pdf copy - Fairfield College Preparatory School

“…go about doing good”
Keynote speaker, Fr. Martin Shaughnessy, S.J.
Icome from Boston—Boston strong! Thank you for inviting
me to speak to you—the last class I have taught, going
back to 1957.
I have followed your progress at Fairfield Prep—
especially your wonderful last year in many areas. Last fall they
knew that Prep football was back, and then came outstanding
teams in basketball, soccer, swimming, and lacrosse. All your
sports teams played inspiring games and the hockey team
had another championship season. You have found success
in the arts, in music and science, in languages and in drama,
in Christian service and in retreats. You have become Men for
Others in many ways. You are ready for the future.
But, young men, we cannot forget the events in Newtown
in December, and the awful attack on all of us in Boston in
April of this year. But I know… that evil will never triumph over
good. Goodness and justice will always triumph in the end. I
look at these tragic events, I look at our wounded planet, I look
at hurting people all around the world, and I look at you, and
I know that you will help to eliminate evil wherever you find
it—that you will help to bring about the kingdom of God—a
kingdom where evil is banished and goodness and peace and
justice rule the earth. This world is hurting—this planet is
wounded, and there are people looking for help, for inspiration—
for good men who will respond to their cries. You are good men
and have the needed energy, the talent, and the knowledge.
Young men—graduates of Fairfield Prep—I will mark my 50
years as a Jesuit priest within two weeks. I spent 42 years of my
priesthood at Prep and I am proud of the years spent here. I feel
like one of those persons in the old westerns, going off into the
sunset in the final scenes of movies—like Shane or The Searchers—
but I have one final call to each one here. God has called you to
help do his work here on earth—to go about doing good.
God has given each of you the talents, his grace, and the
opportunity to change this world. Go forth with his blessings.
Bring Jesus to those who wait for him. Bring joy to all you meet.
Bring love to all the hurting people on this planet. I will always
have you—and all those I have known here at Fairfield Prep—in
my mind, in my heart, and in my prayers. (Excerpts from speech)
I
stand here compelled
not to congratulate as
most commencement
speakers do, but to
console. Unfortunately,
our time here is coming
to a close. This incredible
place where we’ve learned
to work, to dream, to bond
in brotherhood, and to call
8 Prep Today
The Senior Farewell Address
by David Bruton
home will soon be the subject most endearing to traumatic,
of our nostalgia. Don Draper like old photographs, we see
of Mad Men once explained, the bounds we’ve made during
“Nostalgia literally means our four years. From innocent
‘the pain from an old wound.’ and curious freshmen, anxious
It’s a twinge in your heart far to meet new people and find
more powerful than memory our niche in these halls, to the
alone.” Now, as we explore confident and cohesive band of
these twinges, the results of brothers we are today; it’s clear
our Prep experiences from how much we have grown.
Some of us even have facial
hair to prove it.
In the fall of 2009, I entered
alongside all of you, a special
group who I am proud to call
my brothers. Part of what
makes this brotherhood so
special is that we have all been
through such different Prep
experiences. Whether you’ve
brought the Quick Center to
its feet with the Prep Players,
struggled through hand cramps
and D minuses in Bruce Jaffe’s
legendary American History
course, explored new meanings
and found new friendships
on Kairos and service trips,
made mix tapes for us to bump
Continued on page 10