To all the Graduates

Pleasing to Christ is the tradition of the Catholic schools to provide graduating classes an opportunity to pray and discern in a retreat before launching their careers into the “real world.” Reminiscent to this was Christ’s prayer and fasting before He launched His ministry, not to mention His encounter with the Devil.

Years later, deep into their careers and setting into another milestone in life called marriage, many of the graduates may have simply forgotten their life of faith. Unlike Christ throughout His ministry, he continues to rely and refer everything He does to His Father.

To mirror the steps of Christ through joy and suffering is the secret to happiness. This means, like Christ, we need a continuous prayer life incorporated in our work and study of our Faith in order to know the will of God. In this way, we become more loving. Therefore, graduating from the academe does not mean the end of “retreats.” A retreat master once said, “We retreat so that we will be able to advance again.” The saints knew how to correspond to God’s grace and mercy which encouraged them to muster some courage to begin again after every fall, thus, always assuring them of growth in their spiritual life. Let us go to the Blessed Mother who always keeps Jesus in her heart. (Lk. 2:51) Let us do the same.