SOUL SEARCH

High School S.Y. 2005-2006

Graduation Homily

Fr. Johnny C. Go, S.J., School Director

Posted Tuesday, 28-Mar-2006 11:12 AM

     This afternoon I’d like to do a little Math and Science with you.  First, the Math:

     Fourteen years ago, in the year 1992, an all-time record of 697 four year olds found themselves in the administration lobby of Xavier School.  The occasion?  Your application to our Nursery.  Your parents probably still remember that some of you were wide-eyed with eagerness, while others were in tears, even kicking and screaming as you were dragged—not without embarrassment—by your parents.

     There were 697 of you who applied to Xavier School’s Nursery that year. Out of those 697, how many do you think made it to fourth year high school?  Can you take a guess?

     Let’s see:  Today there are 324 in your batch, but a total of 27 additional students joined you between Nursery and High 4.  So that means that out of the 697 who applied to our Nursery, only 297 have survived.  297 out of 697!  That’s 43%!  Not even half of those 697 kids fourteen years ago whose parents originally hoped for a Xavier Education for their sons!

     Now, I think all of you who are here today should pat yourselves on the shoulder for a job truly well done. You deserve to be congratulated and be given a warm round of applause. 

     These numbers also tell us something very important:  A Xavier Education is a gift that is not given to all.  Not everyone can complete—and benefit from—a Xavier Education.  And so today, we mustn’t forget to thank our parents, teachers and formators, and most especially God, for our Xavier Education.

     When you think about it, you have been chosen just as our Blessed Mother has been chosen to be the Mother of our Lord.  God has his reasons for choosing you to be among the few recipients of a Xavier Education.  As you prepare to leave Xavier School, we, your teachers and formators, have one message for you—and it is the theme of your graduation:  “Believe in your light.”

     I hope in all your years of schooling here in Xavier, you have caught a glimpse of your light, just as your classmates, parents, and teachers and formators have done.  Perhaps your light began as a mere flicker, but through the years, you have discovered and developed your talents, gifts, and potentials.   The coming years will continue to be years of discovery—for you to learn more about yourself, your abilities and gifts, and to develop them.  What can I suggest to you for you to do that?

      To answer that question, let’s do a little Science together.  You may remember that the 18th-century scientist, Isaac Newton, who is best known for, as it were, discovering gravity while sitting under an apple tree.  Well, he also studied light and he concluded that white light is actually a mixture of many different colors. If a ray of white light passes through a prism, this is what we see: a broad band of different colors looking like a rainbow. This array of colors is called a spectrum.  The colors of the spectrum range from violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

     How do we see the color red in an apple, for example?  The sun gives off its light, which is actually all the colors of the rainbow though we don’t see it.  We see red because the apple absorbs all the other light waves and reflects only the red light wave to our eye. 

     The same goes for the color green—as in grass, for example.  Once again the sun sends white light to the grass, where white light if all the colors of the rainbow.  The grass absorbs all the other light waves except for the green light wave which is reflected to our eye.

     You can guess what happens for the color blue.  In this case, once the blue car receives the sun’s light, it reflects only the blue light wave to our eye.

     Something interesting happens when we see the colors black and white.

     To see the color black—in this case a black sheep—what actually happens?  The sun is, as usual, the source of white light, all the colors of the rainbow, but the black sheep absorbs all the light waves and does not reflect any light to the human eye.  It is almost as if black colored objects hoard all the light for themselves.  And that’s how we see the color black.

     What about the color white?  Let’s take a roll of toilet paper.  The sun sends out its usual white light, but unlike objects of other color, the roll of toilet paper absorbs nothing and reflects every single light wave to the human eye.  And that’s how we see white.

     Now, you may be wondering:  “What’s the point of this impromptu science class?”   Well, the science of colors can teach us a lot about how we can live our lives.  After all, science can teach us a lot not only about the physical universe and the world around us, but also about the spiritual universe and the world in each one of us.

     For example, just as the sun is the source of all light on earth, God is the source of all our gifts.  What’s important is what we do with the gifts that God has given us.  Are we going to share the light that we have received from God with others?  How much of it will we share with others, and how much of it will we keep to ourselves? 

     When you think about it, we color our lives depending on what we do with our God-given gifts.  If we hoard all our gifts to ourselves, then we are no better than the black sheep in our example earlier because it keeps all the light to itself.

     But if we are willing to share our gifts with others, then we end up coloring not only our own lives but also those of others.  And as the more gifts we share, the more colors we create in our lives.  As one of you, David Gotianun of H4B, wrote for the exercise of writing a valedictory speech:  “Be an artist!”   Perhaps at the end of our lives, one question that our Lord will ask us is:  “What is the color of your life?”

     And so, as you leave Xavier School, that is my hope and prayer for you, Xavier High School Class of 2006:  Let your light shine by sharing your light with others.  For when you share your light, you color your life.

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