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Sermon at the Centennial Mass | | Below is the text to the sermon at the Centennial Mass delivered by the Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano '77 |
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Your Eminence, Cardinal Dolan; my brothers in priesthood who are gathered here; sisters and brothers in consecrated life; my brothers and sisters in the Lord:
It is probably one of the most famous questions asked of the Lord Jesus: "Teacher, which commandment is the Lord's greatest?" It was one of perhaps hundreds of questions asked of the Lord in his ministry. It was a question that conformed itself to the classical Jewish method of teaching, that placed a premium on asking the right question rather than seeking a simple answer. In fact, a very dear Orthodox rabbi friend once said to me years ago, "Frank, if you ask the right question and seek the truth humbly before the mystery of God, sooner or later you will arrive at the truth you seek."
And so today in the Gospel, we hear that Jesus gives an answer to this question that cuts at the heart of the scholar who asked it. Not for its content, for there is nothing new in what the Lord teaches; he's quoting Exodus and Leviticus, but what is new is connecting these two precepts; tying the love of God to the concrete act of the love of neighbor in your life and mine. And in the Lord's redefinition of who the neighbor is, Jew and Gentile alike, He gave to this scholar of the law much to ponder in his heart, and I would think not a short amount of heartburn in the deal.
And yet, my friends, as we gather on this very special occasion, I believe this scholar of the law can help us by the method he performed and in the answer the Lord gave him to unpack that which you and I celebrate here.
So allow me to ask a very simple question: What is it that you and I are thankful for as we come before the altar of the Lord Jesus? As His Eminence said beginning this great prayer of thanksgiving, "What is it that you and I are thankful for as we celebrate this hundredth anniversary of Regis High School?"
And of course a simple question as that, one would say, could have a simple answer. We, you and I, gather here to give thanks for the remarkable mission of this school, faithfully realized over a century. A mission that afforded twelve thousand young, Catholic men a tuition-free education; but far more than that, a remarkable academic journey, allowing them to develop their gifts and talents, to take up leadership in society in every walk of life imaginable. We come here and we come upon our knees to thank God for the indelible mark that has been placed in every Regian's heart. That this grand experiment on 84th Street, financed by the Grant family to create the first freestanding Jesuit high school for boys in the United States, we come to celebrate that it has had a stellar and remarkable history. And that alone is reason to give thanks.
But it seems to me, my friends, that the simple question demands more than just a simple answer, and like with the scholar of the law, the Lord is inviting us to look deeper, to look more profoundly at what it is every Regian has been given for a hundred years. For we come here to lift our voices in praise of Almighty God because we do not celebrate simply and unparalleled education, but we have been the beneficiaries of a preeminently Catholic and Jesuit education. For from their founding, the Jesuits, following the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola, have made education of the young a preeminent ministry, and rightfully so, for it is a work of God, it is a sharing in the very mission God has given us. For what makes Regis great is not simply its unparalleled academic training, but because, my friends, it is preeminently a Catholic education.
And what makes a Catholic education Catholic is that it strives to teach not simply the truths of life in the plural, the truths that reflect the mystery and beauty of life, the truths that unlock the potential of human life, the truths that you and I have used well to be successful and to be levid in society. It is also to teach the heart of every student the Truth in the singular; the Truth with a capital ‘T;' the Truth that is not some thing but some One; the Truth who revealed to every Regian how wildly he is loved by God; the Truth who gently allowed every young man who came to this school the opportunity to celebrate his uniqueness, his giftedness, his talents; the Truth who asked the Regian to be aware of the deepest aspirations of the heart and to always be a generous man: a man for others, a man who recognizes that all that we have and all that we have to give to others is first a gift from He who is the Truth, the Truth who essentially has been for a hundred years the real headmaster of East 84th Street, and he is none other than Jesus, our Lord and our Savior.
Regis has been the success that it is and will continue to be, my friends, because we come here in thanksgiving, celebrating the fact that it has developed, yes, our minds, but it has also formed our hearts and allowed us gently, patiently, with perseverance through word, witness and the integrity of our lives, to become hearers of the word of grace; to come to know and follow He who is the hope of every human heart.
And Regis has done that very, very well. For every Regian has been called to Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam: to do all for the greater glory of God; to choose God's will above yours or mine; to allow God to be the centerpiece of your life and mine; to become a leaven of change in society and in leadership in our parishes, in our school communities, in our neighborhoods and our cities, wherever we have gone for the last hundred years to realize a generous heart and to realize the prayer of St. Ignatius, which is printed on the very back of the program you and I are using this day to give thanks to God.
Regis has taught us well what the scholar of the law needed to learn from Jesus: that life is never a matter of either/or, but oftentimes a matter of both; to open our minds to the Truth of life and open our heart to the Truth of Jesus Christ and to go forth and change the world. For, to put it bluntly, my friends, for those who have gone through life simply seeking success, knowing the truths of life, they have only existed. But for those who have sought the Truth in Jesus, they have lived, and they have lived fully. And Regis called us to do that every day of our lives.
My friends, ultimately that question, "What are you and I grateful for?" needs to be answered very personally. So allow me to offer you very briefly how I would answer that question. I will answer it this way: in 1977, when I left these doors of this beautiful, magnificent church, I looked back and asked, "How did Frank Caggiano change?" In many ways. First, I was ninety pounds lighter on the day of graduation, and if that does not attest to the miraculous nature of this school, I don't know what does. When I left on graduation day, I was trained in Ancient Greek. I could even recite the opening lines of The Odyssey, which I quickly discovered was not as marketable as Fr. Kelly told us in freshman year. On graduation day, I was brimming with knowledge, and I was eager to continue to learn the truths of life. But as I look back, the greatest gift Regis gave to me was that it changed my heart. It softened the stubbornness of a provincial young boy who came from Brooklyn. It gently humbled me to recognize my gifts and talents and my faults and limitations. At the hands of all those we were privileged to be formed by, it also helped encourage my heart to believe that the world as it is, is not its destiny. And I pray tell that for every Regian who left this great school, our hearts were changed for the better, and that is worth celebrating and being thankful for every day of our lives.
I often wonder what happened to that scholar of the law. He is unnamed and perhaps only the Lord knows what happened to him; we certainly do not. But this much, my friends, I do know as I stand before you as a graduate of Regis, 1977: that for every young man who has the privilege to come to Regis, he will learn firsthand what the scholar of the law in the Gospel was invited by the Lord to learn. That for those who wish to be truly successful, life is a matter of learning the truths of life and allowing the Truth of life to touch and mold our hearts, and through generous service, to make the love of God real and credible in a waiting world.
As it has been for one hundred years, may it be so for many more generations to come: that Regis will forever be Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam. Amen. |
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