Good afternoon, and welcome to Divine Mercy University's graduation mass, offered in honor of the graduates and degree candidates of the twenty twenty one commencement exercises.
We are honored to hold this special event in Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church and ask that an atmosphere fitting of this sacred space may be maintained throughout the entire event.
Please take this moment to silence any cell phones or other electronic devices.
So that everyone is able to see their graduates entering, please remain seated during the academic procession.
Thank you.
Our opening hymn for mass is Let Us Go to the Altar of God, found in your program.
Please rise.
Let us go to the altar of God The source of all our joy With gladness in our hearts Let us lift the cup of praise And call on the name of the Lord In whom we place our hope Let us go to the altar of God The source of all our joy With gladness in our hearts Let us lift the cup of praise And call on the name of the Lord In whom we place our hope I rejoiced when they said to me Let us go to the house of the Lord It is there where your tribes go up Within your holy gates Let us go to the altar of of God The source of all our joy With gladness in our hearts Let us lift the cup of praise And call on the name of the Lord In whom we place our hope For the peace of Jerusalem Let us go to the altar of God.
The source of all our joy.
With gladness our joy With gladness in our hearts Let us lift the cup of praise And call on the name of the Lord In whom we place our hope Trust and praise are due the Lord For all his mighty deeds Make it known to the sons of men The splendor of our God Let us go to the altar of God The source of all our joy with gladness in our hearts Let us lift the cup of praise And call on the name of the Lord In whom we place And with your spirit.
On behalf of everyone at Divine Mercy University, I'd just like to extend a warm welcome to everyone here today, in person and virtually through the live stream and welcome you to the twentieth commencement mass and exercises for Divine Mercy University.
Today, thanks be to God, we have such a large group.
I think that's our largest group ever.
And it's so beautiful that we're able to gather together today to celebrate.
I'd like to extend a special welcome to our main celebrant, Archbishop Timothy Broglio from the archdiocese for the military services of the United States.
And he's accompanied by Bishop Paul Laverde, who is the Bishop Emeritus here in the diocese of Arlington and who's been a board member of DMU since its beginning.
We also have fifteen, sixteen, a good group of concelebrants here who are will be joining us in the mass.
And it's great.
Many of those are graduates, and it's great to have them with us as well.
Before we begin, I'd like to just extend a special thank you to father J.
D.
Jaffe, who is the pastor here at Christ the Redeemer Parish for his more than generous hospitality in taking us in this year, throughout all of the challenges of the pandemic.
We're so grateful that he's been so generous, in allowing us to to come and to to do our commencement exercises here today.
I'd like to thank as well, our wonderful registrar, Keny Rasaski, who led the graduation committee and did so much work and and that this would turn out to be such a beautiful event.
And also our director of campus ministry, Tony McNinnell, who's done a great job in organizing the liturgy.
Most of all, welcome to our graduates, their families, their friends.
It's just a it's a pleasure and it's an honor to be with you today.
And I think there's no better way to commence your the new stage in life.
We're finishing one stage with the degrees and so forth, and we're starting something else.
And there's no better way to commence than with the holy sacrifice of the mass.
At the end, we say, go in peace.
The mass has ended.
But, you know, the Latin is, which, you know, the the, direct translation of that is go.
You've been sent.
And I think that's so beautiful for today to think about.
Right?
We've been sent for a reason.
We have a mission.
Our faith, our Catholic faith, our Christian faith, or any believer.
Our work is not just a career, but it's it's a mission.
It's it's collaborating with our lord in his vineyard to bring hope, to bring healing, and to bring love into the world.
So I'll be praying for all of you during this mass that we we are ready to say yes to that we've been sent and that our life, it's much more than just a job.
It's a vocation.
It's a calling.
It's an opportunity to serve with the Lord.
Son, Kiri.
Priestess.
Priestess on.
A reading from the acts of the apostles.
The apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
The ones chosen were Judas, who is called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.
This is the letter delivered by them.
The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of gentile origin, greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number who went without without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind.
We have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are sending Judas and Silas, who will also convey the same message by word-of-mouth.
It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.
If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right.
Farewell.
And so they were sent on their journey.
Upon their arrival in Antioch, they called the assembly together and delivered the letter.
When the people read it, they were delighted with the exhortation.
The word of the Lord.
I will give you thanks Among the peoples, O Lord I will give you thanks Upon the peoples, oh Lord My heart is steadfast, oh God My heart is steadfast I will sing and chant praise Awake, oh my soul Awake liar and harp I will awake the dark I will give you thanks among the peoples, oh Lord.
I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord.
I will chant your praise among the nations, For your mercy towers to the heavens And your faithfulness to the sky I will give you thanks among the peoples, oh Lord.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God Above all the earth be your glory Your name is to be exalted over all the I will give you thanks, among the peoples, O Lord.
I call you my friend says the Lord, for I have made no to you all.
All.
I have made known to you all, all that the father has told me, The Lord be with you.
A reading from the holy gospel according to John.
Glory to you.
Jesus said to his disciples, this is my commandment, love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain so that whatever you ask the father in my name, he may give you.
This I command you, love one another.
The gospel of the Lord.
Bishop Loverde, father Sikorsky, and my brother priests, academic authorities, professors, and auxiliary staff, dear graduates, family members, and friends, sisters, and brothers all in Christ.
The Italians have a great expression.
If it rains on your wedding day, it's a sign of good luck.
I hope that are also fortunate and blessed.
With the oils still wet on my hands, some four months after I was ordained a priest, the school of practical nursing at Marymount Hospital asked me to celebrate the graduation mass.
No doubt, the combination of having a new priest whose father was one of the founding physicians of the hospital made up for the lack of experience.
This afternoon, I cannot rely on that novelty, but I am pleased that Divine Mercy University invited me this year to make up for our missed appointment at the Basilica Of The National Shrine Of The Immaculate Conception last year.
My first words, congratulate all of the graduates of Divine Mercy University for successfully completing the rigorous, critical, and objective search for the truth.
Never renounce that zeal for the truth so elusive in contemporary times.
Never hesitate to search for the avenues to communicate that truth to willing and unwilling ears.
How appropriate that the word of God this afternoon speaks to us about conflict resolution, living the new commandment, and authentic friendship with Jesus Christ.
The passage from the acts of the apostles brings us the conclusion of the first major controversy to flock the to strike the little flock that had embraced the message of Jesus Christ.
Was it necessary to enter the way as Christianity was called through observance of the tenants of Judaism, through prayer, fasting, and much conversation, the Council of Jerusalem arrived at the conclusion that it is not.
And the fathers of that council sent emissaries to convey their conclusions reached through the inspiration of the holy spirit.
