‘You should take pride in each other'
CHARLOTTE — Graduating seniors from Charlotte Catholic High School heard an inspiring message from Bishop Michael Martin at their Baccalaureate Mass May 20 at St. Matthew Church.
Tuesday’s liturgy marked the first time Bishop Martin has celebrated a Baccalaureate Mass for graduates in the diocese since his installation in 2024. He brought his signature joy and enthusiasm to the event, speaking with students and their families before and after the Mass and posing for photographs.
His homily focused on “stretching,” and started with him asking students, parents and teachers how they had been asked to stretch themselves through effort and sacrifice over the past four years. Bishop Martin spoke of the hard work both parents and teachers do and then reminded the students that their challenges are just beginning.
“If you think the stretch is over, you’re sadly mistaken,” he said. “If you bring something with you from this experience, know this. As real as your stretch has been, there’s more to come, and you’d better be ready, you better be malleable.”
He reminded the students that even though their lives after high school will throw them both exciting challenges and many failures, they will always be able to pull through by relying on Christ.
“Are you willing to celebrate some of your failures, some of the ways in which Christ took your defeat, Christ took your sinfulness, Christ took some failure of yours and did not leave you in that tomb?” he asked. “I hope you’ve learned that over these last four years…in some small measure you’ve seen when I turn to the Lord in my weakness, in my brokenness, in humility, when I do that, His forgiveness is there, and I come to a new place. I am stretched.”
He encouraged the students to take the knowledge of Christ they’ve received through their years at Charlotte Catholic and be willing to share it with people they meet at college, in the military or in the work world. Without Christ’s love, he said, there is no real life.
“If you learned nothing else at Charlotte Catholic, I pray it is that you realize that there is nothing that any of us on this earth can accomplish unless we are rooted in who the Father is and the love that He has for us,” he said. “You should take pride in each other. Know that your parents do incredibly. Know that your teachers do. And know that God does, too. God takes tremendous joy, tremendous pride in what you’ve accomplished, and He can’t wait to see how you’re going to stretch tomorrow.”
The evening was special for Hans Lengers and his daughter Meredith Lengers. Charlotte Catholic has played a big role in their family – Hans is an alumnus and now is preparing to watch Meredith receive her diploma.
Meredith plans to attend Clemson University in South Carolina, where she’ll major in biological sciences.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and being in a new environment, attending the football games and all the other college events,” she said.
“I’m excited for all the opportunities she has in front of her,” Hans Lengers said. “I remember her birth. She was a preemie and I remember how small she was, and now here we are 18 years later, and I’m watching her go out on her own.”
— Christina Lee Knauss, photos by Troy C. Hull
