Below is an excerpt of my address to our 2011 Graduating Class. There are three themes that have been implicitly and explicitly woven into it. My explanation alluded to DeSantis' "3 Ds" of Discipline, Discernment and Discipleship.
"How will the value of our days be measured?
What will matter is not what we have, but what we give.
What will matter is not what we have achieved, but your significance.
What will matter is how long we will be remembered, by whom, and for what."
A life of meaning, discipleship, happiness and purpose.
After four or more years of walking with our Catholic Learning Community,
we are comforted by the fact that it has espoused discipleship,
added meaning, purpose, and happiness to all of our lives.
Jesus stated "follow me" 15 times in the Gospels.
We are all followers, learners or Disciples of Christ.
The question is how will we continue to live our faith
as a disciple of Christ in the 21st Century?
It may mean that we will have to look for Christ being present in our world.
It may mean visiting, noticing and listening
to the kinds of people with which Jesus spent time.
Jesus became friends with the nameless,
disenfranchised, poor and the downtrodden.
Jesus stopped to listen to people
and asked questions like
"What can I do for you?"
"What do you want from me?"
Who gets our attention
and who is easily overlooked
in your everyday life?
How often do we recognize Christ in the flesh?
Disciples in the 21st Century
have their eyes wide open.
They notice the Christ standing
in front of them at the bus stop,
in their workplace,
college or university classroom.
And so to the class of 2011,
disciples of the 21st Century,
in the presence of Ms. MacDonald
& Ms. Doyle our Chaplaincy Leader,
our teaching and support staff,
Father Dave, Father Bob,
Mrs. Alice Anne Lemay – Chair of the Board,
Mr. Mark Rowe - Halton Hills Trustee,
Mrs. Jacqueline Herman, Superintendent of Education,
Mrs. Val Slater, Our Chair of Catholic School Council,
& Award Donors.
I urge you to continue to follow Jesus
by experiencing life in many destinations.
I urge you to practice being a disciple
by noticing Christ in the people you encounter.
I urge you to become a friend by listening,
asking how you can help
and reaching out to those who need you.
May God bless you on your journey in providing hope for tomorrow.
Thank you.
This will be my last blog for the school year. Thank you for reading and for the occasional comments. I hope my blog has provided some insight, information and perspective into our Catholic Learning Community.
