This past Sunday we celebrated the feast of Pentecost, the memorial that has been called the “birthday of the Church.” On this day—recounted variously by St. John and by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles—where the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus was given to the eleven faithful Apostles and our Blessed Mother.
As a “birthday,” Pentecost was a beginning: it was the start of a new religion, which would do nothing less than transform humanity. But for His disciples it was an ending as well: gone would be the days of the Apostles passively attending to the words of Jesus. Now they would join in the work of the Son of Man Who had nowhere to rest His head (Mt 8:20). Eleven men, huddled together in the Upper Room for fear of persecution, were by the gift of the Holy Spirit, emboldened to proclaim Jesus to a world that at once needed Him, but in many ways would reject Him.
It seems somehow fitting, given our moment in history, that the day after the Church celebrated this major feast, the Saint Ignatius class of 2024 graduated. In the days before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, this would have taken place within the eight-day celebration of the then Octave of Pentecost. It is appropriate because the young men who crossed the stage at Public Hall shared much in common with the men who received the Spirit some 2000 years ago.
Theologian James Mohler, in his book The School of Jesus, asserted that when Jesus called the Twelve, those young men would have been roughly the same age as our Saint Ignatius seniors. Drawing on sources from the first century, Mohler noted that there was a tradition of itinerant rabbis gathering young men of 16 to 18 years old, and teaching them while preaching to a larger community. If he is correct, then on that Pentecost night when the apostles were gathered in the Upper Room, they would not have been much older than our newest Wildcat alumni.
In many ways, our graduates are heirs to a long tradition. They too, despite—or maybe because of—their youth, are called to the challenging task of helping bring the world closer to Jesus and to His Father.
As noted above, Pentecost is at once a beginning but also an ending. So too is the commencement of our graduates. While our boys may not have been huddled in an upper room for fear of persecution, like their forebears they have spent time together in the relative comfort and security of Saint Ignatius High School. It’s easy, after all, to be a Christian when those around us are Christian. It’s easy to proclaim a faith to people who agree with us: but we are meant for something more. We’re meant to share our faith.
The First Council of Constantinople reminded us that the Church of Christ is at once one, holy, and Catholic. But it is also apostolic both because of its connection with the Twelve who carried on the mission of Christ, but also, equally important, it is apostolic in the sense of the Greek “apostolos,” literally meaning “a person sent forth.”
Tradition holds that the Apostles from that Upper Room were “sent forth” to the far reaches of the then-known (at least from their point of view) world. James the Lesser would stay at home in Jerusalem. Peter would go to Rome. Thomas, we’re told, would go to India; and James the Greater to Spain, with the others of the Twelve going to all places in between.
While our young men may not find themselves, at least in the immediate future, in Spain or India or Rome, they will find themselves at places like John Carroll, Stanford, Morehouse, Alabama, and Ohio State. Their mission will be the same as those who went before: to be Christ to a world that needs Him desperately and have the courage given them by the same Holy Spirit Who descended upon the Twelve at Pentecost. In addition to courage, like all confirmed Catholics, they have had bestowed on them wisdom, understanding, and right judgment. They have been granted the spirit of knowledge and reverence, as well as wonder and awe. And while our Wildcats may not be gifted with tongues in the same way as, say, Peter was as he preached, we’ve done our job well then they realize that when heart speaks to heart differences in language, culture, and background fade.
No Saint Ignatius class—certainly in my memory—has been more served by the Holy Spirit than this one. Coming to Ignatius in the midst of a global pandemic, they started out their careers at best coming to know half of their class—and even those they came to know only by the features peeking out over masks. Through the vision of the administration and the hard work of our plant services department, those young men were able to be part of the tradition and Jesuit schools: the Mass of the Holy Spirit. Our teachers and administrators knew the importance of the Spirit to their education, and more importantly to their lives. That Spirit, Whose gifts were given them in full at uniquely-celebrated confirmations during their eighth grade is the exact same Spirit and the exact same gifts given at Pentecost. With those gifts, the eleven young men in the Upper Room were sent out into the world to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ. In being sent, they were made “apostles.”
Speaking of their leaving St Ignatius, Principal Fior used the word “missioned” instead of “graduated” to describe our newly-minted alumni. Echoing the words of our patron, St Ignatius of Loyola, our valedictorian, Stephen Tripak challenged his fellows to “Go and set the world on fire” with the love of Christ. It was right that they did. There is much work to do in the Lord’s vineyard, and these are the men to do it.
Because being missioned, they are apostles now.
A.M.D.G. / B.V.M.H.