Obviously, I have a certain fondness for the role of an emissary because for a quarter of a century, I serve the church in that role, a representative of the Holy See in faraway places.
However, as witnesses to the faith and as instructed in divine mercy, the professionals recognized today go forth to promote mental health, to insert equilibrium in troubled lives, and to make the Lord's healing present more evident in a troubled world.
Indeed, the gospel passage taken from Jesus for farewell discourse in the fourth gospel speaks to us about a new commandment.
There is a new determination for the command of Christian love repeated at the beginning and the ending of this passage.
The command of the Lord goes beyond the old testament precept of loving others as self.
Jesus says, love as I have loved you.
This surpasses a bare minimum and it is only possible with divine grace.
In g indeed, Jesus calls us his friends and assures us that unlike servants, we have been initiated in what the father has told him.
There is no greater love than this, says the Lord himself.
There is no dichotomy between obedience to the commandments and love.
Indeed, the commandments are an expression of the intimate relationship between almighty God and those who love him.
For the chosen people of the Old Testament, keeping the commandments was an expression of their unique identity and privileged relationship with almighty God.
The whole point of the moral life is to make us happy.
So how do we become happy?
The answer offered by Saint Thomas Aquinas is through the proper ordering of one's desire.
Through learning how to desire the right things and in the right way.
The commandments open that route for us.
His is a delicate love, but also a very powerful one.
He is about to surrender his life for his friends, thus fulfilling the father's command.
We are called to love in the same way, extraordinary, frightening, but an essential element of the Christian vocation.
In the helping professions, you understand the complexity of that love.
Sometimes it calls for discipline, restrictions, and always a profound concern for the truth.
Authentic love stretches our simple conclusions, broadens our horizons, and lifts us to communion with almighty God.
Jesus reveals the secrets of his heart to his own and thus matures in them a desire to follow.
He draws his disciples in this unimaginable communion of love between the father and son and invites them to remain in this communion of love.
Friendship is a gratuitous gift that comes from another.
We know that to become a disciple of Jesus is gift, election, grace, and the certainty to be heard in our requests made to the father in the name of Jesus.
The new commandment makes evident that we are his disciples.
Unmistakable.
Giving your life has a variety of expressions.
There is the supreme example given by Jesus Christ and thousands of men and women in uniform.
However, there are also other expressions which must not be lost.
Giving life means spending one's own life so that the one next to me is happier, more serene.
It means meeting the troubled soul and offering the balm of healing and growth.
It means asking every morning how I can avoid weighing down on the one who lives with me.
How I can bear his or her silences, dislikes, accept the limits of character and not be surprised by contradictions and sins.
Accept our neighbor for what he or she is and not for what he or she should be.
That is a labor of love.
With a little flower, we can say, the more I am united to him, the more I love all my sisters and brothers.
In your chosen vocations and fields of expertise, you can contribute so much to that harmony in interpersonal relationships.
You can help others know themselves and thus be able to respond adequately to today's realities.
The vocation is immense and the possibilities are endless, but the grace is present.
You go forth imbued with the mission of the university, which involves dialogue about its integrative approach with practitioners, scholars, and cultural leaders.
It is no longer a young inexperienced priest who presides at this celebration of the Eucharist, but a successor of those apostles who gathered in Jerusalem to resolve the first conflict of the nascent community of faith.
Reiterating reiterating my heartfelt congratulations to all of you and to the university community, I pray that as father Sikorsky said, the graduates may go forth imbued in the Catholic intellectual tradition to enrich the human person, administer the healing balm of growth in self knowledge and understanding, and above all, to give witness to the truth.
Our prayers for the church and for the world, Divine Mercy University and those graduating today.
For the universal church, may the power of Christ's resurrection convert us into convinced and joyful disciples of the risen Lord.
We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the holy father, bishops, and clergy, may the Paschal mystery continue to transform them into the image of Christ, empowering them to form the lay faithful into Christ's ardent disciples.
We pray to the lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For civil leaders and those who serve the needs of our countries and communities, may they follow just and merciful dictates of conscience, defending the lives of those entrusted to their care from the moment of conception until natural death.
We pray to the lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For those who suffer mentally and spiritually through abuse, trauma, or mental illness, may they find support in their families and friends and attain healing through compassionate professional care.
We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the graduates of Divine Mercy University, may the Lord accompany each of us in our service to those in need of healing and hope.
We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
That all of us present here today and each graduate or family member not in attendance will ardently seek a personal relationship with Christ and his church.
We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Let us pray for those loved ones who have died, especially MS counseling student Travis Schilling and MSP alumna Peggy Hart.
May the Lord graciously accept the deceased into his kingdom and continue to comfort those still struggling with the loss of a family member.
We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
For the faculty, staff, students, and supporters of Divine Mercy University, may they be blessed in their mission to serve the dignity of each Lord, hear our prayer.
Almighty Father, Lord, your Lord.
Your Lord.
Your who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Your hands, oh Lord, in days of old, were strong to heal and sing.
They triumphed over pain and death But darkness and the grave To you they went The blind, the mute The palsied and the leave The lepers set apart and shunned The sick and those in shame.
And then your touch brought life and health, gave speech and strength and sight And youth renewed And health restored Claimed you the Lord of light And so, O Lord, be near to bless Almighty thou as them In every street, in every home, in every troubled friend.
And death.
Restore and strengthen, soothe and bless with your almighty breath.
On hands Graciously sanctify these gifts, o Lord, we pray that accepting the oblation of this spiritual sacrifice, make of us an eternal offering to you through Christ our lord.
Lift up your hearts.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Salvation at all times to acclaim you, oh, Lord.
But in this time, above all, to laud you yet more glorious, when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.
Every people exalts in your praise, and even the heavenly powers with the angelic hosts sing together the unending hymn of your glory as they acclaim.
Song in forms of all, the forms of all, the They're for these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like the Duflo.
And he took bread and giving thanks broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you.
In a similar way when supper was ended, he took the chalice and once more giving thanks, gave it to his disciples saying, take this all of you and drink from it.
For this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in memory of me.
The mystery of faith.
We proclaim your death, oh Lord, and profess your resurrection until you come again.
Therefore, as we celebrate the death the memorial of his death and resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the bread of life and the chalice of salvation, Humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.
Remember, Lord, your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity Together with Francis our pope, Michael the bishop of this church, me when we're the servant, and all the clergy.
Remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy.
Welcome them into the light of your face.
Have mercy on us all we pray that that with the blessed virgin Mary, mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her spouse, with the blessed apostles, and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages, we may merit to be co heirs to eternal life, and may praise and glorify you through your son, Jesus Christ.
