{"id":235468,"date":"2026-05-18T16:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/235468\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:39:07","slug":"st-johns-university-class-of-2026-gets-message-from-archbishop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/235468\/","title":{"rendered":"St. John’s University Class of 2026 Gets Message From Archbishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"Members of the St. John\u2019s University Class of 2026 attend commencement ceremonies May 17, 2026, at the Vincentian school\u2019s campus in the Jamaica section of Queens, N.Y. (Photos: OSV News\/Gregory A. Shemitz)<\/p>\n

by Michael Rizzo\u00a0<\/p>\n

JAMAICA \u2014\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0play it\u00a0safe.\u00a0That\u00a0message\u00a0was the focus of the commencement address by Archbishop Richard Henning<\/a> of Boston to the St. John\u2019s University Class of 2026\u00a0on May 17.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To Archbishop Henning, who received his bachelor\u2019s degree in history from St. John\u2019s exactly 40 years ago, it was a connection to his own episcopal motto,\u00a0\u201cPut Out Into The Deep,\u201d\u00a0where he said there\u2019s the chance to \u201cmeet the good God who has yet more wonders to reveal to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRisk heartbreak by getting married and starting families,\u201d he told the 2,158\u00a0graduates,\u00a0who, with thousands more relatives and friends in attendance, sat under a sun-filled\u00a0sky for the ceremony\u00a0on\u00a0the university\u2019s Jamaica campus.\u00a0\u201cRisk it by committing yourself to the work of lifelong friendships. Risk it by\u00a0giving\u00a0your time, talent, and sweat when there is no earthly reward for your efforts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRisk it by loving imperfect people like yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Archbishop Henning said\u00a0a great influence\u00a0on his thinking and motto was Pope St.\u00a0John Paul II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember even in elementary school hearing him use that phrase from the Gospel and really challenging young people,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cIt was so influential and shaped me and\u00a0I think it\u00a0fits the moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: St. John\u2019s Offers Honorary Degrees to Local Sister, Priest for Work With Immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n

Before the program began, Archbishop Henning\u00a0told\u00a0The Tablet\u00a0that he hopes\u00a0students\u00a0focus on who they\u00a0are\u00a0as people as they move on with their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe genuine lasting joy that endures, even in the face of hardship and suffering, is the joy that comes from human connections,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cMy hope for this class is that they find that kind of deep joy of commitment to community, of generosity for others.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0really what the Lord calls us to do\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A friend, fellow\u00a0alumnus,\u00a0and colleague of the archbishop at the Sunday commencement was Bishop Robert Brennan,\u00a0who gave the invocation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bishop Brennan graduated from St. John\u2019s in 1984.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"A member of the St. John\u2019s University Class of 2026 hugs one of her professors during commencement ceremonies on May 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0wonderful. I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0exciting. It brings back a lot of memories about our time here on the campus, both of us before we were in the seminary,\u201d Bishop Brennan said of Archbishop Henning being invited to speak.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bishop Brennan\u2019s thoughts about the graduates?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are young people who are seeking the pursuit of truth and around us we can see\u00a0more and more\u00a0the presence of God,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI always use the terms bold,\u00a0joyful\u00a0and unapologetic because we believe that what\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0professing is an absolute truth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his address, Archbishop Henning, who also received an honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the university,\u00a0spoke of the golden calf crafted by the ancient Israelites and compared it to 21st-century life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur\u00a0society may not be in the business of building and worshiping literal golden\u00a0calves,\u00a0but we have built for ourselves the possibility of a\u00a0nearly frictionless, insulated life of endless distractions, endless scrolling, endless options, a false infinity, a false God,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t\u00a0settle for it.\u00a0Look\u00a0higher. Go deeper. Real, life-changing faith involves taking risks. Faith sometimes calls us into\u00a0hard times,\u00a0hard times\u00a0that stretch us not to break us down but to break us open.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Bishop Brennan Gives Commencement Invocation at St. John\u2019s, His Alma Mater<\/a><\/p>\n

Among the students who reflected on his words was 41-year-old\u00a0Medgie\u00a0Desir, a sport management major and parishioner at St.\u00a0Bernard of Clairvaux\u00a0in Mill Basin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is meant to be lived,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0said\u00a0of\u00a0what struck her from the archbishop\u2019s remarks. \u201cWhen you put God first, then you believe in yourself, you can get it done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For 22-year-old Robert Lombardi, a parishioner of\u00a0Holy\u00a0Trinity in\u00a0Whitestone, a homeland security major and university gold medalist with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, the archbishop\u2019s address was a connection to his future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he talked about the next chapter of your life, it told me to never stop learning, to never stop growing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the St. John\u2019s University Class of 2026 attend commencement ceremonies May 17, 2026, at the Vincentian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-235468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}