Families Gather For Baccalaureate Mass
The Baccalaureate Mass is the traditional beginning of Senior Week. On Friday, June 3, the class of 2016, their families, and the faculty and staff of The Prep gathered at St. Edmund Church to celebrate mass, to give thanks to God, and to pray for our seniors. Below is the video and a reprint of Fr. David Dettmer's homily delivered at the Mass.
“So many faces in and out of my life, some will last, some will just be now and then.
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.”
Those are lines from a Billy Joel song from the 1970’s (Say Goodbye to Hollywood - 1976). Your parents would remember that…some of them. But I think of it often on occasions such as this at this time of the year, when we gather for baccalaureate masses and commencement exercises. But, they are by their very nature times for goodbye. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because every goodbye, no matter how sad or sorrowful they may be or joyful, in many occasions, contains within it an opportunity to look back upon the people and events and places that brought us to a particular moment in our lives. Tonight is such an occasion along with commencement exercises in a couple of days. It is a time to look back, for you I think, upon these last four years. I hope that as you do that, and reflect upon the passing of those years that most of your experiences at St. Edmund High School have been good ones and will leave you with fond memories. It’s a time to think about the people who brought you to this moment; your parents, your families and friends, your teachers. I hope you have the opportunity at some point, in some way, to offer to them a word or a gesture of thanks for all that they have done for you to bring you to this moment.
But, behind every goodbye, or rather, ahead of every goodbye is the opportunity for another hello. That is what each of you has as you leave St. Edmund Prep and go on to college or careers; wherever the immediate future takes you. An opportunity to meet new people, experience new things, go new and different places. And I join my prayers with the prayers of your families and friends, who have gathered here this day, this night, along with the faculty and staff of The Prep, that those will also be experiences and people who will be good. But, that will happen in large part if you make up your minds now to strive as much as you can to make good choices in your lives; good choices for yourselves, for your families and your future families, for your current and future friends. And I think that becomes easier to do if we surround ourselves with good people. If you can do that, than it’s easy to make good decisions. If you can do that, than it’s easy to feel the strength and support that come from people who share your values, who share your hopes and ambitions, who share your vision for your future.
And, so, I’m afraid it is time for goodbye again in these next few weeks. But, as you think back upon the past four years, I hope the lessons learned and the experiences gathered will help you in your new hellos; to do exactly that, to surround yourself with good people and to make those good choices. But, in every goodbye and in every hello there is, I believe, one constant. And that is the presence of God in our lives. Remember that He is with you always in what you do. Remember that you are surrounded by His love, His grace, and His mercy, even in those moments when, perhaps, you don’t feel that way. Remember that your God is with you always. In the midst of the goodbyes and the hellos in your life, know this last thing; that you have and always will have a home at St. Edmund Prep. I hope that you will make use of that home and come home frequently to rekindle those relationships and those experiences with all of those people who have brought you to this moment.
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and it is time for goodbye again. But, though it may be bittersweet in many ways, it is also a very joyful occasion, for we celebrate life, we celebrate love, we celebrate the eternal presence of a God who is with us always in all of our hellos and in all of our goodbyes.
Those are lines from a Billy Joel song from the 1970’s (Say Goodbye to Hollywood - 1976). Your parents would remember that…some of them. But I think of it often on occasions such as this at this time of the year, when we gather for baccalaureate masses and commencement exercises. But, they are by their very nature times for goodbye. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because every goodbye, no matter how sad or sorrowful they may be or joyful, in many occasions, contains within it an opportunity to look back upon the people and events and places that brought us to a particular moment in our lives. Tonight is such an occasion along with commencement exercises in a couple of days. It is a time to look back, for you I think, upon these last four years. I hope that as you do that, and reflect upon the passing of those years that most of your experiences at St. Edmund High School have been good ones and will leave you with fond memories. It’s a time to think about the people who brought you to this moment; your parents, your families and friends, your teachers. I hope you have the opportunity at some point, in some way, to offer to them a word or a gesture of thanks for all that they have done for you to bring you to this moment.
But, behind every goodbye, or rather, ahead of every goodbye is the opportunity for another hello. That is what each of you has as you leave St. Edmund Prep and go on to college or careers; wherever the immediate future takes you. An opportunity to meet new people, experience new things, go new and different places. And I join my prayers with the prayers of your families and friends, who have gathered here this day, this night, along with the faculty and staff of The Prep, that those will also be experiences and people who will be good. But, that will happen in large part if you make up your minds now to strive as much as you can to make good choices in your lives; good choices for yourselves, for your families and your future families, for your current and future friends. And I think that becomes easier to do if we surround ourselves with good people. If you can do that, than it’s easy to make good decisions. If you can do that, than it’s easy to feel the strength and support that come from people who share your values, who share your hopes and ambitions, who share your vision for your future.
And, so, I’m afraid it is time for goodbye again in these next few weeks. But, as you think back upon the past four years, I hope the lessons learned and the experiences gathered will help you in your new hellos; to do exactly that, to surround yourself with good people and to make those good choices. But, in every goodbye and in every hello there is, I believe, one constant. And that is the presence of God in our lives. Remember that He is with you always in what you do. Remember that you are surrounded by His love, His grace, and His mercy, even in those moments when, perhaps, you don’t feel that way. Remember that your God is with you always. In the midst of the goodbyes and the hellos in your life, know this last thing; that you have and always will have a home at St. Edmund Prep. I hope that you will make use of that home and come home frequently to rekindle those relationships and those experiences with all of those people who have brought you to this moment.
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and it is time for goodbye again. But, though it may be bittersweet in many ways, it is also a very joyful occasion, for we celebrate life, we celebrate love, we celebrate the eternal presence of a God who is with us always in all of our hellos and in all of our goodbyes.