Through him and with him and in him, O God, almighty father, in the unity of the holy spirit, all glory and honor is yours forever and ever.
At the savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Our days, that by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.
Who said to your apostles, Peace I leave you.
My peace I give you.
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your choice.
And graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
On you stay, we tolispekata on On you stay Qui tollis pecatamundi To the Nobis Behold the lamb of God.
Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.
Blessed are those called to the supper of the lamb.
Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, But only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
So love my savior, sanctify my Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest.
Blood of my my savior.
Bathe me in thy heart.
Wash me with water flowing from his side.
Strength and protection may thy passion passion be Oh, blessed Jesus Hear and answer me Deep in thy wounds, Lord Hide and shelter me So shall I never, never part from thee.
Hear me, Lord Jesus Listen as I pray Lead me from night to never ending day Fill all the world with love and grace divine and glory, Lord, I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.
I have loved you.
After the Lord had risen from supper, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of his disciples.
He left them this example.
Jesus said to his disciples, I give you a new commandment that you another as I have loved you.
The Lord Jesus after eating supper with his disciples washed their feet and said to them, do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done for you?
I have given you an example that you should do likewise.
Jesus said to his disciples, I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.
Lord, are you to wash my feet?
Jisah said to him in answer.
If I do not wash your feet, you You will have no share with me.
Jesus said to his disciples, disciples.
I give you a new commandment that you one another as I have loved you.
Let us pray.
We have partaken of the gifts of this sacred mystery.
Humbly imploring, oh Lord, that what your son commanded us to do in memory of him may bring us growth in charity through Christ our Lord.
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Go forth.
The mass has ended.
Seek the the Help us witness to your purpose with renewed integrity integrity.
Charity.
Lord, you call us to your service in my name.
Baptize and teach that the world may trust your promise life abundant us all new fervor draws closer in The 2021 commencement exercises for Divine Mercy University is now in order.
Good afternoon.
My name is doctor Cathy Erwin.
I'm an associate professor in the School of Counseling, and I have the great honor to serve today as the marshal for Divine Mercy University's twentieth commencement exercises.
To begin our momentous event, I have the great pleasure of introducing the third president of Divine Mercy University, father Charles Sikorsky.
Elected in 2007, father Charles has led the Institute for Psychological Sciences, now Divine Mercy University, through its significant growth and important milestones of our institutional history.
We are grateful to you, father Charles, for your faithful service and dedication to this important and necessary mission for these past fourteen years.
Father Charles, I invite you to come forward and share your opening remarks.
Thank you, doctor Erwin.
On behalf of the board of directors, the faculty, staff, benefactors, and the many friends of Divine Mercy University, I welcome you once again to this joyous occasion, and I congratulate our graduates graduates for a job well done.
Yeah.
Every commencement celebration is the high point of the year for us.
It's the summit for our university.
We look forward to the celebration with enthusiasm knowing that the mission of Divine Mercy University is lived and fulfilled in each and every one of our graduates.
Today, you, our graduates, join a wonderful lineage that honors your hard work, your gifts, your sacrifices, as well as the historic legacy of the Institute for the Psychological Sciences and Divine Mercy University.
Today, we have five different groups of graduates, each with its own special and important mission.
Today, we have our first group of graduates from our spiritual direction certificate program who are prepared to provide spiritual guidance and accompaniment to those seeking to grow in their relationship with God.
We have a large group graduating from our masters in of science in psychology who will serve others in education, ministry, leadership, and other helping professions.
We have our largest group to date of graduates from our master's in clinical mental health counseling, who will serve individuals, families, and marriages as licensed professional counselors.
Fourth group, we have a strong group of students in our clinical psychology program who today will receive their master's degree, which for them is an important milestone on a demanding and meticulous path pathway that will lead to their doctorate.
And finally, today, we're truly blessed and inspired by our 10 doctoral graduates from our PsyD program who've worked so hard and overcome so much during the last several years, finishing their clinical training this year in a world that was turned upside down by COVID nineteen.
As we celebrate with you, who hail from different countries and many different states, there could be no doubt about the individual collective and vital impact that you will have upon your communities, upon the culture, and upon the world.
Perhaps more than ever, the people today have a need to be heard, to be understood, and most of all to be loved.
Your studies and training have positioned you uniquely to do just that.
As Saint John Paul the second once said to members of the American Psychiatric Association, and say here today to you these these words, by its very nature, your work often brings you to the threshold of human mystery.
It involves sensitivity to the tangled workings of the human mind and heart and openness to the ultimate concerns that give meaning to people's lives.
These areas are of utmost importance to the church.
So in a world today where so many are hurting deeply and searching desperately for meaning, Few career paths provide the potential for good than the one you have chosen than the one that you're well on your way to fulfilling.
The pandemic through which the world is living has only made your work more critical and necessary.
We're very proud of you and excited about the great work you're doing and will be doing in the future.
May our loving father, who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment.
May his kingdom come through you on earth as it is in heaven.
Before we move on to the next, phase, these, commencement is a time we also just like to recognize and appreciate the hard work and accomplishment of our graduates, not just of our graduates, but also of our faculty.
And this year, I would like to recognize in a special way, the following faculty who the collaborative work of Catholic Christian made a model of the person was published, but also received a very prestigious award.
It received the 2020 expanded reason award, which is given by the Ratzinger Benedict the sixteenth foundation of the Vatican and the University Francisco de Vittoria of Madrid.
And that award seeks to support and acknowledge those professors and researchers who are working to broaden the horizons of rationality through a dialogue between the the sciences and philosophy and theology, grounded in the certainty that the fundamental questions of human life cannot be ignored by scientific rationality.
And that award this year, was conferred upon doctor Paul C.
Vitz, doctor William j Nordling, and doctor Craig Steven Titus for their work as editors of the book.
So we want to congratulate them today.
The book was a fruit of a long standing effort by numerous members of the university faculty, and with input from student body and outside collaborators as well.
And this year, there'll be a Spanish translation that should be coming out.
So congratulations to them.
And finally, I would just like to recognize two people, who are no longer with us this year.
This past year, we lost one of our counseling students who would have been here today, Travis Schilling.
We're honored to have his family with us today, and we just like to have a moment of silence for him.
And also, for missus Peggy Hart of Calgary, Canada, who was one of our first graduates from our online masters in psychology program, and she actually had the student leadership award when she graduated, and she suddenly passed away in January.
So I just, I moan a silent prayer for Travis and Peggy.
Thank you.
Sometimes our kids ask the best questions.
And coming down here today, my daughter asked, why do we give an honorary degree?
So I explained to her.
