What’s Wrong with This Speech?
by Dwight A. Moody
Harrison Butker gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas, and it has been the talk of the country ever since. It was well received by those in attendance, and others have spoken out to affirm the young man who gave the address. We all acknowledge the freedom of any person, including Mr. Butker, to speak his/her mind on important (or trivial) issues of the day. And we recognize that the chosen audience of the day—faculty, students, and their families and friends at a conservative Catholic college—was predisposed to receive favorably what was said to them.
Furthermore, Butker said many things that are customary on such occasions. In an sincere desire to be fair and positive, I print here, at the beginning, all of these 323 words, the totality of that positive and traditional commencement content:
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024: I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today…. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring lay people using their talents. President Minnis, Dr. [Andrew] Swafford, and Dr. [Jared] Zimmerer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. …. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues, and the world is enlightened by your example. For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives…. The road ahead is bright…. As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges…. What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success, and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It’s a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better…. I’m excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life… I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis, who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic college and a thriving football program….
These 323 words comprise less than nine percent of the speech; the rest is what Butker himself refers to as “difficult and unpleasant things” (para 6), “hard words” (7), and “difficult stuff” (17). He confesses that he delivered a similar speech last year for his own alma mater, Georgia Tech (3), and the report of that speech must have inspired the powers that be at Benedictine College to welcome a similar speech for their constituency.
There is no doubt that the national attention generated by this 2024 speech is precisely the sort of publicity desired by Benedictine College. They no doubt think it will market their school to the students, faculty, donors, and bishops they wish to reach. I predict both applications from students and donations from benefactors will increase substantially as a result of what has happened this year.
Briefly put: the perspective on life and faith articulated by Mr. Butker has a large constituency in the United States, both in the Roman Catholic Church and in the general population. That is precisely why it deserves the attention it is receiving this year!
One
I have chosen to title Butker’s speech “Stay in Your Lane.” Butker uses some form of this phrase five times in his speech (2, 7, 17, 18, 21). (I have highlighted these in bold in the accompanying text of the speech; see below.) For instance: “Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life” (21).
But I am puzzled about Butker’s own “lane.” He graduated from the university with a degree in engineering; he plays professional sports in the National Football league; he is married with children; he is a practicing Roman Catholic; he is active (online biographical articles report) in various cultural causes; and he is a public speaker. He says about himself: “It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man” (29). This only confuses the matter, about himself and also about anybody who is trying to understand what he is trying to say. What, exactly, is his “vocation” or his “lane”?
There is no doubt that it is his status as a highly-compensated, Super-Bowl-winning athlete that has given him a platform to speak. Is his lane that of an expert in the history and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church? Is his lane that of an expert in the social and cultural movements of our day? Is his lane that of a married man? He is 28 years old, by his own confession a Christian who ignored his religious profession for many years, and a man with a degree in chemical engineering. What exactly is his “lane” and how can clarity on that assist any of the rest of us in discerning our own “lane” or “vocation.” I wonder.
Two
The second thing that must be noted about this speech is the dominant tone of judgment that is voiced toward, well, everything (except, of course, the host institution). Nothing is right in the world or in the Church (by which he means the Roman Catholic Church).
Butker rebukes United States President Joe Biden, calling him “delusional” (4) and his chief health advisor Anthony Fauci (5), both of whom, he acknowledges, are Catholic. Butker rebukes Church authorities for “misleading their flocks” (10) and becoming “overly familiar” (12) with their parishioners. He said (in reference to the COVID pandemic), “Too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked ….” (14).
He rebukes “the reporters at the AP” (Associated Press) for the article they wrote in 2023 about the conservative movement among Catholic colleges (20).
Butker condemns the LGBTQ community, referring to “the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it” (20). He criticizes those who use birth control (28), or in vetro fertilization, or even surrogacy in their desire to have a family (3). Toward the end, he speaks disparagingly of “the cultural emasculation of men” (31) and cohabitation (34). All of this wickedness, and more, he attributes to the “pervasiveness of disorder” (21).
Clearly, Butker is unhappy with the way things are in much of the country, especially the freedom given to people to be themselves or take care of themselves or become what they aspire to become. Butker wants the way things used to be; or, more accurately, the way things he imagined they were.
