By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Archbishop Thomas Wenski addresses students and faculty in his homily at the opening of school Mass for Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep. The Mass was celebrated Aug. 28 at Notre Dame d'Haiti Church in Miami.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the opening of the school year Mass at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep in Miami. The Mass was celebrated Aug. 28, 2015 at Notre Dame d’Haiti Mission.
“Stay awake,” Jesus tells his disciples in today’s Gospel. A disciple is a kind of student – and I am sure you too might hear more than once during your time here at ACND one or more teachers tell you the same thing: “Stay awake.” But these words of Jesus are more than just a rebuke; they are an invitation – an invitation not to miss out on a great adventure – the adventure of discipleship.
For more than 60 years, Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame has existed to help young people be not only good students but also good disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. To become a disciple is to set out, as I said, on a great adventure with Jesus who calls us each by name and says: “Follow me.”
In the parable of the 10 virgins or bridesmaids, there are five who are wise and the other five are foolish. They’re foolish because they have a special task – they’re supposed to be part of a torch-lit procession to welcome the bridegroom and they didn’t bring enough oil to light their torches. You could say they ran out of gas – or they didn’t even have the gas to begin with. The point of the parable is: If you’re going to follow Jesus – and be ready to meet him when he returns – make sure you’re prepared. If you going to Disney World, make sure you gas up the car. Sitting along the side of the turnpike will ruin your day.
Now you could say that a Catholic school, like ACND is called to be, should awaken within us the ability to hear the Lord’s invitation to follow him; and a Catholic school, with its emphasis on discipline and character and excellence, should equip us with the courage to act on that invitation – and thus to follow him as we make our journey through life. In other words, your time here is to help form you so that you will respond to the Lord’s invitation wisely – and not foolishly. After all, it is how we respond to this invitation that will determine the direction our lives will take – and whether we’ll have the “gas” to get there.
God made us to know him, to love him, to serve him in this life so as to be happy with him forever in the next life. Our happiness depends on making sure that we arrive at that destination.
So God calls each one of us to be happy with him. To say that in a religious way, we can say that God calls each of us to be holy, to be a saint. That’s what we call “the universal vocation” of every man, woman and child whom God made in his image and likeness. Holiness means becoming the best possible version of ourselves, becoming the person God meant us to be.
Now this “big vocation” to holiness is lived out according to different states of life – some do so in the married state, some do so even as they remain single, and while many are called, a few are chosen by God to know, love and serve him – in other words, to be happy – as priests; or to witness to the radical demands of the Gospel by consecrating themselves to lives of poverty, chastity and obedience, as religious priests, brothers or sisters.
Because God has made each one of us for himself, there is no one who is a mistake or an accident. We all are here for a reason. God gives everyone a special mission, a special purpose for his or her life. He wants each one of us here to make a difference with our life – and in doing so to find that happiness he made us for.
We all want to be happy – that’s why we do what we do; that’s the main reason behind all the choices we make. Sometimes we make the wrong choices – and are not happy; but nobody chooses to be unhappy. (Unless there’s something wrong – up there (in our heads) or in here (in our hearts.)
Some choices we make can make us happy or unhappy for a time; and I guess it is up to us to decide how long we want to be happy. If you want just moments of happiness, different pleasures or possessions can satisfy. If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap; for a whole day, go shopping. If you want to be happy for a weekend, go fishing; for a month, take a trip to Australia. If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery; but if you want to be happy for a lifetime, find that way to make that difference. Discover your mission in life; discover the reason why God put you here on earth.
Wake up! Jesus tells us. Wake up and don’t miss out on the great adventure of being not just a student at a great school but also of being a disciple of the one who is the reason this school exists for you: Jesus Christ.