I wanna remind you that we give an honorary degree because somebody here today like Micheline Fredenberg, we wanna put her out in front of you as an example of someone who has accomplished great things so that later in life, maybe tomorrow, maybe in five, ten, or fifteen years, when you're struggling, when you're trying to accomplish something, when you're looking for some motivation, you'll remember the example of Michelin Fredenberg.
So then she asked me another question, which was similar.
And that was, well, if she just comes here and gets an honorary doctorate, won't all the other students who have worked so hard be jealous?
And I think the answer to that is similar to the first answer, which is just try to work as hard as Michalene has worked.
Michalene founded Life Perspectives, which provides reproductive loss training and other resources to health professionals, including hospitals, medical professionals, therapists, social workers, and pregnancy centers, as well as community and faith leaders.
Without religious or political affiliation, Life Perspectives is approved by the National Association of Social Workers and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education.
Life Perspectives is also nationally accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and by the State of California Board of Registered Nursing as a continuing education provider.
In the past year alone, life perspectives has helped over seventy three thousand hurting men and women with hope and healing with nonjudgmental care and has trained over 2,100 community leaders and health care professionals.
Miss Friedenberg has authored the book Changed, Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One's Abortion Experience.
The booklets Changed, Hope After Loss, and edited the book Grief and Abortion, Creating a Safe Place to Heal.
She has also written numerous articles about reproductive grief and loss and has participated in over 100 radio and television programs.
In gratitude for the generous spirit that shines through your work, it is my honor today to bestow on missus Michalene Fredenberg the doctor of humane letters, honoris causa.
Thank you, father Sikorsky, mister Cunningham, Divine Mercy University board of directors, faculty, staff, graduates, your family, and friends.
This is an incredible honor.
It's hard to describe.
It's actually really quite overwhelming to have your life's work recognized in this fashion, especially from individuals and an institution that I hold in the highest regard.
It's not by chance that you decided to study at Divine Mercy University, an institution of the highest integrity, a community that honors and respects the whole person, a community dedicated to formation and the gift of self.
It's humbling to be standing in front of individuals who have chosen to embark upon a life of service, a life of emptying yourselves for others.
A difficult path for certain, but one filled with tremendous joy and deep fulfillment.
I would imagine that some of you've chosen this path, but for others that path chose you.
My work at life perspective certainly falls into the latter category.
More than that, it was actually the result of a series of disastrous decisions resulting in tragic consequences.
You see, when I was an 18 year old ballroom dancer, I chose to terminate a pregnancy that was threatening my career.
The consequences of my life were devastating, and it radically changed me.
After I was able to grieve and find some sense of peace with the help of trusted friends and some professional assistance, I slowly became aware of the depth of the pain and the silent suffering that was all around me.
With 2,000,000 losses every year in The United States through miscarriage and abortion, the number of men, women, family members, and friends who've been impacted by reproductive loss is tremendous.
And while these losses occur very differently, the grief, the shame, the secrecy, even the guilt is very similar.
These individuals often suffer silently as our culture ignores their loss and seemingly is unaware of their pain.
As I began to share my story in the hope of breaking this pervasive silence, men and women shared their stories with me, and they became my teachers.
They taught me how to communicate with compassion and empathy.
They taught me how to listen.
They showed me the depth of their shame and taught me how to create a safe place for them to tell their story.
A place where their loss could be acknowledged, where they could begin to grieve, where they would be assured that their children would not be forgotten.
It's a privilege like no other to be permitted to get a glimpse of somebody's private pain, to be trusted with such a deeply personal and stigmatized experience.
These are truly sacred moments.
I would imagine that you've already experienced similar moments.
Honor them and recognize that when we give, it's reciprocal.
We gain as much as we give.
In fact, I think that we gain a lot more than we're ever able to give.
The more that we seek to empty ourselves, the more that we're filled.
This doesn't mean that it will be easy.
My husband can attest to the long hours, the frustrations, the sleepless nights, the times that I'm exhausted and crabby.
There are the times that I feel that I can't go on.
Times of great disappointment, discouragement, and outright failures.
While I haven't yet experienced shipwreck or stoning, I have faced lawsuits, personal and professional attacks, near bankruptcy and betrayal.
And it's the betrayal of those that I thought were my friends that hurt the most.
However, I'm now at a place in my life where I don't regret any of those ordeals.
Those trials, the suffering, they shaped me and they formed me, and I'd like to think that they've made me more.
I certainly know that they've made life perspectives more.
Suffering has kept me and life perspectives grounded in humility, compassion, and love.
These qualities gained, if you will, through fire have enabled us to work with an amazingly diverse group of individuals and organizations.
Often, they don't have very much in common.
Sometimes they're even adversaries, but we're able to do this because we meet in a very human place, a place where we all agree that if someone is suffering, we wanna help them.
I am touched by the kindness, really the goodness that exists when we can focus on a person, on one person rather than a crowd or an agenda.
When we can be truly present with that one person, when we can respond with compassion, our differences evaporate, at least for the moment.
Over the past dozen years, Life Perspectives has had the privilege of assisting over a half million men and women on our healing websites.
We've also had the privilege of training a growing number of professionals to provide reproductive grief care for their patients and their clients.
We traveled to Ukraine.
Our healing resources have been translated into multiple languages.
We've attracted the most amazing team who are working together toward the day when there will one day be a widespread adoption of a standard of care around reproductive loss, and we're increasingly recognized as a global leader in reproductive grief care.
Now all of that is amazing to me.
It's astonishing.
And while people congratulate me on our success, I am mindful that life perspectives was born out of pain, really out of death, out of the one decision that I regret the most.
I'm also mindful that success is not determined by numbers.
It's about the one.
The one person who we have the privilege to serve, that you have the privilege to serve.
So today as we recognize your hard work, as we congratulate you on all that you have accomplished, And as you begin this next part of your adventure, please remember that there is one person who needs you.
One person who is longing for your kindness, for your compassion.
One person who desperately wants to know that they are not alone, that they are accepted and loved just as they are.
You are needed.
You are absolutely necessary, and you will and you are bringing hope to this one person.
And in doing so, you're bringing hope to a hurting world.
Thank you.
Now we we will begin with the presentation of their certificates to the graduates of the spiritual direction certificate program.
The addition of this certificate program to our graduation gives us great excitement as we mark with this ceremony the graduation of the program's first cohorts.
Will the following please come forward to take your place for the presentation of the spiritual direction certificates?
Father Robert Persuti, formation and development director of the spiritual direction certificate program, and father Charles Sigorski, university president.
Will the graduates of the spiritual direction certificate program please come forward?