Three
Many women have drawn attention to the spirit of patriarchy that runs through this 20-minute speech. The speech is a rich, white man telling poor college coeds how they can find their happiness in life, namely, by finding a man very much like himself and bearing his children. Forget your careers, he says, and get married. Ignore birth control and start having children. This is the best path forward for you. This is your “lane”—now stay in it!
This stark summary of his commencement speech is troubling.
The emotional high point of his speech was his effort to speak for his wife: “Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, No” (26). While this brought prolonged applause, I simply note it as an excellent example of “mansplaining.”
Later, he says this about the role of men: “Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in” (30).
I myself have never heard this “lie” and I have never read anybody who contends that men are not needed or wanted in the home or in the culture. I don’t know what he is talking about. But I do know that men, when they are in charge, are often the cause of “disorder, dysfunction and chaos.” I think about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the role men play in these wars. I think about the history of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and the role men play in these crimes. I think about the political dysfunction in our nation and the role men play in this chaos. and I confess that often I have said to myself, “We need more women in decision-making roles!”
What is underneath this complaint by Butker is not fact or evidence but patriarchy—the cultural or religious ideology that men are the leaders and women the followers, men are the decision-makers and women are the doers of what men want done. This is straight patriarchy.
This attitude came through strongly when he quoted the most famous woman on the planet, Taylor Swift. Butker refused to say her name (in stark contrast to the five men he named in his speech). He called her “my teammate’s girlfriend” (18); he identified her as connected to a man. She is, in fact, the living embodiment of all that Butker repudiates: a single, independent, strong, creative, public, successful and wealthy Christian woman who supports both abortion rights and the LGBTQ community. She is the very opposite of everything that Butker extolls in his speech.
No wonder Butker did not speak her name! If he had, Swift would have written, recorded, and performed a song about him!
Four
As noted above, Butker is unrestrained in his disdain for the leadership and culture of his own Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes almost every aspect of its leadership, from parishes to cathedrals, from priests to bishops. He denounces their values and behaviors; he speaks with disapproval about their motivations. He urges the young graduates to determine their future residence by finding a good, conservative priest who will allow, even promote, the use of Latin in the mass.
With this extended endorsement of The Latin Mass, he places himself in the middle of the organized movement in the United States (and elsewhere) that opposes Pope Francis and his efforts to open up the Catholic Church to those on the margins of the church and society. The focus on the language of worship as a fulcrum of resistance in the Church even has its own anacronym TLM (for The Latin Mass).
“I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives,” he says. Then continues, “I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today” (32). What in the world does this mean? Is he saying that God desired the Hebrew people to worship in the Hebrew language, so also God wants the Catholic people to worship in the Latin language? Who, in our day, even speaks the Latin language?
This is, in reality, code language for the rejection of the documents and decisions of what is known as the Second Vatican Council. This Council was a 3-4 year gathering in Rome of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church between 1962 and 1965. They revised many Church practices and doctrines. Among the most visible are: the translation of the Bible into the vernacular languages of the people around the world, the use of the vernacular languages in worship services, the repositioning of the priest to face the congregation during worship, and (in matters of doctrine) a restatement of the relationship between Catholics and all other Christians, inaugurating a new era of understanding, conversation, and cooperation.
The TLM movement rejects all of this and calls for a return to the pre-Vatican II days. This has created such a division in the Roman Catholic Church that Pope Francis issued a decree that limits severely the use of Latin in Catholic worship. In other words, Butker took the commencement opportunity to advocate publicly against the leadership of his own church and against its own effort to communicate the gospel and cooperate with other Christians. Many non-Catholic Christians will not have picked up on this element in the speech, but it was the most powerful component, dominating the last and climatic quadrant of the speech.
I must also point out: this strong message stands in stark contrast to what Butker said in his speech: “Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the Church than me complaining about her leaders” (18). Go figure!
Butker does not mention Pope Francis by name or position, but it goes without saying that the spirit and substance of his speech is at the opposite end of the spectrum of what we hear and feel from Francis. In fact, ten days after the Butker speech, CBS news broadcast a 60-minute interview with Francis. It demonstrates that Butker is an outlier in his own spiritual communion. Yes, the two agreed on certain church policies, like abortion and homosexuality; but no one can miss the difference in spirit and style of the two. One was warm, the other cool; one was full of judgment, the other full of compassion; the one was foolish, the other was wise.
