Say "Yes" to God, Cardinal O'Malley Urges AMU Graduates
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Published on Saturday, 08 May 2010 00:35
Saying "yes" to God can define a person's existence, Cardinal O'Malley said in his homily at the Baccalaureate Mass for Ave Maria University Friday. (Right, the procession beginning the mass)
"We are people who say 'yes' to God's work and to God's commandments," the Archbishop of Boston said at a mass that filled the oratory.
The cardinal delivered a homily that used many references to The Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she had been chosen as the mother of Jesus.
"I was so impressed this morning when I saw that magnificent image of The Annunciation that you are going to put over the doors of the oratory," he said. "At The Annunciation, God is knocking on the door of humanity and Mary opens that door. Each time we say 'yes' to God, the door opens a little more, a little wider, and more light comes into the world."
The cardinal, who was making his first visit to Ave Maria, said he was grateful to be in "this center of Catholic spiriituality, Catholic intellectual life, and new evangelization."
"The entire Church is the beneficiary of what you are doing here," he said.
Addressing the graduates, who will receive their degrees Saturday morning, Cardinal O'Malley said that "saying 'yes' to God defines our existence in a way that makes us different from those whose lives are directed by other goals and considerations."
"If God is not first in our lives, other idols will take His place. Money, power, pleasure -- false gods that can enslave us and take away our freedom and rob us of meaning and happiness."
After the mass, AMU Chancellor Tom Monaghan (left in photo at left) and President Nicholas Healy presented Cardinal O'Malley with an honorary doctorate degree.
The cardinal also congratulated the graduates at the Men's Discernment program who are continuing preparation for a vocation to the priesthood following graduation. At right, he poses with (left to right): Vinny Talamas, Fr. Piotr Paciorek, Nick Doherty and Nathan Page.
