Distinguished guests, families and friends, members of the faculty and staff and, in particular, the 2009 graduates of the College of Graduate and Continuing Education, welcome to this auspicious moment in the life of the University and in your lives.  Today, we celebrate the culmination of years of work and sacrifice: work on the part of our graduates – the rigorous effort required by post-baccalaureate education-- and sacrifice on the part of spouses, children, family and friends.  In many cases, it takes a village to earn a graduate degree.  Your life circumstances are often complicated by a range of responsibilities beyond the classroom, computer, library and laboratory.  So graduates, please join me in saluting those who supported you all along the way to today.

I also want to salute in a very significant way your newest classmate, Dr. Leo Moskowitz. I have to believe that at 104 years old,  Leo is the most senior member in America receiving an honorary degree in the graduation season.  But, we are not here to celebrate his longevity alone.  We are here to honor the fullness of his life up to this present moment.  You heard about Leo’s accomplishments in the degree citation.  I want to add something more about the character of this marvelous man.  He and his wife Ann, who is with us today and who received an honorary degree in 1998, were among the first to welcome me to Scranton almost seven years ago.  In the years since, I have learned that there are few residents of this valley more committed to our common good than are Ann and Leo.  And, they exercise that commitment with the greatest selflessness, grace and good humor.  When Leo is asked what’s best about being 104, he readily answers, “no peer pressure.” I would urge, however, that Leo is peerless not for his years, but for his enthusiasm for life and his love for our city and our region.  Leo, thank you for letting us honor you today and for embodying The University of Scranton’s highest ideals and aspirations.

I want to reflect for a few minutes with our graduates on how i hope a graduate degree from The University of Scranton will set you apart.  You chose to pursue your degree at a very particular kind of institution: a catholic and jesuit institution.  You studied at a place where we understand learning in a context larger than the acquisition of information and skills.  Thanks to our faculty, you are extremely well-prepared for what lies ahead of you professionally.  In addition, I hope that the ethos of this University place and the sacred work entrusted to it, has and will form you as agents of change in a world that needs wise heads and willing hearts. You have undoubtedly heard the adage that “an expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.”  You have gained expertise here, but expertise conceived not as an end in itself. The expertise you have acquired at Scranton has, I hope, inspired you to labor along with the world’s creator to heal, to teach, to conduct your business and your lives not only with competence but with compassion, especially for those who are most vulnerable among us.

When St. Ignatius and his Jesuit brothers opened their first schools in the sixteenth century, they understood the purpose of education not so much in terms of the pursuit of abstract or specific truths. As they explained in a letter to the king of Spain, “the proper education of people will mean improvement for the whole world.”  Today, you become an extension of that centuries-old educational tradition, sent forth from here to “go and set the world on fire.”

Let me, as a Jesuit priest who also professes English literature, leave you with the word’s of the poet Mary Oliver, who recasts Ignatius’ charge in a twenty-first century idiom:

“Meditation is old and honorable, so why should i not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside, looking into the shining world? Because, properly attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.  Can one be passionate about the just, the ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit to no labor in its cause? I don’t think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.  Thought buds toward radiance.  The gospel of light is the crossroads of—indolence, or action.

Be ignited or be gone.”

Your going forth from the University today is a matter of fact.   Your being ignited for the world’s well-being and the greater glory of God is Scranton’s highest hope.  God bless you all your days as you realize that hope, and God bless The University of Scranton.