Five
There is one other contrast that I wish to make: how the religion of Butker differs from the religion of Jesus. Butker does, indeed, mention Jesus by name when he describes his own religion as rooted in “the Church founded by Jesus Christ” (8). At the end, he uses the phrase “Christ is King” (42) as the exclamation point on his message. But otherwise, Jesus is missing. There is plenty of Church, and lots of Latin, but not much Jesus. None of the issues that Butker raises as points of contention are ever mentioned by Jesus, even though Jesus lived in a vast empire much like the American Empire. This helps explain why Butker never quotes Jesus in support of his cultural rant. On the other hand, none of the issues of concern to Jesus make their way into the Butker speech: things like poverty, service, forgiveness, generosity, and hospitality.
Yes, like Butker, Jesus condemned the religious establishment of his day, but unlike Butker, Jesus looked forward to a coming Day as opposed to Butker who looks backward to a receding day. Jesus blessed the children but was, himself, unmarried. I know of nowhere in the gospels where Jesus is quoted as telling a woman to get married and have children. No wonder Butker never challenged his hearers to “follow Jesus” or “live like Jesus” or “forgive like Jesus.”
Perhaps this indifference to the words and deeds, the attitude and disposition of Jesus is one reason that the Roman Catholic nuns associated with Benedictine College put forth their own response to the speech (a speech that seemed to denigrate their own cloistered vocation as unmarried women with no children): “The Sisters of Mt. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested….We reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic. We are faithful members of the Catholic Church who embrace and promote the values of the Gospel, St. Benedict, and Vatican II and the teachings of Pope Francis.”
Conclusion
Many people have applauded the speech by Harrison Butker, and (as I mentioned above) I expect him to receive many more invitations to speak. The owners of his own Kansas City Chiefs have commended his speech, as has the Catholic leadership of that city. Many other celebrities have voiced their commendation. Which makes this clear: Butker speaks for many in our country. While all will not agree with everything he said, they concur with his condemnation of liberal values such as opportunities for women and freedom for homosexuals. In these and many other regards, some people reject the modern world and yearn for a yesterday of women in the kitchen, gays in the closet, and Latin in the mass. Everything else is chaos and dysfunction. The problems of our society, they contend, can be traced to women’s liberation, gay rights, and church reform. The motto “Make America Great Again” tags into this nostalgia.
It is this aspect of the otherwise obscure commencement speech that makes it culturally relevant, even powerful. Butker gave voice to the future many want: no abortion, no contraception, and no gays, plenty of babies and lots of Latin, plus enough football to keep all the men happy! Just not much Jesus.
Stay in Your Lane
This commencement speech of Mr. Harrison Butker was delivered to the 2024 graduating class of Benedictine College, Adkison Kansas. Mr. Butker graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree but now plays football as a professional with the Kansas City Chiefs. Dwight A. Moody is a minister, author, professor, and host of the media platform “The Meetinghouse: Conversations on Religion and American Life” (themeetinghouse.net). He holds the PhD in Christian theology.
The text used in the article is that published by The Catholic Register. The speech numbers 3,621 words. The paragraphs are numbered to coordinate with the commentary by Dr. Moody.
1
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024: I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I’m sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined, and most likely, neither was your first couple years of college.
2
By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary. As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don’t stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society. It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are, and where we want to go as citizens and, yes, as Catholics. One last thing before I begin, I want to be sure to thank President Minnis and the board for their invitation to speak.
3
When President Minnis first reached out a couple of months ago, I had originally said No. You see, last year I gave the commencement address at my alma mater, Georgia Tech, and I felt that one graduation speech was more than enough, especially for someone who isn’t a professional speaker. But of course, President Minnis used his gift of persuasion. [Laughter] It spoke to the many challenges you all faced throughout the COVID fiasco, and how you missed out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted. While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique. Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.
4
Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro- abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.
5
He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it.
6
These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the “Church of Nice” is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.
