The following is an abridged version of a talk I gave to the 2021 high school graduates of our diocesan high schools. I ask that you share it with high school graduates from public and private schools:
Class of 2021. Graduates. Congratulations! You have recently emerged from one of the hardest, stressful, unusual periods in the modern history of our country. The coronavirus pandemic. Since March 2020 you managed to successfully walk that rough COVID-19 road, attend school, masked and observing social distancing protocols or attend virtually. Thanks be to God. We seem to be pulling away from the danger. A new day is dawning for society. Your graduation is a new day for you!
What have we learned from these past 16 months? Let me identify seven life lessons:
1) We are not ultimately in charge. Nor are scientists. Nor physicians. We admire and need their skills. But, we heard them admit, “I do not know.” Our political leaders, who too often appear to have all the answers, also admitted “I don’t know where this is going.” What’s life lesson Number 1? God is in charge. Learn to trust God.
2) We are all interconnected. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the same boat with all peoples. Those near and those on distant shores. All dealing with the same danger. What’s life lesson Number 2? We are brothers and sisters. We are members of the one human race.
3) There are heroes and heroines among us. The courage of caregivers who showed their stuff during this crisis. The dedication and sacrifice of women and men in uniform. Public servants. Hospital staffs who stood by the sick and dying. Cleaning crews in public buildings. Supermarket employees who continued to serve the public. What’s life lesson Number 3? The service of others requires grit and commitment.
4) Livestreaming, email, Twitter, Facebook, iPhones, have been blessings. Yet, the sadness of the elderly waving at their loved ones from the windows of nursing homes. The isolation experienced by some in their family homes and neighborhoods. Drive by birthday celebrations and graduations. What’s life lesson Number 4? God created us to be close. To be together. To form community.
5) Many families shared meals. Enjoyed conversations and being together. Quarantined made us long for friends and far away family. Many students across the country lost a year of learning which will be hard to make up. Low income workers were the first to be laid off. The poor became even poorer. Politicians ordered arbitrary shutdowns and even closed houses of worship. The longest lines at food pantries since the great depression. What’s life lesson Number 5? We need one another; we are a people who reach out to help one another.
6) The safety and well being of others are as important as my own safety and well being. As far back as Aristotle and Plato, the ancient philosophers, the common good was considered a necessity for a civilized and enlightened society. What’s life lesson Number 6? To use a favorite expression of Saint John Paul II, solidarity. We are in this together. To quote the poet, “No man is an island.”
7) We are all vulnerable. Anyone of us could have been a mortal victim. Many of us have known victims. Some have asked ultimate questions about the meaning of life; the eventuality of death. The question for you graduates is what does life ask of me? What’s life lesson Number 7? Life is sacred. It is passing, sometimes quickly and unexpectedly. Life is a gift from God who is the origin and destiny of life.
Mine is not a complete list of life lessons. I suggest that you add what you learned during this pandemic.
The 23rd psalm, the Lord is my shepherd, prays, “though I walk through the valley of death you are with me.” Graduates, God has been walking with us these past pandemic months. God will be with you always and will give success to the work of your hands if you seek God. The promise of the Lord Jesus is not that we will never endure suffering. Rather, the promise is that the Lord Jesus walks with us through that dark valley and urges us onwards in the face of each difficulty and suffering. You will face many dark valleys in the years ahead and suffering will touch each of you; remember you are not alone. God is with you.
The concluding verses of Amanda Gorman’s brilliant poem, “The Hill We Climb,” which she wrote and recited at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, has a message for you graduates.
When day comes, we step out of the shade,
Aflame and unafraid.
The new day dawns as we free it,
For there is always light.
If only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Graduates: for you the new day has come as you step out of high school. Hopefully, unafraid of the future but aflame for life. Be brave. See the light, even in the darkness. There is always light. Be even braver, be the light as you go forward from high school.
Congratulations class of 2021.
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D.
Bishop of Camden