This evening we discuss the journey ahead, the future, that unknown ocean of endless possibilities. Like the ocean, the future is a thing of great promise. But also like the ocean, the future is a place of mystery and uncertainty. These young men are about to chart their course across those waters, like the explorers of old.
You don’t know what you’re going to come across when you set off on uncharted waters: storms appearing out of nowhere, unpredictable currents pulling you away, sea monsters trying to drag you down to their level, pirates wanting to harm you and mermaids trying to tempt you away. To sail the future properly, you need a place to anchor to and a star to guide you.
So what are our anchors, what are our stars?
Some would say that they are the people in our lives, the communities we have belonged to and the principles that guide us.
We all know the St Joseph’s College motto. Agite Quae Didicistis; put into practice the things you have learned. A motto is one of those things that neatly sums up what matters to us as a community. It can be one of our stars.
Ours is a great motto because it’s about learning, telling us that learning is something dynamic.
Our motto comes from a letter St Paul wrote to the Philippians, an early Christian community. They were crossing an uncharted sea. What did the future hold for them? He told them to put into practice the things they had learned. All the things they know from the life of Jesus, from living as a community, from their own experience of God – put them into practice. Don’t just sit around just talking about it, actually do it. Live it.
St Paul was a great motivator here. There’s a speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V which kind of does the same thing. Henry’s army is made up of young men – they are tired, overwhelmed and afraid. Henry speaks to his them, telling them they’re about to do something special, something that will shape their lives. He says:
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.
He is saying that this experience, this frightening, uncertain step into the future is something that will unify them. This moment of unity is an anchor for them, something to hold on to in stormy seas, something to reach back along to rediscover the important things. It’s also a star that helps them chart their future.
Those members of staff who have been as St Joseph’s a long time have seen this spirit among our boys.
We have been to their twenty-firsts, their engagements and weddings; we have sat by more hospital beds and attended more funerals than any of us could bear. And through it all, the boys of St Joseph’s were there exhibiting a vital bond King Henry would have been proud to see among his men. It was the bond born of the experience of sharing their journey through the College.
I say to the Class of 2011 - to you happy few, to you band of brothers - put into practice the things you have learned. The things you have learned because you have lived them. Put them into practice and be good Christians and honest citizens, be caring fathers and loyal friends and loving partners. Be men of character and integrity and goodness.
Be there for one another, be a support and a presence in each other’s lives. Stay a band of brothers.
As you sail into that future of endless possibilities, remember your anchors, remember your stars, the things that shaped you, and look back every now and again. Put into practice the things you have learned, and make your life – and the world – better for doing it.
Guido Piotti
Head of Senior School