Graduation Mass for St Thomas Aquinas Teaching Schools Institute 2025

Today we gather for a moment of real joy in the life of the Archdiocese of Hobart: the graduation of the cadet teachers of the St Thomas Aquinas Teaching Schools Institute. This is holy ground. The dreams, sacrifices, perseverance, and prayers that have brought you to this day are not simply human achievements—they are movements of grace.

You have said yes to a calling. And today, the Church in Tasmania says thank you.

Our first reading from the Book of Daniel is one of the most dramatic in all of Scripture. Daniel refuses to abandon prayer, no matter the cost. His fidelity puts him in the lions’ den. Yet what happens? He is not devoured. He is defended. He is not alone.

For you, the graduating teachers, this story is not ancient history—it is a mirror.

You will be called into classrooms and staffrooms, into playgrounds and parishes, into communities filled with extraordinary potential and sometimes extraordinary strain. You will meet young people formed by a complex world—bright, funny, anxious, hopeful, sometimes wounded, eager, restless, and searching.

Some days, the classroom will feel like Daniel’s den: with competing demands, shifting expectations, the challenges of behaviour, the weight of responsibility, and the call to witness to Jesus Christ gently yet boldly in a secular culture.

However, Daniel teaches you something essential: you are never alone in the den. When you stand for what is true, noble, just and compassionate — when you let faith steady your heart — God’s hand is with you.

In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus speaks words tailor-made for this mission: “Stand erect, hold your heads high.” (Luke 21:28)

He is speaking about hope, courage, and dignity in the face of uncertainty. He is describing the posture of the Christian disciple which is also the posture of the Catholic teacher.

A Catholic educator is not simply an instructor of subjects; you are formers of humanity, shapers of wonder, cultivators of virtue and midwives of hope.

When you enter a classroom, you are not merely entering a workplace — you are stepping into a sanctuary of possibility. Every day you will help the young discover: who they are, what they can become,
and the God who calls them by name.

Your dignity matters because your presence can steady a child’s world. Your courage matters because your courage becomes their courage. Your faith matters because your faith awakens faith in others.

“Hold your heads high,” says Jesus — not out of pride, but from mission. Not because you have all the answers, but because He walks beside you into every classroom.

The hymn we sang, Here I Am, Lord, gives voice to your deepest truth: your vocation is a response to God’s call.

Somewhere, often quietly, the Lord said to each of you: “Whom shall I send?” And in your own way, through late-night study, through lessons taught, through placements endured and loved, you answered: “Here I am, Lord.”

Never underestimate how precious those words are to the Church. Teaching is not simply useful—it is sacred. It is one of the most Christ-like forms of service. And, it has never been more needed.

To teach is to kneel beside the mystery of another person. It is to honour the dignity of a child as God sees them.

This day I also want you to hear this clearly: You will be remembered far more for your kindness than for your content delivery. Children seldom remember our elaborations on curriculum—but they never forget love, encouragement, patience, and presence.

To you, our graduates, I say:

You are graduating at a time when the Church needs teachers of conviction, teachers who love the young, teachers who know Jesus Christ personally and can reveal Him by their lives.

And you are exactly the kind of people St Thomas Aquinas prayed would rise up: those who love truth, love learning, and love God.

As you cross this threshold into your vocation, take Daniel’s courage, Christ’s words, the Eucharist’s nourishment, and the baptismal light entrusted to you.

Hold your heads high. For the Lord who called you is faithful. And, through you, Jesus will continue to teach, heal, bless, encourage, and set hearts free.

Congratulations, and may God’s grace go before you and follow after you, always.