The students enrolled in the spiritual direction certificate program over a period of two years gained theological knowledge of the Catholic spiritual tradition, learnings from the inter good understanding of the human person, and training in interpersonal skills needed to minister with professionalism as a spiritual director.
Each student also completes sixty hours of practicum accompanied by supervision.
The faculty certified that each candidate has completed all requirements for the certificate in spiritual direction.
The university is pleased to award certificates to our graduates of the spiritual direction program.
As I call your name, please come forward.
Begonia Campos Nasif.
Anna Carbajal Diaz.
Angela Mary Christiansen.
Corine Anne Murphy.
Lucia Rebecca Ochoa.
Janine l Peters.
Janet G Scanlon.
Father Timothy Walsh.
We also include in absentia, Hernan Miguel Alvarez Cordano, Colleen K Anderson, Craig r Biscoff, Teresa Chapo, Lucia l Daniels, Lisa Verussell Carlton, Richard w DiMassimo, Monique Carte Dinkle, Barbara Dispiritu, Christine Simon Eckard, Sandra Elias, Donna Garrett, Jeff s Garrett, Diane Lynn Hart, Teresa Michelle Hoffman, Mary Jo Kenny, Theresa Ann Court, Mary Marrone, Kathleen Ann McCann, Sherry h Morgan, Jane Nagel, Julie k Nelson, Sherry l Nuxell, Yvonne Nuxell, father Lino Otero, Renee Ann Pomerico, Cathy Perpera, Mariana Rebern, Jennifer Marie Marie Restine, Jennifer Lynn Settle, Megan Silas, Valerie Sprague, Beverly Petard Stone, Frances Vandeward, Patricia Viese, Lisa Ann Williams, Michael Williams, father Adam Settle.
Please join me in congratulating the spiritual direction certificate program graduates.
We have reached the point in the ceremony at which degrees are to be conferred.
The university's degree granting authority is contained in the charter granted to Divine Mercy University by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
And I quote, As of 01/18/2000, the state council of higher education for Virginia grants approval to Divine Mercy University to confer academic and professional degrees.
We will begin with the school of counseling.
Will the following please come forward and take your place for the conferral of degrees?
Doctor Harvey Payne, academic dean for the school of counseling.
Doctor John West, program director of the MS in counseling online degree program, and father Charles Sikorsky, university president.
Will the graduates of the master of science in counseling degree please come forward?
The students enrolled in the master of science in counseling degree program gain professional competency while developing an integrative understanding of the human person in application to the counseling profession.
Students acquire the necessary counseling knowledge, skills, and dispositions to engage in communities as effective community leaders and social justice advocates informed by Catholic Christian social teaching.
The faculty certified that each candidate has complete all requirements for the master of science in counseling degree.
The university is pleased to confer degrees to our graduates of the MS in counseling program.
As I call your name, please come forward.
Jennifer Jane Ahern, Idyllianic, Florida.
Sierra M.
Bland, Bellevue, New Hampshire.
Kirsten Lynn Butera, Providence, Rhode Island.
Anne V Colovas, Arlington, Virginia.
Anthony William Coppage, Donthan, Alabama.
Rebecca Jewel Covell, Nottingham, Pennsylvania.
Joanne k Cruz, Annapolis, Maryland.
Jean m Daley, Manassas, Virginia.
Theresa b Daub, Williamsport, Maryland.
George Forsyth, Columbia, Maryland.
Nikki Lemke, Louann Marie Griffin, Alexandria, Virginia.
Janet Dorsch Huff, Eagle River, Alaska.
Kathleen Mary Kawaki, Oxford, Mississippi.
Terry Love, Henderson, Nevada.
Maria Christine Malaspinas, Preston, Connecticut.
Furl Ann March, Norman, Oklahoma.
Anna Patrice Mayer, Irving, Texas.
Gian f Miles, Pirchesy, Pennsylvania.
Madeline Foley Mueller, Clifton, Virginia.
Molly g Player, Bellevue, Washington.
Deborah a Rojas, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Theresa m Smallwood, Spring Valley, California.
Rachel c Smith, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Rosemary Garola Thompson, Curtin, Texas.
Marnie Michelle Wolford, Lansing, Michigan.
Christian Wolf, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Matthew John Wubben, Greer, South Carolina.
Monica Theresa Anna Zollerweis, Sussex, Wisconsin.
We also include those in absentia.
Liz Beck Aguilar, Appleton, Wisconsin.
Hernan Miguel Alvarez Cardano, Montgomery Village, Maryland.
Brian David Bibb, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Samuel Lawrence Guzman, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Gabriela N Hartz, Suwanee, Georgia.
Elizabeth Lorna Ann Labsey, South Bend, Indiana.
Mary Rose Huber, Bismarck, North Dakota.
Christopher Kaplan, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Michael C.
Cram, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Maria Rosa A.
Muniz, Atlanta, Georgia.
Tan Tam Nguyen, Tuscan, California.
Emily Paltz, Seabrook, Texas.
Jody S Pitcher, Sheridan, Wyoming.
Brian Prater, Front Royal, Virginia.
In recognition of the life and accomplishments of Eric Travis Schilling, who was in his final course when he tragically passed away last summer, Divine Mercy University is privileged to bestow upon him the post humorous degree of master of science in counseling.
While Travis' death is a loss to the profession of counseling, we hope that DMU graduates of 2020 and beyond will carry his legacy and answer his call to service for others.
His father, Clyde Schilling, is present with us today to receive his recognition.
Will the master of science in counseling graduates please stand?
Graduates, you may now now move your tassel from the right to the left.
Let's congratulate our master of science in counseling degree recipients.
We will now recognize graduates from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences.
Will the following please come forward and take your place for the conferral of degrees?
Doctor Julia Clousely, program director of the master of science in psychology degree program and father Charles Sikorsky, university president.
Will the graduates for the master of science in psychology degree program please come forward.
The students enrolled in the master of science in psychology degree program gained professional competency in the psychology while developing an integrative understanding of the human person in in application to service for delivery.
The online masters program seeks to exhibit advanced professional skills such as communications, interpersonal, and leadership skills, program evaluation, and cultural awareness in order to enable growth as a transformational leader in service delivery setting.
The university is pleased to confer degrees to our graduates of the master of science in psychology degree program.
As I call your name, please come forward.
Father John Stevenson Bender, LC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sister Mary Elizabeth Beatty, IHM, Colwick, Kansas.
Felicity Catherine Maria Egan, Front Royal, Virginia, Laura Johnson Emery, Concord, North Carolina, Jonathan Andrew Kane, Orlando, Florida.
Marcel Sarah Morvey, Jamaica, New York.
Father Sama Mumma, Macom, Michigan.
