Tonight, the Class of 2026 from Clonfert College, Ballinasloe marked their graduation with the celebration of Mass and a graduation ceremony at St Michael’s Church, Ballinasloe. During the Mass, Bishop Michael delivered the following homily.
“My faith, though not always strong, has made an immense difference to who I am and how I live life. It has brought me friends. It has made me happy. It has helped me to make sense of so many things. It has given me direction, helped me in the darkest of days and enabled me to live life at a depth and richness that I would never have been able to live without it.”
— Bishop Michael
I am delighted to be here this evening to join with you in celebrating the very first Graduation Mass for Clonfert College. I have always thought that the years we spend in Secondary School are perhaps some of the most important years of our lives. For a moment, it might be good for those graduating to think back to yourselves as first years. Perhaps with your parents and teachers who are with you here tonight, we might all journey back to those covid days of the early 2020s. You came to Ard Scoil Mhuire or St Joseph’s College, Garbally at a certain stage in your young lives. What a massive change the last five of six years have brought. On the outside and on the inside, you have taken that great leap from childhood to adulthood. You have come to a space where you are beginning to own your own lives for yourselves and to forge your own destiny.
I sometimes find myself asking if I could go back to any time in my life and live it again what stage would that be. Without doubt, my answer is the stage of life that you are at just now. Although, not without its challenges and pitfalls, you are at a truly precious moment in your existence – a moment full of potential and possibilities. You can take this or that path. You have the time to change your mind and start again. You have that unique and exciting opportunity to shape and reshape that one chance at life that you have so that, in time, you become the best possible version of yourselves.
Thinking about tonight, I asked myself what I would say to my seventeen- or eighteen-year-old self. What would I do differently if I was to do it all over again. Having pondered on that question, part of me feels that I would do a lot of things differently. Part of me feels that I wouldn’t change anything at all. Like everyone else, I can say that my life has been a mix of terribly tough times, times of great happiness and those humdrum days of normal living.
Looking back there is one thing, above all else, that I am extremely thankful for and that I believe has helped me immensely in life. That is without doubt my faith in God. Now don’t get me wrong, even a priest or a bishop can have doubts when it comes to religion and faith. It is not all a bed of roses. However, I really believe that in spite of those times of uncertainty, my faith, my belief in God has immensely enriched every aspect of my life.
How? you might ask. My belief in God, has given me a sense that the one life that I have is a precious gift indeed. My belief in God has provided me with a sense of what is important in life – not things or achievements but rather my fellow human beings and my relationships with them. My belief in God has given me an appreciation for family and friends. My belief in God has given me the courage to take on things that I thought I would never be able to do. Over and over again, it has given me the strength to get up and dust myself off and start again when I have failed in life. Most of all, my belief in God has given me a very profound sense that I walk the journey of life – not alone but with God by my side as my best friend, a constant companion, a trusted confidant and a helping hand. Sometimes, today, you hear people describe belief in God or religion as something outdated, something that holds you back, or takes away your freedom or makes your life dull. For me, it has been the complete opposite. My faith, though not always strong, has made an immense difference to who I am and how I live life. It has brought me friends. It has made me happy. It has helped me to make sense of so many things. It has given me direction, helped me in the darkest of days and enabled me to live life at a depth and richness that I would never have been able to live without it.
In saying what I have said, I know that I might come across a bit like a zealous preacher, trying to convince you to believe in God. I hope it doesn’t sound like that. Tonight, as you celebrate an important turning point in your young lives, I offer you my story as my story. Your story will be very different. You are immensely lucky to be at the stage you are in life. You are free, wonderfully free to make your own choices – to follow your own dreams – to create your own future. Be that with faith – be that without faith – the choice is yours.
Tonight, in a sense I envy the class of 2026. I wish I was you. Whatever you do … do not waste the potential and the possibilities that are ahead. Grasp life with both hands, live it well, dream big dreams, reach for the stars. Be wonderful people and make a difference for the better in our mixed-up world. Exams they come and go. Life comes but once – live it to the full! As a believer, as a person of faith, I pray that God will walk with you and be there for your every step of the way. Or as the first reading so beautifully put it:
“Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Josh 1)
Amen.