‘Do not be afraid,’ Bishop Iffert tells graduates at TMU baccalaureate Mass

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Graduations among students in the Diocese of Covington began, May 15, with a Mass celebrating Thomas More University’s Class of 2026.

Many of the university’s graduating seniors — dressed in caps, gowns and tassels — were there to celebrate their achievements alongside the faculty, staff and administrators that guided them along the way to the weekend of their graduation, with commencement to be held the following day.

Bishop John Iffert was also present to celebrate the Mass at the university’s Mary, Seat of Wisdom Chapel. In his homily, he began by emphasizing words from the day’s Gospel: “Do not be afraid.”

“These words addressed to Jesus’s own disciples speak directly to us and directly to you, the class of 2026,” Bishop Iffert told graduates.

He compared them to St. Thomas More, the university’s patron, describing him as someone who loved “learning” and “his family,” who “served the common good with his whole living.”

“In that sense,” said Bishop Iffert, “his life looks a great deal like what you aspire to, like the aspirations celebrated by the degree that you will receive tomorrow. But what makes Thomas More a saint and not simply a successful graduate is this: When the decisive moment of challenge came, he knew who he was before God, and he refused to betray that truth.”

St. Thomas More famously sided with the Catholic Church during the protestant reformation and refused to acknowledge the queenship of Anne Boleyn after King Henry VIII divorced his first wife — and was executed for treason as a result.

“Jesus says,” Bishop Iffert quoted, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, rather be afraid of those who can destroy both soul and body. These are challenging words,” he said, “but they are ultimately liberating.”

These words “remind us that your identity in mind is not rooted in a resume or salary or status or any yardstick of success,” Bishop Iffert said. “Your deepest identity is that you are known, loved and called by God.”

Continuing, Bishop Iffert posed another question and challenge to graduates: “Will you have the courage to live the truth?”

Throughout life, graduates will encounter “pressure, pressure to compromise, pressure to remain silent, pressure to redefine truth according to convenience or popular opinion or the conventions of your industry,” Bishop Iffert said.

“Do not be afraid,” he told them once more. “Do not be afraid to let your conscience be formed by truth, not by pressure. Do not be afraid to promote peace and the dignity of every human person.”

Concluding, Bishop Iffert said to graduates, “Today we entrust you to the intercession of St. Thomas More. May he help you to unite intellect and conscience, success and holiness, service and fidelity … congratulations, graduates. Do not be afraid. And always remember — you are called to be saints.”