Father Tan Duck Nguyen, LC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Reverend Patrick Ifani Nwokiyogo, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Daniel Ohene Rokidwe, Denton, Texas.
Father Jose Felix Ortega, Bronx, New York.
Deirdre Owens, Henderson, Nevada.
Jerome Placido, San Jose, California.
Jacqueline t Rose, Medfield, Massachusetts.
Thomas Anthony Skahill, Florence, Kentucky.
Stephen James Schultz, Chantilly, Virginia.
Lily c Sokolowski, Dallas, Texas.
David g Stephanie, LC, Bloomfield Hiss, Michigan.
Stephanie Testa, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Father Jillson Tom, Northeastern, Massachusetts.
Uy Tran Duoc Van, Vietnam.
George Nathaniel Weiss the third, Houston, Texas.
We also include those in absentia.
Patricia Joe Anderson, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Jennifer Delacross, Houston, Texas.
Reverend Henry Carter Finch, San Marcos, Texas.
Rowan Salim Haddad, Cedar Park, Texas.
Nikkechi Katherine Jewa, Asaba, Nigeria.
Calistus Kayoma, Lusaka, Zambia.
Talia Cruz, Colesburg, Louisiana.
Father Steve James Longay, Rockford, Indiana.
Steven g Lindsey senior, Sladell, Louisiana.
Susanna Matlin, Andover, Minnesota.
Sister Karen Muniz, SCTJM, Miami, Florida.
Melanie Pillian, Empire, Ontario, Canada.
Yamalith t Rivera, Miami, Florida.
Matthew S Robinson, Westchester, Pennsylvania.
Reverend William Lloyd Rooney Junior, Austin, Texas.
Father Jose Ruben Valencia, LC, Mexico City, Mexico.
Angelica Pastrana Villanueva, San Ramon, California.
Nancy Lynn Zagaria, Rocky River, Ohio.
Will the master of science in psychology graduates please stand?
You may now move your tassels from the right to the left.
Let's congratulate our graduates.
Will the following please come forward and take your place for the conferral of degrees.
Doctor Lisa Klowicki, program director of the master of psychology degree program and father Charles Sikorsky, university president.
Will the graduates for the master of psychology degree please come forward.
Through its master of psychology degree, the institute provides its students with basic education in the theoretical and empirical basis of psychology, as well as foundational training in clinical skills and their application in a manner consistent with catholic understanding of the person.
Such education and training prepares students for further graduate training in psychology and allied fields or for a career choice appropriate for masters levels graduates.
The university is pleased to confer degrees to our graduates of the master of psychology degree program.
As I call your name, please come forward.
Matthew Roger Flanagan.
The Woodlands, Texas.
Ryan Dennis Frederickson, Fairfax Station, Virginia.
Rachel Ann Haydel, Puma, Louisiana.
Reverend Joel Yaupwame, Accra, Ghana.
Maria Jane Madden, Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
Brittany Erin Munoz, Lorraine, Texas.
Daniel Isaac Paris, Sterling, Virginia.
Andrew Park, Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania.
Chelsea Nicole Smith, Ashburn, Virginia.
Christopher Tappell, Anchorage, Alaska.
Randall Orion Betty, Somerset, South Dakota.
Melanie Lynn Williams, Michaquah, Indiana.
We also include in absentia, sister Maria Maria Amata Rossi, RSM, Pueblo, Colorado, and Guillermo Tellez, Norwalk, California.
Will the master of psychology graduates please stand.
Graduates, you may now move your tassel from the right to the left.
Let's congratulate our master of psychology graduates.
Will the following please come forward and take your place for the conferral of degrees?
Doctor Lisa Klowicki, program director of the doctor of psychology degree program, dissertation chair doctor Rebecca Morse and Paul Vitz, and father Charles Sikorsky.
Will the graduates of the doctor of psychology in clinical psychology degree please come forward?
Through the doctor of psychology degree program, students gain both basic and advanced education in the theoretical and empirical basis of psychology as well as foundational and advanced level clinical training and experiences.
Such a comprehensive formative experience is aimed at producing practitioner scholars, psychologists who can provide effective services in an ethical manner that is sensitive to human diversity and consistent with a catholic understanding of the person.
The program also seeks its students with knowledge and skills sets which allow for future development and participation in a wide variety of professional roles, leadership opportunities, and career choices available to psychologists trained at the the doctorate level.
The faculty have certified that each candidate's excellence appropriate to the highest degree the university bestows and have completed all degree requirements culminating in a one year pre doctoral internship and defending a doctoral dissertation.
I'm pleased to present the candidates for the doctor of psychology in clinical psychology degree.
Each candidate's dissertation chair will preside at conferral of their degree and I will read the title of their dissertation.
As I call your name, please come forward.
Reverend Kevin w Barnicow, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The experience of pilgrimage as a transforming narrative.
Garrett Erwin Boyer, Carrington, North Dakota.
Attachment in cloistered and contemplative women religious in The United States.
Michael Evan Davis, Travis, California.
Clinical diagnosis of autism and evaluation of the developmental protocol.
Reverend Brian Thomas Duggan, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
A program evaluation of the human formation program at Saint John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colorado.
Deirdre Ann Gaughan, Yonkers, New York.
Compassion fatigue and Catholic lay volunteers.
Anne Marie Krajewski, Woodway, Texas.
Fostering an outward gaze, an argument for attending to existential questions and needs within the Kahu'in conceptualization of narcissism.
Jennifer Lynn Linuska.
Tampa, Florida.
Perceived stigma among service members and veterans in our tribal study of chaplains perspectives.
Maura Therese McFadden, Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
Disconnected and hyperconnected.
Understanding adolescent and young adult empathy development in the context of ubiquitous information and communication technology use.
Feraratri Phonerome, Silver Spring, Maryland.
A comparative study of attitudes about suicide between The United States and Thailand.
Louisa J Skimpperle, Tempe, Arizona.
The negative influence of over parenting on intimate relationships among emerging adults.
We include in absentia, Matthew Francis Rocklefort, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The introjective depression personality graduates please stand?
Graduates, you may now move your tassel from the right to the left.
Father president, DMU faculty, staff, family, friends, and honored guests, it is my great joy and honor to present the class of 2021.
Since our foundation in 1999, Divine Mercy University has conferred 412 master's graduates and 71 doctoral graduates.
In the pursuit of their vocation to heal, a growing number of our alumni are making an impact in the field of psychology, in the church, in the world.
The ever expanding reach of the mission is truly become inspiring.
To mark and recognize this history, the university presents its distinguished alumni award to a graduate who has made significant contributions to the society and whose accomplishments, affiliations, and career have honored the legacy and the mission of our alma mater.
