Center of His Love

Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J.

High School Baccalaureate Mass
Ateneo de Naga University
19 March 2006

It is only fitting that on the morning of your graduation you come to this University Church of Christ the King to celebrate.

As the Ateneo de Naga University High School graduates for this year, you celebrate your thanksgiving for the high school education you have received at the Ateneo. You celebrate your gratitude to your parents, benefactors and friends who have made your graduation possible. You celebrate your hopes for the future within the Kingdom of God .

The Ateneo Way

You belong to a privileged group of students who have studied at the Ateneo and made the grade. Nowadays that is not a privilege that can be taken for granted. From my office I know of many parents who have wanted their children to study here, but they lacked the resources to make this happen. I know of others who have been admitted to the Ateneo, they have studied, worked and played with you, but they have not fulfilled the requirements for graduation. Neither being here at the Ateneo, nor making the grade can be taken for granted. Much is required in fortune and providence from your parents, much is required in diligence and responsibility from you. This morning, we are happy that we can stand proud to say, with our parents help, with God's grace, we have made it. We have made the grade. And we are grateful.

This gratitude is not only for an end-product, graduation. It is also, and perhaps much more, for the journey you have made together that has brought you to this day. It is gratitude for the hours of orientation in the covered courts, the many more hours of learning in the classrooms, the unnumbered hours of study in the library and more study at home, the many ordeals of preparing to pass exams and complete projects. It is also gratitude for many hours of fun and joy, preparation and achievement, bonding and friendship, in garnering honors at the Penafrancia Military Parade, in displaying cultural prowess and pride at this year's new street dancing events, in searching for God in the syncopated sounds of rock bands, in recognizing and honoring the service of our jeepney drivers at Christmas, in the spirited rivalries of Pistaym 8 with its basketball, volleyball, word power and dance cheer competitions, in the still-fresh memories of the Junior Senior Prom. There is also gratitude, I am sure, for quiet hours of conversation with teachers or guidance counselors, and for Masses with Fr. Rooney or with Fr. Bel or Fr. D.J. when you worshipped the God whose love for you did not balk at accepting death on the Cross. It is in this way – the Ateneo way – that you have journeyed through high school. Today, we celebrate your readiness for college. We celebrate your readiness to move on.

So Many Helped

We celebrate in gratitude. We are grateful for all those who have made your graduation possible. First of all, for your parents, whose providence, industry and guidance led you to the Ateneo and to this day. We thank your benefactors, those who have contributed to the costs of your education. We thank your sisters and brothers, your relatives and friends, whose sacrifices along the way have contributed much to this day. Very specially today, we thank the members of your faculty and staff – and your administrators all ably led by Sir Greg.

Primum Regnum Dei

As at this Mass we bless your diplomas and medals, and specially bless your Batch Medal which you will don together as a first sign of your shared status as graduating students of the Ateneo de Naga, kindly notice the special readings which the Church prepared for this occasion. The first reading is the proclamation by Yahweh of his Commandments. They are commandments, hopefully, which have meanwhile been written on your hearts. Live by them. The Gospel reading recalls Jesus, enraged, liberating the temple from all those who had reduced it to a marketplace, putting money and profit and business at the center of their lives rather than God. Jesus's cleansing of the temple is a restoration of God as the center of the Temple , a restoration of God as the center of the Kingdom. It is Jesus overturning tables, spilling money, overthowing established structures of wealth and power to restore his Father as King, and to restore the primacy of His Kingdom even over money, even over power, even over self-fulfillment. Hence, the Church's message to you on the day of your graduation through her Gospel is what you have heard over and over again in your high school formation, and possibly the most profound of the lessons taught you: always, always, always first the Kingdom of God , first the will of God and the prerogatives of God, first the love that is commanded in the Kingdom – primum regnum Dei – not because God wants to make your lives hard, difficult or miserable, but because God wants your joy complete. “All this I tell you,” Jesus said, “that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”

We thank the Lord for your Ateneo education, for your parents, benefactors and educators, and for the special message the Lord gives us at this Mass. Most of all, on this day, we thank the Lord for you. Many have helped you generously, many have sacrificed much for you, grace has abounded, but this day celebrates your achievements, your joy, and you who in God's reign are at the center of His Love.

Congratulations to you all!