7
It is safe to say that over the past few years, I have gained quite the reputation for speaking my mind. I never envisioned myself, nor wanted, to have this sort of a platform, but God has given it to me, so I have no other choice but to embrace it and preach more hard truths about accepting your lane and staying in it.
8
As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Don’t be mistaken, even within the Church, people in polite Catholic circles will try to persuade you to remain silent. There even was an award-winning film called Silence, made by a fellow Catholic, wherein one of the main characters, a Jesuit priest, abandoned the Church, and as an apostate when he died is seen grasping a crucifix, quiet and unknown to anyone but God. As a friend of Benedictine College, His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron, said in his review of the film, it was exactly what the cultural elite want to see in Christianity — private, hidden away, and harmless.
9
Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.
10
But make no mistake, before we even attempt to fix any of the issues plaguing society, we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that “That’s what Father said.” Because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory.
11
It’s easy for us laymen and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it. Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems. Just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him.
12
St. Josemaría Escrivá states that priests are ordained to serve, and should not yield to temptation to imitate laypeople, but to be priests through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners, and in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate’s girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt. [Laughter]
13
Saint Josemaría continues that some want to see the priest as just another man. That is not so. They want to find in the priest those virtues proper to every Christian, and indeed every honorable man: understanding, justice, a life of work — priestly work, in this instance — and good manners. It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or that theological teaching — unless, of course, you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation. And for most of us, that’s as married men and women. Still, we have so many great resources at our fingertips that it doesn’t take long to find traditional and timeless teachings that haven’t been ambiguously reworded for our times. Plus, there are still many good and holy priests, and it’s up to us to seek them out.
14
The chaos of the world is unfortunately reflected in the chaos in our parishes, and sadly, in our cathedrals too. As we saw during the pandemic, too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked. They showed by their actions, intentional or unintentional, that the sacraments don’t actually matter. Because of this, countless people died alone, without access to the sacraments, and it’s a tragedy we must never forget. As Catholics, we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people, and ultimately, the Church. We cannot buy into the lie that the things we experienced during COVID were appropriate. Over the centuries, there have been great wars, great famines, and yes, even great diseases, all that came with a level of lethality and danger. But in each of those examples, Church leaders leaned into their vocations and ensured that their people received the sacraments.
15
Great saints like St. Damien of Molokai, who knew the dangers of his ministry, stayed for 11 years as a spiritual leader to the leper colonies of Hawaii. His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique, when ideally it should not be unique at all. For as a father loves his child, so a shepherd should love his spiritual children, too.
16
That goes even more so for our bishops, these men who are present-day apostles. Our bishops once had adoring crowds of people kissing their rings and taking in their every word, but now relegate themselves to a position of inconsequential existence. Now, when a bishop of a diocese or the bishop’s conference as a whole puts out an important document on this matter or that, nobody even takes a moment to read it, let alone follow it.
17
No. Today, our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the chancery than they are with saying the difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it’s time for the annual appeal, whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the Church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians but shepherds, so instead of fitting in the world by going along to get along, they too need to stay in their lane and lead.
18
I say all of this not from a place of anger, as we get the leaders we deserve. But this does make me reflect on staying in my lane and focusing on my own vocation and how I can be a better father and husband and live in the world but not be of it. Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the Church than me complaining about her leaders.
19
Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders, there needs to be concrete examples for people to look to in places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River, are showing the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success. You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus, where over the past 20 years, enrollment has doubled, construction and revitalization are a constant part of life, and people, the students, the faculty and staff, are thriving. This didn’t happen by chance. In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success — worldly and spiritual — will follow.
20
I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn’t be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride. Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him. Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring laypeople using their talents.
21
President Minnis, Dr. [Andrew] Swafford, and Dr. [Jared] Zimmerer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life.
22
It is essential that we focus on our own state in life, whether that be as a layperson, a priest, or religious. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.
23
For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
24
I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
[
Applause lasting 18 seconds]
25
She is a primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.
26
I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, No.”
27
As a man who gets a lot of praise and has been given a platform to speak to audiences like this one today, I pray that I always use my voice for God and not for myself. Everything I am saying to you is not from a place of wisdom, but rather a place of experience. I am hopeful that these words will be seen as those from a man, not much older than you, who feels it is imperative that this class, this generation, and this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal.
