Fr. Tom Doyle, C.S.C. - ND ‘89
Seniors’ Last Trip to Grotto 2001
... Presuming that you and I have a few things in common, the Grotto is probably the place you have sought shelter in times of need. The Grotto is sacred ground because it actually invites what most public spaces don’t allow: the Grotto permits you to be weak and vulnerable. Its ground is sacred because it’s covered with the tears that you didn’t have permission to shed in another place. Its stone cavern echos sigh and prayers for yourself and your loved ones. In the absence of your biological mothers, at the Grotto, you have found a surrogate mother who is just as tender and familiar as your own.On this poignant night, let me suggest to you that the Grotto is the setting for the least conventional learning, and most important wisdom, of your last four years. It is the place where we are permitted to be WEAK. We come when we recognize the limits of being human. . .when life asks more than we can naturally provide ourselves. When our minds and bodies and spirits have been heroically stretched - sometimes to the point of near breaking - we go to the Grotto, alone and with others, to face that frightening reality. We approach the Grotto, fall to our knees as beggars before the Mystery that created us. And it is a good thing. Because being there reinforces - that the essence of being human isn’t to be alone - but rather in relationship - with others and God.
Over the years, the Grotto has given us a place and permission to be fully human, which includes being limited, being needy, being weak. . . The Grotto invites what we so often want to deny or obscure. It is unlike almost every other place because it shatters the world’s image of success. That to be a success we must always and everywhere be strong!
Here on the threshold of Graduation, there is little doubt that you will be strong enough to succeed in every conceivable way. But, our last trip to the Grotto begs an equally important question: Will you be WEAK enough to carry a Notre Dame degree?
Have you learned at the Grotto and at Notre Dame, that:
•to be rich, you must have the experience of begging.
•to be a healer, you must walk among the broken.
•to be a teacher, you must acknowledge there is much you do not know.
•to be a leader, you must have fallen in another’s line.
•To tap into the full strength and power of who you are, you must permit yourself to be weak.Power and Weakness: Not one but both.
• It is the paradox of Christ on the cross.
• It is what St. Paul wrote about when he said, “power is made perfect in weakness.”
• It is what Chesteron described when he defined Christianity as, “the superhuman paradox (where) two opposite passions. . .blaze beside each other.”
• It is what we sing of in the Alma Mater when we name Mary as both TENDER and STRONG.The fullness of your Notre Dame degree will be unleashed on the world when you claim your power, admit your frailty and live as one more Christian paradox in the world.
So my friends:
• Stand proudly and lean on one another.
• Raise a triumphant fist in the air and hold the hand of a friend.
• Shout with joy and shed your tears.
• Tolerate no injustice and reconcile always.
• Wait in silence and proclaim boldly “I love you.”
• Claim your power and embrace your weakness.
• Be strong - be tender - be true.
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