Homily
for Graduation Mass
Cardinal
Kung Academy
June
13, 2021
One of the biggest and busiest roads
I have ever driven on is the I-405, the loop around Los Angeles. Twelve lanes
of pure chaos, noise, smog, congestion. Even with so much “road space”, it’s
always full of traffic. In fact, it is named the #1 busiest road in America,
with almost 400,000 cars driving on it daily!
One of the most remote areas I’ve
ever been to was on an unnamed trail in the Grand Teton wilderness, backpacking
with Wyoming Catholic College (which some of our CKA students participated in).
There was a point on the trail where there were no man-made structures (roads,
buildings, etc) for thirty miles in every direction!
Which one would you prefer to be on?
Well, there are advantages to I-405. If you want a Dunkin Donuts coffee, you
can pull off at the next exit and get one. The road is wide and well-marked,
and you’ll never be alone.
But the trail offers things that you
can’t find on a twelve-lane highway. It offers beauty, pure air, exercise,
challenge, the joy of being alone with God. Yes, there are hardships. You can’t
get there in an air-conditioned sedan; you can’t just pull off for a burger;
you have to learn how to read maps and survive in the wilderness. But if I had
to pick from the two, I’d say I come alive on the trail in ways I can’t in a
traffic jam.
You all are very much trailblazers
here at Cardinal Kung. Only the third graduating class, most of you have been
with the school since the beginning. You have seen it grow and triple in size.
And in a very real way, you have been the ones to set the tone and the culture
of the school – you have been leaders, instituting traditions such as the school
dance and the Rabbit Room (still not sure of that name…). And what an adventure
it is to blaze a trail!
But you will be tempted to take a
wider, more heavily trod road in the future. The road that the world says you
must follow: party in college, fall away from your faith, focus on making money
and worldly success. Much like the 12-lane highway, this road that most people
take will have its conveniences and pleasures, and certainly you will be
surrounded by many others who are taking it. But is it the way to authentic
happiness?
No, the little trail – harder, more
arduous – leads to the beautiful views and the clean air. The way trodden, not
by great throngs of people, but by the few saints who have dared to walk a
different path. It is the path of prayer, the path of suffering, the path of
self-denial – and the path to Heaven. It is narrow, to be sure – as Jesus
Himself promised – and although everyone desires Heaven, few want to make the
sacrifices to get there.
When St. Faustina was a young teen,
she felt a strong call to become a nun. But she kept postponing it and putting
it off, figuring that it was too hard. Even though she loved God, she said to
herself, “First I want to see what the world has to offer!” One day when she
was about eighteen, she and her sister went to a nightclub for a dance with
hundreds of other people, jammed into a tiny club. She was having a great time,
but something was off…something in her conscience bothered her. As she was
dancing, all of a sudden the dance floor seemed to empty and everyone faded
away from her sight. Instead, across the room, appeared Jesus Christ, covered
in blood and wounds and walking to her. He said to her, “Faustina, how much
longer will you put Me off?” After He asked the question, He disappeared and
the dance continued like usual. But Faustina was shaken. White as a ghost, she
fled the dance hall, ignoring her sister’s questions, and went straight to the
nearest convent of nuns where she stayed all night in the chapel, and when the
sun came up she asked for admission to the convent.
For all that the world could offer,
Jesus was calling her to a higher life. You, too, are being called to a higher
way of life – one where you live for Him alone, study for Him alone, recreate
for Him alone, work for Him alone, love Him above all else.
To do so, you may have to be a
trailblazer and not follow the crowd. Whether your path leads to college, the
military, or the workforce, it should also lead to Heaven. It’s not easy, but
do not be afraid – for the path of following Christ is difficult, but it leads
to glory!
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