It was a good thing we brought our umbrellas. By the time we reached IZOD Center (formerly Continental Arena) in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey the rain was coming down steadily, blown by a gusty wind. The weather, however, was not enough to dampen our spirits. We were attending the Commencement Exercises of Seton Hall University, and Dn. Juan José Guzman was graduating from the School of Theology with his Master of Divinity degree. Some 1100 students graduated from the various Schools of Seton Hall in an 11:00 AM ceremony on May 12. Arriving a bit on the late side (we already heard echoes of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” as we entered the building), we ended up sitting in the “nose bleed section” which was, however, directly above the front-row seats reserved for the School of Theology. A brief cell phone call was enough to alert Dn. Juan José to the location of his somewhat lofty cheering section.

The program was remarkable for its timely opening and conclusion but more so for the distinctly “Catholic” atmosphere that pervaded the ceremony, from the greetings by Archbishop John Myers of Newark and Msgr. Robert Sheeran, president of the University, to the Commencement and Valedictory Addresses. The theme of “servant leadership” was woven into all the diverse presentations. The Commencement Address was given by Honorary Degree Recipient Immaculée Lligabiza, a remarkable young woman from Rwanda, who survived the holocaust of the mid-1990s in that troubled African country, She passionately told the assembly that it was her faith that enabled her to endure and even to forgive those who had slaughtered so many of her neighbors as well as all the members of her family. Her story has been published in her book Left to Tell which will be required reading for all in-coming Seton Hall freshmen this fall. The presentations were interspersed with a number of musical renditions by the Seton Hall University Choir, while the graduates recessed to the traditional Triumphal March from Verdi’s “Aida”.

After the recessional we joined the large crowd of parents and relatives of the graduates clustering in the broad hallways. When we finally located Dn. Juan José, we took time for a few group pictures before leaving the arena and heading for the Olive Garden Restaurant for a proper graduation lunch. The mortarboard and tassel hanging on a coat rack across from our table reminded us that we were not the only ones who were thinking about Italian food after graduation! That evening the whole community celebrated with Fr. Juan José with a special cake and congratulations on successfully completing a long and challenging four-year course in theology in preparation for priestly ordination.

Fr. John Gruben, OAR