Recipients of this award are accomplished in the following areas, professional achievement, leadership, service, faithful advancement of the mission and vision of our university.
So it's with great pride and joy that we present the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award to doctor Gregory Gisla, class of 2014.
Doctor Giesla is recognized for his many professional achievements, his faithful spirit of service, and his enduring example of the mission and vision of our university.
He completed his doctoral degree from the Institute for Psychological Sciences in May 2014 with the dissertation entitled Sexual Self Control as Essential to Psychosocial Maturity in Adolescent Males.
Doctor Gisler was born and raised in Sacramento, California, the youngest of seven children.
He graduated in 2009 with a BA in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College in San Paulo, California, and he subsequently attended our Institute for Psychological Sciences doctoral program in clinical psychology.
After graduating in 2014, doctor Gisla, his wife, and daughter returned to Sacramento where he completed his one year post doctorate fellowship at the Sutter Center for Psychiatry, the only freestanding inpatient psychiatric facility operated by the prominent nonprofit Sutter Healthcare System.
This was the beginning of doctor Gisla's career in Sutter, where over the next seven years, he worked across all three settings of the mental health continuum, emergency department, psychiatric, and partial hospitalization outpatient programs.
He is currently the director of emergency psychiatric response and patient access.
His departments are responsible for the psychiatric crisis evaluations at three of Sutter's medical facilities and to arrange the transition of care to inpatient psychiatry for rapid stabilization.
He additionally operates a small outpatient private practice providing individual and couples therapy.
And he also specializes in working with severe mental illness and suicide assessment.
Doctor Giesler currently resides in Carmichael, California with his wife and two young children.
Doctor Giesler is a true representation of a distinguished alumni, having made significant contributions in the field of psychology and a constant dedication to the mission and vision of our university.
We are honored to present doctor Gisler with this award.
Doctor Gisler, will you please come forward?
Thank you so much.
This was such an incredible surprise.
To be nominated for this award is really quite humbling, knowing that each of my fellow alumni and all of the unique members of this community are doing extraordinary work every day and making a difference in the lives of so many people.
To be selected by the DMU administration is a great honor, and I'm so grateful to be invited back to this community that holds such a fond place in my heart and to be able to share in this experience with each of you today.
Today is a momentous day, one each of you earned with hours upon hours of work and great sacrifice from both you and from those who supported you throughout these years.
I recall so clearly during my third year at IPS how overwhelmed I felt with classes and clinic.
Then I saw my schedule for the following year, and I thought, I just can't do it all.
I returned home to my beautiful wife and our infant daughter, and I confessed in a tone of total despair, I just think I'm gonna have to spread out these classes and finish this program in six instead of five years.
There just isn't any other way.
My wife tenderly looked in my eyes and responded so calmly, there is no way in hell we're spending an extra year in grad school.
We will get this program done together one way or another.
And that was just the push I needed, and I literally would not be here today without her.
So I know that each of you find yourself here at the end of one incredible journey, having experienced loads of love and support from people who cheered you on every step of the way.
So I wanna thank all of those here today who supported these graduates through it all.
I've been asked to share with you some reflections about how my education at IPS impacted my career and then offer a few lessons and insights that I've learned along the way that may be helpful to you.
I am very aware that I am still so young in my career and learning new lessons myself every day.
I hope, though, that these insights and recommendations help at least one of you in in your future endeavors.
As was was stated in our my bio, after I graduated from IPS, I returned to my home state of California and completed my fellowship at Sutter Center for Psychiatry.
Sutter is a inpatient psychiatric facility serving patients across the life spectrum as young as four years old.
I find myself now the director of psychiatric emergency response and patient access.
I lead those departments responsible for assessing patients and mental health crises in our medical facilities and then determining whether they need further stabilization in inpatient or can safely discharge, back home to the community.
My my team is embedded in the emergency department as consulted only when a patient presents as a danger to themselves, others, or with such acute symptoms of psychosis that their ability to meet their basic needs is almost entirely impaired.
Our busiest emergency department is located in When a When a patient enters the ED and presents with these concerns, a safety protocol is triggered that feels to most patients like a total loss of self agency and something very few are prepared for.
The patient is escorted by security and a nurse to the bathroom where they must remove all their clothing under observation and change into a blue colored gown unique from all other patient gowns in the hospital.
Their belongings are removed and stored separately, which for many of the homeless population we serve, may be all the belongings they currently have to their name.
They must provide a urine sample so that we can run basic labs for medical clearance along with the toxicology screen to identify whether drugs are a contributing, factor to their current presentation.
They are then placed in a room or a hallway where they will remain under constant one to one observation by a psychiatric technician to ensure they remain safe.
They cannot leave the hospital or really even their room.
And for those patients who meet criteria for inpatient hospitalization, they will remain in that bed for around nineteen hours on average until a bed in a psych facility becomes available in or outside our community.
Most of these patients have no support with them, which means they are alone in crisis being told what to do, when to do it at all times.
Unfortunately, many of our medical staff are entirely burned out and overwhelmed caring for this population.
The symptoms of a psychiatric crisis can be severe, total emotional dysregulation, anger, aggression, even violence.
Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience, having been charged by patients on multiple occasions and one morning finding myself on the receiving end of a firm slap to the face by a very manic young woman.
Many of my patients are experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, acting incredibly bizarre and with severe disorganized behavior.
So acute can these present presentations be that at times, you find yourself entirely stunned that another human being could act in such a way?
When we see these symptoms enough, a subtle desensitization occurs.
We begin to treat the patient in front of us as a bed number instead of a person.
We become more aggressive ourselves, usually out of fear or because we feel helpless to meet their needs.
We use sometimes offensive humor to reduce the intensity of the situation and to create a buffer between us and the crisis unfolding before us.
Our patients rarely express gratitude or offer us any form of validation that we're being helpful, often resulting in a hardened response and a subtle resentment.
Suddenly, I'm not treating a human being.
I'm dealing with a problem.
I'll hear some of our medical staff say, here's another psycho or borderline.
I don't think he's really suicidal.
He's been demanding sandwiches since the moment he's arrived.
He's just here for two hots and a cot.
I'm so tired of this meth head taking up a bed from someone who really needs it.
I try to give these staff the benefit of the doubt.
They don't hate these patients.
They're frustrated with the system of care that feels like it's failing people more often than helping them.
However, it's in this exact moment where the rubber meets the road and my education and training at IPS shines through.
I know that the patient before me is a human person, one created inherently good in the image of a god who does not have favorites.
Their goodness was not earned and cannot be taken from them.
He knows and loves this specific person with all of their strengths and all of their limitations.
