Graduates possess an ‘unalienable dignity, ’ says Bishop Iffert at Thomas More baccalaureate Mass

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Thomas More University’s graduates were among the first to graduate as the Class of 2025 this year — celebrating their accomplishments with a baccalaureate Mass, May 16. Held in the campus’s Mary, Seat of Wisdom, chapel — Bishop John Iffert visited to celebrate the Mass with the Class of 2025.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Bishop Iffert began his homily quoting John 14, and reflecting on a story of a young girl he met when he was pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Columbia, Illinois. The little girl, a fifth grader, who had been caught cheating, was distraught. “Literally bawling,” said Bishop Iffert.

The little girl believed because of this mistake, she would not get into the best high school, or college, and feared that she would not “fulfill her potential worth.”

“As I sat there and watched this young girl, just riddled with anxiety,” Bishop Iffert said, “I wanted to punish someone. But, it wasn’t her. Her parents, the school, myself, maybe, for ratcheting up the pressure on this girl. That anxiety, it’s a killer.”

“We are the most rejected generation,” Bishop Iffert quoted a young man in an article for the New York Times. College applications, internships and even jobs, all have a lower acceptance rate now than ever, according to the article.

“Rejection reinforces the dark world mentality,” said Bishop Iffert, “that is so prevalent in our culture. The idea that the world is menacing and that people and institutions are untrustworthy. It’s a dark view of the world that believes that our neighbors are out to get us, or even in constant competition.”

“Here at Thomas More University,” he continued, “I hope that you have learned a few things that will help you stand against that dark view of the world. I hope that you have learned that you possess an unalienable dignity that comes to you as a free gift from God, and that can never be taken away from you because of anyone’s judgment or rejection.”

“This dignity is yours by right,” Bishop Iffert said, “You are created with it. You do not have to earn it. It is yours.”

For more graduation coverage including a listing of the Class of 2025 from Thomas More University and all nine Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Covington, see page 9.