28
Heterodox ideas abound even within Catholic circles. But let’s be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children — whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive. No matter how you spin it, there is nothing natural about Catholic birth control.
29
It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man.
30
To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates, as well.
31
Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don’t necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. I speak from experience as an introvert who now finds myself as an amateur public speaker and an entrepreneur, something I never thought I’d be when I received my industrial engineering degree.
32
The road ahead is bright. Things are changing. Society is shifting. And people, young and old, are embracing tradition. Not only has it been my vocation that has helped me and those closest to me, but not surprising to many of you, should be my outspoken embrace of the traditional Latin Mass. I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives. But what I think gets misunderstood is that people who attend the TLM do so out of pride or preference. I can speak to my own experience, but for most people I have come across within these communities this simply is not true. I do not attend the TLM because I think I am better than others, or for the smells and bells, or even for the love of Latin. I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order, and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past, when in my parish, things such as ember days, days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests, are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available.
33
A lot of people have complaints about the parish or the community, but we should not sacrifice the Mass for community. I prioritize the TLM even if the parish isn’t beautiful, the priest isn’t great, or the community isn’t amazing. I still go to the TLM because I believe the holy sacrifice of the Mass is more important than anything else. I say this knowing full well that when each of you rekindle your knowledge and adherence to many of the church’s greatest traditions, you will see how much more colorful and alive your life can and should be.
34
As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges. Sadly, I’m sure many of you know of the countless stories of good and active members of this community who, after graduation and moving away from the Benedictine bubble, have ended up moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage. Some even leave the Church and abandon God. It is always heartbreaking to hear these stories, and there is a desire to know what happened and what went wrong.
35
What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success, and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It’s a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better. If you are dating someone who doesn’t even share your faith, how do you expect that person to help you become a saint? If your friend group is filled with people who only think about what you’re doing next weekend and are not willing to have those difficult conversations, how can they help sharpen you?
36
As you prepare to enter into the workforce, it is extremely important that you actually think about the places you are moving to. Who is the bishop? What kind of parishes are there? Do they offer the TLM and have priests who embrace their priestly vocation? Cost of living must not be the only arbiter of your choices, for a life without God is not a life at all, and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.
37
I’m excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life.
38
Never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, for this is the Church that Jesus Christ established, through which we receive sanctifying grace.
39
I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is Heaven.
40
I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis, who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic college and a thriving football program. [Laughter and applause]
41
Make no mistake: You are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this. And with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.
42
Christ is King.
43
To the Heights.
What’s Wrong with This Speech?
by Dwight A. Moody
Harrison Butker gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas, and it has been the talk of the country ever since. It was well received by those in attendance, and others have spoken out to affirm the young man who gave the address. We all acknowledge the freedom of any person, including Mr. Butker, to speak his/her mind on important (or trivial) issues of the day. And we recognize that the chosen audience of the day—faculty, students, and their families and friends at a conservative Catholic college—was predisposed to receive favorably what was said to them.
Furthermore, Butker said many things that are customary on such occasions. In an sincere desire to be fair and positive, I print here, at the beginning, all of these 323 words, the totality of that positive and traditional commencement content:
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024: I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today…. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring lay people using their talents. President Minnis, Dr. [Andrew] Swafford, and Dr. [Jared] Zimmerer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. …. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues, and the world is enlightened by your example. For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives…. The road ahead is bright…. As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges…. What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success, and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It’s a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better…. I’m excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life… I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis, who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic college and a thriving football program….
These 323 words comprise less than nine percent of the speech; the rest is what Butker himself refers to as “difficult and unpleasant things” (para 6), “hard words” (7), and “difficult stuff” (17). He confesses that he delivered a similar speech last year for his own alma mater, Georgia Tech (3), and the report of that speech must have inspired the powers that be at Benedictine College to welcome a similar speech for their constituency.
There is no doubt that the national attention generated by this 2024 speech is precisely the sort of publicity desired by Benedictine College. They no doubt think it will market their school to the students, faculty, donors, and bishops they wish to reach. I predict both applications from students and donations from benefactors will increase substantially as a result of what has happened this year.
