainty of hi s setting forth? "
We pray for them as they face a new world, which those of us who
are older cannot completely imagine and will not completely comprehend
when it comes about, not least through the agency of young people like
these who graduate tonight. ..
We pray very specially in gratitude for all the goodness and grace which
has blossomed in them - all the wonderful human poss ibilities wh ich
have appeared in them - unique in each one.
We pray in gratitude for the great public accomplishments and the
obvious human gifts and talents, known and remarked on by everyone.
And we pray too for the hidden goodness, the hidden kindnesses never
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