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Commencement Speech Dear Graduates, Families and Friends: May the Good Lord look kindly upon you and upon all who have gathered here together with great joy. The joy we experience today is a result of the faith, hope and love that we possess. For most of you who are graduating today, it is possible that your joy also emanates from the simple fact that it marks an end to a long, long time of formal education! In any event, I am very pleased to be able to extend my best personal greetings and congratulations to you, the Saint Gregory’s University graduates of 2005. Throughout the course of human history, there have been many outstanding men and women recognized as true leaders. By their life, their example and their teaching, they have significantly impacted society. Their influence often continues long after their time as their students and followers discover and pass on their messages, their philosophy and their way of life. For us as Christian people, there is no doubt but that the greatest of all such historical persons is the Man from Galilee, Jesus Christ. In fact, since He is the eternal Son of God, Jesus is a unique Person. He and He alone possesses both the divine and human natures.The Church’s teaching on the role of a Catholic university is presented in the document entitled “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” which means “from the heart of the Church.” The very idea and sponsorship of any Catholic educational institution comes directly from the heart of the Church. The foundation and the heart of the Church is none other than Jesus Christ. Therefore, Saint Gregory’s University exists and will thrive only in its relationship to Jesus. On this, your graduation day, I can present no better image, no better model, no better teacher than Jesus Himself. His story can be found in the Bible and especially in the Gospel accounts therein. His presence can be experienced in every aspect of nature since He is the Creator of all. His inspiration is available to you because He is Divine and present everywhere. The point is that regardless of your religious affiliation, each of you graduates has been given the opportunity to meet this most important Person, the unique Person Jesus. Today then, as you graduate from Saint Gregory’s University, my advice to you is to continue to develop and cultivate a relationship with Him Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In that way, the challenges you meet at home, at work and in the larger society in which we live will become successful opportunities that you fulfill as a responsible, mature, educated person. In the pluralistic society in which we live, neither I, as the Catholic Archbishop, nor you as graduates of Saint Gregory’s and in fact, no other believer, can or should impose his or her specifically religious beliefs on anyone else in society. But, it is also unacceptable that valid insights which spring from religious concepts and language be excluded from society just because they are religious in origin. I think it is a disgrace and an injustice that the cross in the seal of the city of Edmond was removed because it is a religious symbol. The establishment of churches and the faith of the early settlers in that area constituted the history of the region. Their insights, their faith and their beliefs affected the laws, the practices and the culture that developed here in Oklahoma. Thus, the cross stood for more than religion. It truly is a part of history, tradition and culture. As graduates of a Catholic university, you must realize and make it known that religious expression has its place in society just as any other expression. It does not seek a privileged place but it does have every right to a prominent place. Religious beliefs, practices, language and insight can, in fact, bring an original contribution to the values which should inspire our society. Take, for example, the religious belief and teaching on the intrinsic dignity of every human being. This is a religious truth but it is a fact whether some one believes it or not. The dignity of every human person is derived from our Creator Who made us in His Image and Likeness. As a result of our religious beliefs, graduates of Catholic universities can and should bring to our society a vision that will lead to peace and justice and equal rights for all. The religious opposition to abortion and euthanasia is not a sectarian opinion. It is a human conviction that recognizes these practices as serious and deplorable threats to all human life. An attitude of faith and a religious insight can serve as a safeguard against the many other threats that insidiously undermine respect for human life. Dear graduates, I don’t mean to lecture you. You’ve had enough of that in your classrooms! I want to encourage you and to challenge you. Take with you all that you learned at Saint Gregory’s, not just the math and science and literature, but also the religious dimension that you experienced here. To be truly educated, you must learn about yourself, about others and about the world in which we live. But it is not enough to learn just that. If you do not learn and appreciate the truth about the One Who created you and Who created everything in this universe, your education is sorely lacking and you remain in ignorance, a slave of self-deception. Only truth can set you free – and Jesus is the Truth. This is the reason I began today to focus your attention on Him. Just as Saint Gregory’s University exists and will thrive only in its relationship to Jesus, the same is true for each of its graduates and indeed for all human beings. It is my prayer and my hope today that each of you discovers the real meaning of human life, the reason that we are here on this earth and the way that we should live. Congratulations on your graduation. May Almighty God bless you and the good work He has begun in you here at Saint Gregory’s University. Congratulations! Most Reverend Eusebius J. Beltran |