Page Two - CROSSROADS - June.
Insight
1977
insigni
Bradley offers Key to Success
.. , . .t I •-1 1. rtf lie hoc a cnark of divinitv
The INSHillT column in this issue reproouces an
address delivered to the 1977 graduating class at Car
dinal Oihhons High School, Raleigh, N. C., by Father
John P. Bradley, President of the College.
I have given my address to the Class of 77 the title.
“What’s it ail about, Alfie?” The modern songs don’t
hold their popularity very long, but I do hope the Class
of ’77 has at least heard of this song which was popular a
few years ago. Anyhow, let me quote a few lines of it;
“What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’sit all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give?
Or are we meant to be kind?
“And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
Then I guess it’s wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
What will you lend on the old Golden Rule?
As sure as 1 believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie,
1 know there’s something much more ...”
That’s my question for you graduates today: What’s it
all about, Alfie, Mary, John, Jane, or whatever your
(,’hristian names are. That is the ultimate, the most
imporlant question for each and_ejmry human being.
And 1 have no hesitation whatsoever m telling you, now
that you are about to set out on the next important part of
your life, that you will be a success or a failure according
to the way in which you handle this all-important
question. What’s it all about? What is the meaning of
my life? Why am 1 here? This has always been a dif
ficult question for human beings: all the great
philosophers throughout the ages have asked it. All the
great religions — Judaism, Islam, Christianity — offer
their own particular answers, to it. The one sure thing
wise men in every age have known is this: that unless
we do answer it in a wa„- lhal gives meaning to our lives,
''nothing but failure awr is us. I chose to speak to you
about it today because I know, through my experience of
dealing with college students, that because of the times
we live in today, young people are more than normally
confused about the Christian answer to what life is all
about, atid need much assistance and underslatiding if
they are to avoid settling lor the pagan answers so
common nowadays lhal try to tell us life is either absurd
or should be lived in a ceaseless search for pleasure.
What’s it all about? 1-el me help you toward the true
answer by telling you a true story. Shortly after World
War 11, when I was a student at Oxford University, a
young mint came to see me. He told me his name was
Cheshire and that he wanted to discuss with me some
plans he had for his future. His story was a remarkable
one. When he was your age, he could find no meaning in
his life and drifted aimlessly from one interest to
another. Then, for lack of knowing what else to do, he
joined the Royal Air Force. Soon after this Britain was
at war with Germany and during the war years Cheshire
became a famous bomber pilot and rose to the high rank
of Group Captain. Yet, he was as aimless as ever and, he
said, still an irresponsible human being. He was chosen
to be an RAF observer in the United States plane that
dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. As he watched
that bomb drop and thought of the terrible destruction it
must cause, he was shocked into really facing seriously
for the first time in his life the question: What is it all
about?
The war ended soon after this, and Group Captain
Cheshire left the RAF. He told me he sought out a
Catholic priest - he had then no religion - asking for help
in finding an answer to this all-important question. He
got his help and eventually became a Catholic. More
important, he understood well and took seriously his
new-found Christianity, and thus equipped with the
Christian answer to “What’s it all about?” he planned to
use his life in a wonderful way. He told me he had been
able as a high-ranking officer to save a good deal of
money during the war years and that he intended to use
this to establish a home for poor, terminally ill people
who had no one to care for them. He would take care of
them, feed them, wash them, and bury them. I told him
lhal this was a wonderful plan, but I wondered when
Cheshire left my room that day if he would have the
enormous dedical ion needed to carry it out. I have never
seen Qroup Captain Cheshire from t hat day to this.
Some twenty years later, however, I happened to be in
London, and one day when I was asked to give a donation
to the Cheshire Homes, I was struck by the name and
asked for information. 1 was told that a Group Captain
Cheshire, many years ago, had founded a home for poor,
terminally ill people, and since that time he had opened
many similar homes, not only in Britain, but also in
other parts of the British Commonwealth. I’m sure I
must have murmured “Thank God” to myself when I
heard this, and ever since 1 have often thought of the fact
lhal the Christian answer to the question “What’s it all
about?” had given Group Captain Cheshire the meaning
in his life lhal provided him with the dedication and
endurance to do the wonderful things he has done since
lhal lime, and, as far as 1 know, continues to do today.
