May/June 2024: The Class of 2024: "Movers and Shapers with Names in Tomorrow’s Papers"

6/6/2024

Michael A. Marinelli, Ed.D. '76

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, June 2, Archmere Academy held Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2024 in the Performing Arts Center theater. The Baccalaureate Mass, celebrated by Fr. Joseph McLaughlin, O.Praem., took place on Saturday afternoon in the theater, as well. I delivered the following comments to the graduates as the program was concluding, after which, they processed out of the theater and through the Ambrogi Gates - gates that most of them had walked through four years earlier on their first day as 9th grade students. They proceeded to the front steps of Saint Norbert Hall for a photo and traditional “hat toss” before filing through the receiving line of teachers, coaches, and counselors to say, “Farewell.” It was a day steeped in tradition and filled with emotion, much like the celebration of the Church on that weekend.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Catholic Church. From the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, “The priest offers the Eucharistic Prayer in the first-person plural, for example, "Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you…" This "we" signifies that all the baptized present at the Eucharistic celebration make the sacrificial offering in union with Christ, and pray the Eucharistic Prayer in union with him. And what is most important, we do not offer Christ alone; we are called to offer ourselves, our lives, our individual efforts to grow more like Christ and our efforts as a community of believers to spread God's Word and to serve God's people, to the Father in union with Christ through the hands of the priest. Most wonderful of all, although our offering is in itself imperfect, [because we ourselves and our lives are not perfect] joined with the offering of Christ, it becomes perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father.”

In the reading from the Old Testament at Mass today, we hear how Moses executed a covenant between God and the Israelites. The Israelites pledged, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us.” But we know from the history of the Israelites in the desert that they did not always follow the law of the Lord, and failed to keep God’s commandments, just as we do. Their path to the Promised Land was anything but straight as they navigated through trials in the desert.

In 1981 Stephen Sondheim wrote a musical version of the 1934 George S. Kaufman/Moss Hart play "Merrily We Roll Along". The original play tells the story of Richard Niles, who, on the opening night of his latest play, is reviewed as “a pretentious playwright of successful but forgettable light comedies." As the play unfolds, he moves backward in time, recounting his life, until reaching his college graduation, when he quotes with all the fervor of idealistic youth, the words of Polonius: “This above all, to thine own self be true."

The play deals with ambitions, the price of fame, and societal change. A particular song from the musical, entitled “Our Time,” captures this moment for you, the members of the Class of 2024. As Richard Niles addresses his classmate, he sings:

Something is stirring
Shifting ground
It's just begun

Edges are blurring
All around
And yesterday is done

Feel the flow
Hear what's happening:
We're what's happening
Don't you know?
We're the movers and we're the shapers
We're the names in tomorrow's papers

It's our time, breathe it in:
Worlds to change and worlds to win
Our turn coming through
Me and you, pal
Me and you!

Long ago
All we had was that funny feeling
Saying some day we'd send 'em reeling
Now it looks like we can!

Someday just began...

Years from now
We'll remember and we'll come back
Buy the rooftop and hang a plaque: (future Archmere benefactors; I love it!)
"This is where we began
Being what we can"

It's our heads on the block
Give us room and start the clock
Our dreams coming true
Me and you, pal
Me and you!

The optimism and energy we feel today and captured in these lyrics will fade from time to time, particularly as we all experience rough patches in our imperfect lives. But, like the Israelites in the desert, keep the faith and eventually find your way back to the path that brings you joy and happiness. Unlike Richard Niles in the musical, remember your roots and the fundamental teachings of your families and your school community.

Saint Norbert, after living the life of a noble until he was about 35, decided to make significant changes in his life journey. He followed a call to serve others, to preach Church reform, to renounce his wealth and titles, and to be a peacemaker, a reconciler, and perhaps by accident, the founder of an international community of priests, sisters, and deacons that has lasted more than 900 years. Later in life, the trappings of wealth and position would be given to him again as he became Archbishop of Magdeburg in Germany. His path was anything but straight and clear!

We are all imperfect. We are all part of a broken world – a world that has distanced us from God’s love and plan for us, so we can accomplish what we think we can do in our own name, in making our own mark, without acknowledging God’s plan for us. How do we know which paths to follow? How do we remain “grounded” in a world that embraces change and innovation? I believe the answer is through daily prayer – by sustaining an open and personal dialog with God.

Each of you will have different journeys through life, some more circuitous than others, but all of them can be enriching and rewarding as we keep focused on our goals of knowing our true selves and true purpose in service to others. So, as you leave Archmere today, you take a part of Archmere with you, and I hope that part is a spiritual maturity of faith as much as it is academic excellence, so that you will be prepared for the next part of your exciting journeys. Like the Israelites pledged, “do everything that the Lord tells you,” and in so doing, you will be true to yourselves and find joy in your lives.

Members of the Class of 2024 of Archmere Academy - “movers and shapers with names in tomorrow’s papers,” Godspeed and Congratulations!

Please join me in praying for our graduates as they enjoy a safe and relaxing summer before beginning the next part of their educational journeys. We are also grateful to their families for the support and sacrifices they have made to make the Archmere experience a reality for their children.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Marineli, Ed.D. ‘76

Head of School

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