Graduation Prayers and Speeches

Coming Soon

Coming soon

May the peace of Christ be with you all.  I bring greetings and blessings from Fr. Thomas and the faith community of Our Lady of the Airways and the Church.

Let us begin as we always do at Ascension with the sign of our faith. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Dear God we thank and acknowledge the Mississauga’s of the Credit First Nation for being the ongoing stewards of this traditional territory.

Today, I look upon each of you with the eyes of God. Seeing you as gifted and talented individuals set to embark on new journeys. Set to test your wit and your smarts in academia or entering the real world. May you always look at yourselves and others with God’s eyes and not through the eyes of the culture which tells you that your worth is based solely on your accomplishments and achievements. May you know that God sees you as His beloved child whose life has purpose and meaning. 

God’s beloved child who is meant to love and be loved for what God created you to be. A beloved child whom God gave the gift of free will to choose what is right and just, to serve and to love anyone. I pray that with that gift you may make informed choices, infused by both faith and reason, always choosing life over death, in living and advocating for a culture of life where everyone has the opportunity to learn and thrive according to Natural Law.

I pray that you may continue to grow in faith and come to know God. Come to know God, as I have shared and tried for the last three years, at mass, on your retreats, in prayer, in your faith communities, and in conversation. I pray that when real life happens in the joy of success and in creation and in the sorrows of disappointment and death, you may remain rooted in faith. May you always know that Christ walks beside you wiping your tears in celebration and in grief.

I pray that you come to know God in a very intimate way which goes beyond understanding the structures and rules of religion, but to continue to discover the TRUTH and BEAUTY of Christ and His Church. Know that faith in God begins with a commitment to having a relationship with Him where your actions spring forth from God’s love for you and you for him. I pray that the Holy Spirit always keeps you in the wonder and awe of God’s grace, in the knowledge and wisdom to seek out the TRUTH, and the courage to always do good and avoid evil. May those who, like myself and many present today, be filled with and embrace the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon you in Baptism and confirmed at Confirmation to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ and when we fail to do good find the healing grace of Reconciliation to do better the next day.

May you always listen to the Holy Spirit who urges you on to look at each other as God sees you. To know that we are not to be seen or used as objects for self-pleasure and gratification. We are more than our posts on snap chat or instagrams. We are a people who do not need our lives filtered by apps. You are a human being whose only identity, which will matter in end is that you are were created by God to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Lastly, my deepest desire for each of you is that you learn to live your life like the Blessed Mother who knew how to silence her heart and mind. A silence that is not the silence of indifference or obligated obedience, but the silence of contemplating before acting. Reflecting before sharing. May you learn to unplug yourself from the digital world so you can hear and respond to God in the real world around you hearing the voices cry for peace and justice It is here, I pray that you come to know who you are and that God is real. God is present in the Eucharist. He is present in everyone you meet as I have witnessed in you, in the way you have defended your friends in time of adversity and in compassion when through the struggles of relationships and school. When you have been leaders in the school without asking for anything in return.  I pray that you remember that the best moments of your life have always been in the silence of your heart because there is the joy of the Lord.  Remember, the moments of silent joy when you saw that you succeeded on a test, when you fell in love for the first time, when a friend comforted you after heartache, and now like your parents, your hearts swell with anticipation as you graduate. May God keep you in His countenance, let Christ’s life, death, and resurrection light your way, and may the Holy Spirit always show you the saints in your lives so you may never be led astray or lead others far away from him so when you reach that blessed place, May God look upon you and say, well done my beloved trusted servant, for loving me, for serving others and showing true sacrificial love for all those you have served with to make all of Creation know the glory and joy of the Lord. Amen.

Coming Soon

Coming Soon