Eduardo Pazos Palma, the College’s director of religious and spiritual life, delivers the invocation at Bowdoin’s 213th Commencement ceremony, held May 26, 2018.

Before we begin, I would like to observe a moment of silence to think about and honor all the victims of school gun violence in this last 2017-2018 academic year.

Thank you.

Let us assume a posture of prayer, reflection, or meditation:

We are thankful on this beautiful day for all those who are here celebrating with us, for the many sacrifices our families and communities have made alongside us, for the many lessons we learned in the last four years, for the faculty and college staff who have made such a profound mark in our journeys, for the trustees and their leadership of this institution, and we are thankful for the contributions and memories of those who could not be here with us today.

Teach us Creator to walk in humility, to walk with patience. Teach us to be kind, generous and loving. Teach us to be welcoming and accepting of difference. Guide us as we strive to be peacemakers. Give us hunger and thirst for justice and give us courage to call out injustices around us, and wisdom to work to transform broken systems. Let truth burn within us like a flame and let us work diligently to let loose the chains of inequity.

Loving one, bless us and bless this class of 2018. May they find joy, fulfillment, love, and wisdom wherever they go next. May they use the work of their hands and the work of their minds to advance the cause of the common good. May they strengthen the bonds of friendship with those who surround them today. May they find virtue every day of their lives where they seek it. May they work to find the essence of humanity that is in all of us and bring us together in a time of much division. And, may they find themselves at home in all lands and all ages.

Amen.