Briefly put: the perspective on life and faith articulated by Mr. Butker has a large constituency in the United States, both in the Roman Catholic Church and in the general population. That is precisely why it deserves the attention it is receiving this year!
One
I have chosen to title Butker’s speech “Stay in Your Lane.” Butker uses some form of this phrase five times in his speech (2, 7, 17, 18, 21). (I have highlighted these in bold in the accompanying text of the speech; see below.) For instance: “Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life” (21).
But I am puzzled about Butker’s own “lane.” He graduated from the university with a degree in engineering; he plays professional sports in the National Football league; he is married with children; he is a practicing Roman Catholic; he is active (online biographical articles report) in various cultural causes; and he is a public speaker. He says about himself: “It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man” (29). This only confuses the matter, about himself and also about anybody who is trying to understand what he is trying to say. What, exactly, is his “vocation” or his “lane”?
There is no doubt that it is his status as a highly-compensated, Super-Bowl-winning athlete that has given him a platform to speak. Is his lane that of an expert in the history and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church? Is his lane that of an expert in the social and cultural movements of our day? Is his lane that of a married man? He is 28 years old, by his own confession a Christian who ignored his religious profession for many years, and a man with a degree in chemical engineering. What exactly is his “lane” and how can clarity on that assist any of the rest of us in discerning our own “lane” or “vocation.” I wonder.
Two
The second thing that must be noted about this speech is the dominant tone of judgment that is voiced toward, well, everything (except, of course, the host institution). Nothing is right in the world or in the Church (by which he means the Roman Catholic Church).
Butker rebukes United States President Joe Biden, calling him “delusional” (4) and his chief health advisor Anthony Fauci (5), both of whom, he acknowledges, are Catholic. Butker rebukes Church authorities for “misleading their flocks” (10) and becoming “overly familiar” (12) with their parishioners. He said (in reference to the COVID pandemic), “Too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked ….” (14).
He rebukes “the reporters at the AP” (Associated Press) for the article they wrote in 2023 about the conservative movement among Catholic colleges (20).
Butker condemns the LGBTQ community, referring to “the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it” (20). He criticizes those who use birth control (28), or in vetro fertilization, or even surrogacy in their desire to have a family (3). Toward the end, he speaks disparagingly of “the cultural emasculation of men” (31) and cohabitation (34). All of this wickedness, and more, he attributes to the “pervasiveness of disorder” (21).
Clearly, Butker is unhappy with the way things are in much of the country, especially the freedom given to people to be themselves or take care of themselves or become what they aspire to become. Butker wants the way things used to be; or, more accurately, the way things he imagined they were.
Three
Many women have drawn attention to the spirit of patriarchy that runs through this 20-minute speech. The speech is a rich, white man telling poor college coeds how they can find their happiness in life, namely, by finding a man very much like himself and bearing his children. Forget your careers, he says, and get married. Ignore birth control and start having children. This is the best path forward for you. This is your “lane”—now stay in it!
This stark summary of his commencement speech is troubling.
The emotional high point of his speech was his effort to speak for his wife: “Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, No” (26). While this brought prolonged applause, I simply note it as an excellent example of “mansplaining.”
Later, he says this about the role of men: “Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in” (30).
I myself have never heard this “lie” and I have never read anybody who contends that men are not needed or wanted in the home or in the culture. I don’t know what he is talking about. But I do know that men, when they are in charge, are often the cause of “disorder, dysfunction and chaos.” I think about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the role men play in these wars. I think about the history of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and the role men play in these crimes. I think about the political dysfunction in our nation and the role men play in this chaos. and I confess that often I have said to myself, “We need more women in decision-making roles!”
What is underneath this complaint by Butker is not fact or evidence but patriarchy—the cultural or religious ideology that men are the leaders and women the followers, men are the decision-makers and women are the doers of what men want done. This is straight patriarchy.
This attitude came through strongly when he quoted the most famous woman on the planet, Taylor Swift. Butker refused to say her name (in stark contrast to the five men he named in his speech). He called her “my teammate’s girlfriend” (18); he identified her as connected to a man. She is, in fact, the living embodiment of all that Butker repudiates: a single, independent, strong, creative, public, successful and wealthy Christian woman who supports both abortion rights and the LGBTQ community. She is the very opposite of everything that Butker extolls in his speech.
