Baccalaureate Mass 2025

June 14, 2025

I would like begin by thanking Fr. Ryan for presiding over this celebration, which is so meaningful to Seattle University and to our graduates and their families.

Commencement is a celebration of transition. As one phase of our lives comes to a conclusion, we commence a new adventure.

As some of you likely know, Fr. Ryan recently announced his retirement as the Pastor here at St. James, which is the parish church of Seattle University.

Fr. Ryan’s retirement marks the end of an era at St. James and for the Archdiocese of Seattle, and for Fr. Ryan himself. He has served as our Pastor here for nearly 40 years. A true child of Seattle, Fr. Ryan attended St. Anne’s Catholic School on Queen Anne and earned his bachelor’s degree at St. Thomas Seminary in Kenmore.

He became Pastor at St. James Cathedral in 1988, when he was appointed to this post by Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen.

For those of you keeping score, that was my junior year in high school.

I did not have the good fortune to personally meet Fr. Ryan until I became president of Seattle University in 2021, but I have admired him for far longer.

In his three and a half decades as Pastor at St. James, Fr. Ryan has been a tireless and consistent advocate for the seamless garment of life and a faithful steward of the legacy of Archbishop Hunthausen.

As I believe I have shared with him, one of my proudest moments as a young Catholic in this archdiocese was the interfaith service he hosted in this very Cathedral in 1993 to decry the revival of the death penalty in this state after a thirty-year hiatus.

It has been one of the great joys of my position as president of Seattle University to get to know him better and to benefit from his wisdom.

We are honored by his presence here this afternoon and we wish him all the best in the next chapter of his ministry.

Thank you, Father.

We have a small gift for you on behalf of Seattle University — this is a numbered print produced by Fr. Arturo, the Rector of the Seattle University Jesuit community and his students.

It is also my great pleasure to congratulate our graduates and their families and friends and supporters who are here with us today.

Graduation is always such a festive occasion. Completing an academic program is an incredible achievement, and solemnizing that with the celebration of this Mass is always one of the highlights of my year.

We celebrate your achievement this year amidst tremendous uncertainty in the world around us, with unprecedented challenges to our democratic culture, to the rule of law, and to higher education.

In times like these, it can be all too tempting to lose hope. And so, I take great consolation from Paul’s words in today’s second reading. He tells us that

affliction produces endurance,
and endurance, proven character,
and proven character, hope,
and hope does not disappoint.

These are words we should take to heart.

Affliction is an unavoidable consequence of the human condition. Sometimes, affliction is also an injustice.

But whether our afflictions are just part of the human condition or the product of injustice, Paul’s words offer us encouragement about our ability to overcome them, particularly if we remember we are not in it alone.

In Second Corinthians, Paul reminds us that — with God’s help — we can rise above the afflictions the world dishes out:

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Paul does not counsel us to suffer affliction in silence or resignation. Rather, he urges us to refuse to retreat into self-pity or submit to despair.

He reassures us that affliction is a seedbed of resilience, germinating within us the strength and stamina to overcome hardships, to challenge injustices and to do the hard work of creating a more just and humane world, as so many generations before us have done on our behalf.

To successfully confront affliction, we need to embrace each step of the progression Paul offers us — from affliction to endurance and from endurance to character.

Only by embracing that full progression can we arrive at that last word: “hope.”

Hope is not a naive Pollyannaism, but an abiding optimism rooted in faith and earned through the hard work of obstacles surmounted, of endurance achieved.

My own hope comes in part from you, our graduates — from the challenges each of you has overcome — from the endurance each of you has built up, and from the “proven character” you have demonstrated by successfully arriving at this point today.

As we will celebrate at commencement on Monday, you are our hope for a more just and humane future.

It is important that we take the time to celebrate your accomplishments, even amidst so much uncertainty and tumult in the world around us.

To some, that may seem incongruous, but it is an important expression of our faith.

As Pope Francis reminded us, “Hard times may come, when the cross casts its shadow, yet nothing can destroy the supernatural joy that... brings deep security, serene hope and a spiritual fulfilment that the world cannot understand or appreciate.”

In other words, amidst the uncertainties of our times, it becomes even more essential that we take the time to express joy. “Ill humor,” Pope Francis counseled, “is no sign of holiness.”

And so we look ahead to our commencement celebration on Monday with joy for what you have accomplished and profound hope for the future that you represent.