By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the opening of the school year Mass at St. Mary Cathedral, Sept. 3, 2024, with the students of Cristo Rey High School in North Miami. Cristo Rey High School, the newest Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Miami, opened in 2022. It is part of a network of schools across the United States for low-income students who, in lieu of tuition work in various businesses (law firms, banks, etc.) as interns. While not an Archdiocesan school, it is a recognized Catholic college preparatory school.
In today’s first reading, St. Paul reminds us that “we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God” and who is God. And so today, we invoke the Holy Spirit as you begin another academic year so that guided by the Spirit of God you may be truly wise and grow in your understanding of the mind of Christ.
To understand the mind of Christ also means to come to understand what God’s plan is for you. God does have a plan for each one of us – for in God’s eyes, no one is an accident. “Each one of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 4/24/05)
Photographer: Courtesy
Students from Cristo Rey High School in North Miami listen to Archbishop Thomas Wenski's homily at the opening of the school year Mass Sept. 3, 2024, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Miami.
As Christians, we believe that God is our origin and our destination: in other words, he made us and he made us for himself, for God is our ultimate destination.
The reason we were put on this earth was to know God, to serve God, and to love God, and thus to get to heaven, to live with God. To reach this destination, as we journey through this life, with all its ups and downs, Jesus is our way, he is our GPS that keeps us from getting lost on this journey of life.
Where is your life going to take you? You are all still young – your life’s journey is still ahead of you. You are all fortunate to live in the USA – living in this land of the free and the brave. And so, you will have many opportunities for personal development – and Cristo Rey wants to instill in you a sense of generosity, service, and fairness.
And while the road ahead of you looks hopeful, there are also difficulties, mindsets, activities that can stifle hope – there are wrong turns that at first might seem to lead to happiness and fulfillment, but in fact end up only in confusion and fear.
What is God’s plan for my life? What does he want me to do with my life?
We find a general outline of God’s plan for us in Jesus’ words to his disciples: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13: 34) God calls each one of us to a future of love, of “blessedness.” To give your very self as a gift to God and to your brothers and sisters, as Jesus did when he died for us on the cross, is the way to true joy and happiness. This is not an easy way; but it is the way, God’s way.
Dare, then, to love as Christ loves. Loving in this way is like learning to speak a new language well or playing a new sport.
Before you can speak a new language well, you have to learn the grammar. Grammar might seem to be all about rules and regulations. And to love like Jesus means learning the rules and regulations about self-control, purity of heart and mind; it is about learning how to deny oneself, to respect others, to serve instead of being served. And as you learn the grammar, you have to practice, practice, practice...
It’s the same way in learning a new sport. Someone who plays a sport well learns that he or she cannot ignore the rules and regulations of the game. In fact, knowing and keeping the rules makes it easier, not harder, to play the game. In the same way, the Commandments, the rules and regulations of Christian living, give us the freedom to embrace a future of love.
Obeying the commandments – with the help of God’s grace gained through constant prayer and a lot of practice – makes love possible and makes life an exciting adventure. Later this week we will celebrate the feast of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who worked with the poorest of the poor and who reminds us that what counts in life is not worldly success, but faithfulness to who we are as children of God.
God’s plan is for us to love as Jesus did. To work out the details, to learn how God wishes you to shape that future, to overcome one’s own hesitancy or fears, requires the same discipline needed to excel in a language or a sport. It also requires that you spend some time talking and listening to Jesus as he walks with you along your way.
Perhaps, God has a project of love for your future as a husband or wife, a father or mother. But, at the same time, be ready to say “yes” if the project is to follow the path of the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life.
Being a Catholic Christian means simply to commit ourselves to walk in the Lord’s footsteps even when our path takes us through twists and turns, through the joys and trials of ordinary life. Find out what your purpose is. Take advantage of the opportunities to discover not just what you want to do with your life, but what God wants you to do with your lives. Come Holy Spirit.
