“May God,” “We wish for you,” or “May you” are familiar phrases these days, as year-end ceremonies bring heartfelt blessings to many traditional year-end ceremonies. 

For me, the act of bestowing a blessing on a person is a profound moment of humility and connection as I, and often joined by others, ask God to bestow goodness and grace on someone. I believe the families and friends gathered at the Baccalaureate Mass last weekend may have experienced similar feelings as they blessed their daughters, with hearts filled with memories, tears, and a “timeless lullaby to bring you peace in hard times and a glorious anthem to salute your success.”

Similarly, there were a few tears as faculty and administrators blessed the graduates, also in the words of Jerry Welte, a former SMA faculty member.

This excerpt from the blessing seems an appropriate hope for all our students and all our SMA community: 
“We wish for you the gift of open hands,
   that you might welcome the stranger and embrace the poor.
We wish for you the gift of reaching hands,
   that you might risk and dare and dream the improbable.
We wish for you the gift of strong hands,
   that you might support the weak and lift the fallen.
We wish for you the blessing of loving hands,
   that you might touch the world with compassion.”

May God continue to shower blessings upon us and may we generously share those with one another.