Guilford Young College Graduation, 30th Anniversary
Thank you to everyone who has made an effort to be here to celebrate this occasion with the graduands of Guilford Young College.
At the beginning of this year of 2025, I expected to be celebrating several graduation Masses, but I did not anticipate this occasion. I really did not anticipate that this week I would be on this side of Bass Strait celebrating Year 12 Masses for MacKillop Catholic College, St Mary’s College and this morning for you Guilford Young College. But let me say that I am so happy to be with you.
I am just so delighted to share this time with you — your graduation, within the 30th anniversary of Guilford Young College as I met Archbishop Guilford several times. So, I already have an affection for you. Next week when I travel to the Australian bishops meeting in Sydney I promise you that the 30th anniversary badge of GYC will be on my jacket.
Guilford Young College though young in the history of Tasmania already has a legacy of thirty years of forming young hearts and minds — three decades of light, learning, excellence and love.
And here you are, the Class of 2025, standing at the threshold of your own new beginnings.
If you look around this Cathedral — built of stone, light, and faith — you stand within something solid, beautiful, and enduring. That’s what Guilford Young College has sought to be for you: a place of formation, not just education. A place that has helped you build foundations of courage, compassion, and conscience.
In the Gospel we just heard, St Luke says, “They watched him.”
Jesus had gone to a Sabbath meal, surrounded by critics waiting to catch him out — and what did he do? He noticed a man in pain, and he healed him.
An early Christian teacher, Clement of Alexandria, once preached on this same passage, saying:
“They watched him. The Law does not forbid mercy. The God of all does not cease to be kind.”
That’s our starting point this morning: the God of all does not cease to be kind.
Jesus knew that mercy was never against the rules — mercy is the rule. He wasn’t interested in playing it safe; he was interested in setting people free.
And that, dear graduates, is the challenge before you:
To live in a world that sometimes prefers judgement to mercy, noise to listening, shadows to light — but to still choose kindness.
To notice the person left out, the voice unheard, the one who doesn’t quite fit in — and to lift them up.
Because, like those Pharisees, people are still watching. They’ll watch how you treat others, how you respond to pressure, how you use your gifts. And when they watch you, may they see what Clement saw in Christ — that the God of all does not cease to be kind.
Your college motto — Christ be our Light — is more than a line from a hymn. It’s a mission statement.
You may have sung that many times before today. Today, it becomes your calling.
Christ be our Light — not just a song to end this Mass, it is a promise with which to begin your future.
There will be moments in the years ahead when that light seems dim — when you’re uncertain, anxious, or alone. But light doesn’t cease to exist when you can’t see it. It only needs someone brave enough to kindle it again.
Be that someone. Be the spark that says yes to life, yes to service, yes to hope.
At the Offertory, we’ll sing One Bread, One Body.
It’s not just a beautiful song — it’s truth to which you can dance.
The hymn tells us that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. Whether you’re heading to university, trades, travel, or work, you remain part of a single Body, a people bound together by the Spirit of God.
In the first reading, St Paul poured out his heart for his people. His passion, his longing, his ache for those he loves reveals something powerful: faith isn’t abstract. It’s personal.
Paul’s love is not sentimental; it’s sacrificial.
He reminds us that love costs something — that to follow Christ is to give of yourself.
That’s the spirit of Guilford Young College. Named after Archbishop Guilford Young, a man of vision and courage, your college was built on the belief that young people are not just the future of the Church — you are its vibrant present.
You have what it takes to think critically, love deeply, and act justly. You can be the generation that brings back civility, empathy, and truth.
But to do that, you must see with those same wide eyes Clement spoke of — eyes that “watch Him.” Not to catch him out, but to imitate him.
So today, GYC Class of 2025 — be the light. When you see division, bring unity. When you see cynicism, bring hope. When you see cruelty, bring compassion.
Remember: the Law does not forbid mercy.
And the God of all does not cease to be kind.
May that kindness live in you. May Christ be your light.
And may your life — brilliant, brave, and open to grace — be the light this world needs.
Congratulations, and God bless you always.