Principal Patrick Ruff's Remarks at Graduation
Good Morning and welcome to the 150th Commencement Exercises of St. Ignatius College Preparatory.
Every commencement marks change… it is a paradox. We gather to close the school year and yet we recognize a new beginning. We celebrate, and we bid farewell. In the same way that the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrated in the Liturgical Calendar last week, invited the apostles to something new… new roles, responsibilities, and relationships, you, members of the Class of 2009, are invited to something new as well… you are invited to be alumni of SI… and that will also involve new roles, responsibilities, and relationships.
With Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the Apostles would no longer hear Christ’s voice, or look into his eyes, or see him every day, but He promised to send the Holy Spirit as an advocate. Yes, their relationship changed, but it did not end. Jesus summoned them to a less dependent and more adult relationship: they were commissioned to be leaders. In their time with Jesus they were challenged and loved; they witnessed miracles and were healed, they broke bread and they believed… and at the Ascension they were invited to continue his mission.
As seniors, you have been at SI for a period roughly equivalent to what the apostles spent with Jesus and have witnessed many triumphs in that time. But, just as with the disciples, dramatic change is about to take place and you will no longer relate to SI as you have the past four years. You may not need to stop in the halls for morning prayer next year, call a friend to remember the theme for free dress days during spirit week, or chant the SI fight song after a game. There will be an end to the daily physical contact but not an absence. For as Christ continued to work through the apostles, so will St. Ignatius continue to work through you. The relationship will change, not end. Through your experience today in this church, you will not only recognize SI as a school, but as your Alma Mater.
The Ascension, like graduation, speaks to us about the mission entrusted to us by Jesus. Strangely enough, neither celebration is about leaving and absence, but about involvement and mission. Rather than signifying an ending they both mark a beginning, a “commencement” … a call to ministry and promise of empowerment through and in the Holy Spirit.
So welcome, welcome to this new beginning… the commencement exercises for the Class of 2009.