Their Their integrity is inherent even when they deny it themselves or act in ways that appear abhorrent.
He created them as relational beings, one who is incomplete without God and with an inherent need to make meaningful connection with others.
We are body and soul, and we must satisfy the needs of both in order to truly treat the whole person.
He, in fact, does need that sandwich before he can even begin to share his emotional distress.
I know that sin and trauma can create unimaginable pain, and that pain can lead us to make terrible decisions and push away others who don't who want to love and help us.
And although this pain can feel like a prison, there is always hope of freedom no matter what.
So even before I assess the presenting complaint and symptoms or come to a diagnosis or treatment plan, I must first acknowledge the human person.
When I start there, I can so much more clearly see what is needed from me in that moment.
I can see that this patient's behavior and response toward me is a symptom of their crisis, not a reflection of their worth.
I cannot reject this person in front of me because I share the same fragile human nature.
So I know as well how great pain can dramatically reduce our sense of choice and lead us to ends that contrast so starkly with our good.
I can, however, create a connection amid this chaos that can start to feed that deep desire for relationship.
I can validate them and reduce their sense of being a burden on others.
I'm so glad you're here today and that you're safe.
You came to the right place.
No matter how they present, whether they just swallowed an entire bottle of ibuprofen or haven't bathed in a week, they, without a doubt, deserve my time, my respect, my help, and and, really, my love.
And when that is freely and authentically given, you see the powerful impact it has on that imperfect and beautiful person in front of you.
You see the softening, and then the resilience and grit emerge, and you stand back in complete admiration.
I know you know these things already, but now you must be ready to live it every day with the people you care for.
I'm so profoundly grateful that my education at IPS helped establish within my practice these basic yet invaluable truths.
So what can I offer you that may be of some help as you each begin your career in this fantastic field?
First and most important, stay close to God.
You won't be successful in this field without him.
If you try to take on human suffering alone, you'll get buried in all the pain, and you'll lose sight of the hope and redemption guaranteed through his resurrection.
God got you this far.
Trust that he will give you what you need to be successful in this vocation.
Second, do not be afraid of this field and others who practice in it.
After I graduated from IPS, I was nervous that what I had to offer was so unique and so countercultural that I would be, at minimum, rejected and, at most, attacked.
I'm pleased to say that hasn't been my experience.
In fact, I found that what I have to offer, what you have to offer is so desperately needed and genuinely wanted by others.
And I'm not alone.
I am surrounded by solid Christians and people of faith at every level of leadership.
When you work with the mental health population, you find that most people don't want nor have time for the superficial or unsubstantial.
They can't afford to when their lives are sometimes hanging by a thread.
People want the meaningful, and they want the truth.
Now it's really important, though, that you learn how to speak the accepted language and develop the skill set to share these incredible truths in ways that others can understand and are willing to listen to.
If you can't speak the language and others won't listen, it doesn't matter what incredible gifts you have to offer.
In addition, be exceptional in your clinical skills in every possible way.
I've worked with incredible clinicians and supervised brilliant trainees, so I know we have lots of competition in this field.
You won't be invited to the table unless you know your practice as well as, if not better, than everyone else.
I want you at that table.
So don't let your education stop here today.
Third and lastly, be ready to respond to the call for leadership.
You will be asked to take on a leadership role in some capacity because you will stand out among your colleagues.
The call to lead will always feel like it's come too soon, but lean into every opportunity to lead, both great and small.
I volunteered to be part of our hospital's LGBTQ policy committee.
Why?
Because I want clinicians with our training and our values to be making policies that most vulnerable populations.
If you're not on those committees, then it's left to others who the secular world will praise, but who offer very little to the people those policies are meant to serve.
You are now the leaders in this field.
And with your gifts, you will change the world by changing the organizations you serve and by changing the lives of the people you care for.
May god continue to be with you and your families every step of the way.
Each year, our university recognizes those students who go above and beyond.
They demonstrate excellence in the areas of leadership and in service.
The student excellence award recipients are nominated by their peers and also by their faculty and staff.
This award is presented to a graduating student in each of our degree programs who most strongly emphasizes the qualities that help to further the mission of Divine Mercy University.
This year's recipients of the student excellence award have shown a commitment to serve others well outside of their classrooms.
They They've shown outstanding leadership qualities as they mentored with other students and helped others to grow academically, personally, and spiritually.
They are encouraging, and they are consistently excellent in their classrooms.
They provide support to those around them.
These graduates are also highly respected by their fellow classmates and by our entire Divine Mercy University community.
Will the twenty twenty one recipients of the student excellence award please come forward when their names are called?
From the masters of science in counseling graduate cohort, Kathleen Kowalke.
From the master's in science of psychology graduating cohort, Jacqueline Rose.
From the Master of Psychology graduating cohort, Randall Vette.
From the Doctor of Psychology and Clinical Psychology graduating cohort, Deidra Gargan.
Please join me now in congratulating and honoring the twenty twenty one student leadership award recipients.
I invite father Charles back to the podium to present the president's service award.
So we a lot to reflect on after those great talks.
Final award and we'll get on our way.
It's the president's service award.
We have so many dedicated faculty and staff members who do so much work behind the scenes and go above and beyond the call of duty to carry out our mission and to satisfy the needs for our programs and our students.
Many times behind the scenes and it means a lot to me to be able to recognize someone and their hard work during the graduation ceremony.
So the president's services award is meant to recognize a member of our community who has consistently worked to further the mission through selfless service.
This year's recipient is someone whose work, hidden service, and always cheerful spirit has made DMU a better place for the last eight years.
After beginning as an assistant in the library, she became a key member of the PsyD and institutional effectiveness team, logging many hours in helping DMU to achieve APA accreditation and the renewal of our SACS accreditation.
Her patience and computer skills have been indispensable in organizing everything from course evaluations to tracking clinical hours.
And she always did it with a smile on her face and because of her deep love for Christ, our students and our faculty.
So for her consistent willingness to go above and beyond in service to the mission, It's a joy and honor for me to recognize miss Rebecca Sheptock as the recipient of the 2021 president service award.
She won't be giving a speech.
She So to close, to close our ceremony today, I'd just like to invite archbishop Broglio to give us a final benediction.
Father in heaven, we give you thanks for all of the good things that you have done, all of the work that has been accomplished by the students, the faculty, and the staff.
We ask your continual blessing on the future and the service of those who have received degrees today.
And we ask you to continue to bless and foster the work of Divine Mercy University.
And may the blessing of almighty God, the father, and the son, and the holy spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever and ever.
Amen.
This concludes our 2021 commencement exercises.
Would you kindly remain in your seats so that our graduates may exit first?
And congratulations to the class of 2021.