Congrats, Grads!
Catholic Campus Ministry Provides Invocations for Both 2022 Commencement Ceremonies
May 17, 2022
The Office of Catholic Campus Ministry had a busy start to the summer!
Both Campus Minister Lucia and our Chaplain, Father Bill Sheridan, enjoyed providing the prayer invocations for both of the commencement ceremonies for the 2022 graduates. Father Bill provided the invocation at the start of the Graduate Commencement at NJPAC on May 17th, 2022 while Lucia provided the invocation for the Undergraduate Commencement at the Prudential Center on May 19th, 2022. It was exciting not only for our team, but for the students, being able to be back for in-person ceremonies.
At the recommendation of a student leader, Campus Ministry also began a new tradition for all graduates this year: Graduates can now pick up gold cross pins to wear on their regalia. As they walk across that stage to get their diploma, students can represent and show the importance of their faith on such a big day.
Did you miss watching the Invocations or commencement ceremonies this year? Don’t worry! Below, you can read each invocation provided for each ceremony, as well as get the links to each ceremony’s video.
Invocation for Graduate Commencement 2022
Lord God, creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your brilliance penetrate the darkness of our limited understanding.
Bless us this day with a strong desire for a knowledge of your truth.
Look lovingly upon these graduates. Grant them a deep sense of gratitude for their accomplishments, and a continued zeal for learning.
Grant them the ability to share their knowledge with a waiting world, and a generosity of spirit to be of service to others.
We ask too for your blessings upon the Kean University community, its faculty, students, administration, staff, and benefactors.
May this day, marking the commencement of our graduates, grant also grateful hearts, for your profound goodness towards us.
We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Invocation for Undergraduate Commencement 2022
Gracious and loving God, who has granted us life, who has sustained us, and who has helped us to reach this point, we thank you for this day, and for the gift that each and every person here is. We thank you for this university, and for the gift of education. We thank you for the gift of support of our family and friends who have walked with us through the many hills and valleys of this season of life. We thank you for the many faculty and staff members who have aided in the growth of these students, and have taken care of their wellbeing. Most of all, we thank you for these graduates. We thank you for the gifts you have given to them, for the blessings that they are, and will be, to a world that is greatly in need.
We pray, O’ God, that these graduates use what they have learned here to bring reconciliation to a world filled with division. Bring peace to a world filled with conflict. Bring justice to a world filled with injustice, and bring equity in a world of unfairness.
Lastly, we pray that in the following years, the friendships that have been forged, lessons that have been learned, and wisdom that has been gained may continue to be fostered and grow. That any anxieties or doubts may be quelled by an increasing faith and hope that you are a steady companion in all things. And that they may trust that the world is in need of their individual gifts and talents more now than ever.
Amen.
Links to both Ceremonies: