Beyond Oakcrest: A Message for High School Graduates

The 36 members of the Class of 2022, the 43rd class to graduate from Oakcrest, sit here before me, and behind them are the people in their lives who have steadily encouraged, supported, and sacrificed to foster their growth through the years – their parents, grandparents, relatives, teachers and friends. 

Like other Oakcrest classes before them, this class has given a very good example of the many virtues it takes to welcome new students along the way. A small school experience, when embraced, makes one learn to accept others. To quote G.K. Chesterton, “we make our friends; we make our enemies; God makes our next-door neighbors (fill in “classmates”) –… the old religions and the old scriptural language showed so sharp a wisdom when they spoke, not of one’s duty towards humanity, but one’s duty toward one’s neighbor (fill in “classmate”).” This process of getting to know each other, to try to understand and accept each other, to see the good qualities and intentions through the ups and downs of ordinary life – you have seen each other at your best and not at your best – this process we would all say has been an excellent school of life and friendship. 

The Class of 2022 is composed of strong, well-defined young women, who have deep interests and strong convictions as shown in the topics they chose for the senior theses and in their presentations. It struck me that all of you in one way or another rested your theses on a solid understanding of Christian anthropology. You extracted from literature and history the great questions of suffering, love, hope, longing for home, beauty, to name a few, and you engaged with them. You also engaged with each other’s ideas on these topics, in your comments and questions around the theses. You sparked a desire in your listeners to read or re-read the works you so passionately studied. 

Your work reflects very well on the foundations laid carefully first in your families and then here, and it reminds me of the mission of Oakcrest. We aim to form our students to take up their vocation as trustees of humanity. St. John Paul II didn’t coin the term per se, but he brought it into common usage. In 2004, one of his last public appearances, on the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Mother at Lourdes, he said, “From this grotto I issue a special call to women. Appearing here, Mary entrusted her message to a young girl - 14 years old - as if to emphasize the special mission of women in our own time, tempted as it is by materialism and secularism: to be in today’s society a witness of those essential values which are only seen with the eyes of the heart. To you women falls the task of being sentinels of the invisible!”

Humanity made in the image of God is entrusted to women in a special way - we are Trustees - as women we are called to stand guard over the sacredness of every human being. We are sentinels, guardians, security guards of life in a world caught by materialism and secularism - tempted to see people as objects and to erase the connection to the transcendent, to God. 

There cannot be a more important role in the world. 

Fr. Arne Panula, an Opus Dei priest who was the chaplain of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. for a number of years, an astute reader of the culture, wrote this blessing… “Oakcrest women learn that committing their time, talent, and energy in the service of others for the love of God is an ennobling call. They are reminded of their responsibility to others, which frees them from the intrusiveness of their ego, and protects them from the self-absorption of our culture… Much depends on this: our Nation’s future depends on this. More importantly, their eternal salvation depends on it.” 

Now, you ask, how are we to carry out this mission? It helps to see everything important in life - your family, faith, education, talents, even sufferings - as both a gift and a task. This double step is a great grounding principle to make your own. For example, my family is both a gift - thank you, I didn’t merit this, I must treasure this - and a task - I must play my role, contribute, work, support,... etc. All that is most important to me is both a gift and a task and calls to my freedom to recognize this truth and to respond with personal responsibility. 

It gives us the proper balance that the truth always gives, and helps us take up our role whatever it is at a given time with grace, measure, and love. 

Trustee of humanity, guardian and sentinel over the sacredness of human life… this is the gift and the task that falls to each woman, to each Oakcrest student and graduate. It is a loving proposal from a loving Father God and it is up to each one of us to take it up. 

What comes to mind to finish is these few lines from a song: “I think it’s time you learn/You’re more than just your gift// … The miracle is not some magic that you’ve got//The miracle is you/All of you…” This is a simple expression of a very profound truth: the human person is an end in herself or himself. Yes, you have many gifts - and you have shared them with Oakcrest over the years, and I will mention some in each tribute - but that is not the miracle. The miracle is you. 

You are each a singular, unrepeatable gift from God, you each have a unique mission to fulfill. While it is crucial to know this about oneself, what gives us so much joy, and makes everything worth it is knowing that you, in the company of many Oakcrest alumnae, will take this liberating and joyful truth to every person you meet. It will be news to more people than you might think. It is shared through everything - the way you study, the choices you make, and above all through extending the gift of friendship. So don’t be shy, Class of 2022, bring the miracle that is you to everyone you meet. 

Congratulations to you, Class of 2022!