I have told you graduates this true story to show you
the power and strength of the Christian answer to the
ultimate question. The answers you, in today’s culture,
are exposed to are for the most part pagan answers,
wrong answers, answers lhal try to tell you to live for the
moment, that this life is all there is, answers that you
must avoid if your lives are to have the deep meaning
you need. Unfortunately, loo many today who regard
themselves as Christians really do not know, or perhaps
do not have the strong faith to believe, the Christian
answer lhal Group Captain Cheshire found. Let me
summarize this Christian answer briefly for you this
way. You know that the word Gospel means Good News.
Why is it called Good News? Because it gives you Jesus
t’hrist’s answer to the questions “What’s it all about?
What am U' Whoaml? ” It's Good News because it tells
us that each one of us is of great personal worth, each of
us is wonderfully important, primarily because through
Jesus Christ each of us has a spark of divinity, and,
having this, we have a marvelous destiny, a destiny that
carries us beyond this life on earth. This life here is not
all there is. We are destined to an eternity of happiness
if we follow His teachings. This is what it is all about,
Alfie. This is the good news, the best news any human
being can receive; this is the good news that can give
you and me vibrant meaning in every moment of our
lives here on earth, and thus furnish us with the
motivation and purpose we need if we are to be good
human beings.
Dear graduates, I have had the opportunity of ob
taining many years of education at some prestigious
universities, I have worked as a priest in parishes in
Britain and in the United States, I have had various
other assignments offering different kinds of ex
perience, and, working as a teacher and administrator
in college, have associated for many years with young
people like yourselves. Drawing from all this ex
perience, I want to tell you what I told my niece two
weeks ago when she graduated at Belmont Abbey
College. I told her that 1 can give her no better advice
than this: in my life I have found that after all is said
and done, what really counts is my faith in Jesus Christ
and the answer His teachings, handed down to us by the
Church, give us to the question “What is life all
about?”. No matter what lies ahead of you in life, if you
have this, then you have all that matters. Without this,
despite whatever kind of other success you may achieve,
you really have nothing. This is the best advice I can
give to you graduates today. In saying this to you, I am
simply handing on to you the advice of the brilliant Saint
Augustine, who said many years ago: “My heart was
made for Thee, O God, and it is restless till it rests in
Thee.” The wisdom of this is underlined by the ex
perience of those who imagine that the answer to the
meaning of life can be found in material things. I call
your attention to the unhappy life abject misery
of the last months on earth of that pathetic, poor
billionaire, Howard Hughes.
A final word. Whether or not you can really appreciate
this advice at this point in your lives, you should today
give a very special word of thanks to your parents and
teachers. Through them you were able to attend Car
dinal Gibbons High School and be-exposed to the kind of
education that stresses the importance of our Blessed
Lord’s teachings. Thanks to them, in other words, you
have had the opportunity of learning not simply the
usual academic subjects, but also the answer that I, and
millions like me for some two thousand years, have
found to be the only thing in life that really counts: the
answer that puts glorious meaning into a human being’s
life. So, what’s it all about, graduates of the Class of ’77?
That’s what it’s all about, and I pray that as you move on
now to the next stage in your lives, you will find,
whatever success or failure is your lot, that happiness
which can only come from loving and serving God, and
with His help, loving and serving your fellowman.
Ever wonder
theyVe doin^
today?
Now you can find out-witli our new
1977 Alumni Directory, available to
ahunni only.
'I'his concise directory features the
name, (K-cupation, business and home
addresses and phone numbers of all
living alumni.
Old friends can be found in three dif
ferent categories: alphabetical, geo
graphical and class year.
Limited printing—only those direc
tories ordered in advance will be
jirinted.
Reseiwations for this invaluable ref
erence b(K)k are being accepted \0\\.
Call our publisher:
Toll Free
1 (800) 336-3724
“CROSSROADS”
Volume V, Number ^
Published bi-monthly by
Belmont Abbey College,
through the Office of Public
Relations and Alumni Affairs.
Editor-in-chief:
Anthony D. DeCristofaro
Contributions:
Fr. John Bradley
Fr. James Solari, O.S.B.
Mary Cook
Harry Creemers
Registered as second class
postage paid at Belmont, N. c.