Notre Dame University Australia Graduation Masses

12 JULY 2021 NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY AUSTRALIA GRADUATION MASSES

In July this year, two Masses were held at St Mary’s Cathedral to celebrate the achievements and graduation of UNDA Fremantle Campus students.

The 2pm Mass included the Faculties of Education, Philosophy & Theology, and Faculties of Arts, Sciences, Law & Business. Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB celebrated the Mass, joined by concelebrants - St Charles’ Seminary Rector Fr Phillip Fleay, Redemptoris Mater Seminary Rector Fr Michael Moore SM, Vice Rector Fr Luis Tijerino, Spiritual Director Fr Noe Navarrete and UNDA Chaplain Fr Joseph Laundy.

The 6pm Mass and Ceremony for the Faculties of Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery and Health Sciences, was also celebrated by the Archbishop.

The history of the graduation ceremony can be traced back to the first universities, which were developed by the Church from the 11th Century onwards.

Graduands had to meet academic requirements and be of good character. Upon approval, they were admitted to the ‘grade’ or ‘degree’ of Bachelor, Master or Doctor. The Chancellor’s authority to confer degrees originally came from the Church. The Bishop of a Diocese was the sole authority to license a teacher. Over time, this authority was delegated to his Chief Secretary or Chancellor. When teachers began to request a licence to teach in more than one diocese, Papal approval was required. The Chancellor’s authority then came directly from the Pope.

In his Homily for the Graduation Masses, Archbishop Costelloe outlined how Jesus Christ is “a sure guide for the living of our lives to the full.”

“For people who are celebrating the successful completion of their studies and are about to step, in one way or another, into a new chapter in the story of their lives, as you are all about to do, it is a precious gift to know the mind and heart of Jesus.

The challenge, of course, which is also the adventure which beckons to you, is to grapple with the reality that what the words and deeds of Jesus, the mind and heart of Jesus, put before us is in so many respects the very opposite of what our instincts, shaped by the world around us, might be leading us to embrace. Living as God intends us to, according to how Jesus detailed in the Sermon on the Mount brings happiness and blessings to those who adhere.

To all of you who are graduating, and indeed to the rest of us as well, Jesus offers a recipe for a life fully lived. Jesus does not promise material wealth or a stellar career or a life free from challenge and difficulty. He promises instead a life of deep peace and profound inner harmony which will make us precious gifts to those we love, and valued companions on the road to those with whom we share our lives,” Archbishop Costelloe continued.

“We really will be, then, the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” said Archbishop Costelloe.

Graduate’s Farewell Addresses were delivered at each ceremony by Errol Xavier Lobo, Simon Michael Joachim, Brian Wai-Henk Cheung, Kathleen Anne Irwin, Ashleigh Kate Parker, Reid Anthony Bevan, Renata Louise Sivacolundhu, and Sascha Anne Elizabeth Oliver.