“The problem is, if He were to do that, He would have to take our freedom away,” Archbishop Vigneron told the 156-member graduating class during his visit to the northwest Detroit school.
He said there is evil in the world, and “a little bit of it, at least, in you and me.” And because of that, we must strive to “help ourselves and others become holy and virtuous.”
Similarly, in answering another question, Archbishop Vigneron said “it wouldn’t be very respectful of our freedom” if God had made the truth of His existence so manifest that we couldn’t help but believe in Him, rather than requiring us to relate to Him through faith.
“God is never going to make it easy for you to believe,” he said.
The seniors also used the opportunity to learn more about their archbishop. They asked what he liked best and least about his job, who was his favorite philosopher, and other matters.
The best part is teaching, he told them. The worst he answered in two parts: being presented with a problem for which there appears to be no solution, and having to deal with problem people.
His favorite philosopher, he told them, is Edmund Husserl, the 19th/20th-century philosopher who developed the school of thought known as phenomenology.
Asked if his pectoral cross was made of gold, he replied that he thought it was only gold-plated, but that it was given to him by Pope Benedict XVI when he made his “ad limina” visit to report on the condition of his diocese in February.
Archbishop Vigneron spoke with the senior class in the school’s chapel after celebrating Mass for the entire student body and faculty of University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy in the gymnasium.
He blessed the Christmas gifts the 880 students had collected as part of the annual Adopt-a-Family program conducted in cooperation with Focus:HOPE.
All 40 home rooms and 10 of the school’s clubs had each adopted a family and purchased food and gift items for that family. The students and their parents delivered the gifts later that day, said Jesuit Fr. Karl Kiser, the school’s president.
During his visit, the second in his nearly four years as archbishop, Archbishop Vigneron also addressed students giving consideration to the priesthood and had lunch with the school’s faculty.
Fr. Kiser said the archbishop’s visit “helps further deepen our commitment as a ministry within metropolitan Detroit and the Archdiocese of Detroit.”
For more information about University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, call (313) 862-5400 or go to www.uofdjesuit.org.