No wonder Butker did not speak her name! If he had, Swift would have written, recorded, and performed a song about him!
Four
As noted above, Butker is unrestrained in his disdain for the leadership and culture of his own Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes almost every aspect of its leadership, from parishes to cathedrals, from priests to bishops. He denounces their values and behaviors; he speaks with disapproval about their motivations. He urges the young graduates to determine their future residence by finding a good, conservative priest who will allow, even promote, the use of Latin in the mass.
With this extended endorsement of The Latin Mass, he places himself in the middle of the organized movement in the United States (and elsewhere) that opposes Pope Francis and his efforts to open up the Catholic Church to those on the margins of the church and society. The focus on the language of worship as a fulcrum of resistance in the Church even has its own anacronym TLM (for The Latin Mass).
“I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives,” he says. Then continues, “I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today” (32). What in the world does this mean? Is he saying that God desired the Hebrew people to worship in the Hebrew language, so also God wants the Catholic people to worship in the Latin language? Who, in our day, even speaks the Latin language?
This is, in reality, code language for the rejection of the documents and decisions of what is known as the Second Vatican Council. This Council was a 3-4 year gathering in Rome of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church between 1962 and 1965. They revised many Church practices and doctrines. Among the most visible are: the translation of the Bible into the vernacular languages of the people around the world, the use of the vernacular languages in worship services, the repositioning of the priest to face the congregation during worship, and (in matters of doctrine) a restatement of the relationship between Catholics and all other Christians, inaugurating a new era of understanding, conversation, and cooperation.
The TLM movement rejects all of this and calls for a return to the pre-Vatican II days. This has created such a division in the Roman Catholic Church that Pope Francis issued a decree that limits severely the use of Latin in Catholic worship. In other words, Butker took the commencement opportunity to advocate publicly against the leadership of his own church and against its own effort to communicate the gospel and cooperate with other Christians. Many non-Catholic Christians will not have picked up on this element in the speech, but it was the most powerful component, dominating the last and climatic quadrant of the speech.
I must also point out: this strong message stands in stark contrast to what Butker said in his speech: “Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the Church than me complaining about her leaders” (18). Go figure!
Butker does not mention Pope Francis by name or position, but it goes without saying that the spirit and substance of his speech is at the opposite end of the spectrum of what we hear and feel from Francis. In fact, ten days after the Butker speech, CBS news broadcast a 60-minute interview with Francis. It demonstrates that Butker is an outlier in his own spiritual communion. Yes, the two agreed on certain church policies, like abortion and homosexuality; but no one can miss the difference in spirit and style of the two. One was warm, the other cool; one was full of judgment, the other full of compassion; the one was foolish, the other was wise.
Five
There is one other contrast that I wish to make: how the religion of Butker differs from the religion of Jesus. Butker does, indeed, mention Jesus by name when he describes his own religion as rooted in “the Church founded by Jesus Christ” (8). At the end, he uses the phrase “Christ is King” (42) as the exclamation point on his message. But otherwise, Jesus is missing. There is plenty of Church, and lots of Latin, but not much Jesus. None of the issues that Butker raises as points of contention are ever mentioned by Jesus, even though Jesus lived in a vast empire much like the American Empire. This helps explain why Butker never quotes Jesus in support of his cultural rant. On the other hand, none of the issues of concern to Jesus make their way into the Butker speech: things like poverty, service, forgiveness, generosity, and hospitality.
Yes, like Butker, Jesus condemned the religious establishment of his day, but unlike Butker, Jesus looked forward to a coming Day as opposed to Butker who looks backward to a receding day. Jesus blessed the children but was, himself, unmarried. I know of nowhere in the gospels where Jesus is quoted as telling a woman to get married and have children. No wonder Butker never challenged his hearers to “follow Jesus” or “live like Jesus” or “forgive like Jesus.”
Perhaps this indifference to the words and deeds, the attitude and disposition of Jesus is one reason that the Roman Catholic nuns associated with Benedictine College put forth their own response to the speech (a speech that seemed to denigrate their own cloistered vocation as unmarried women with no children): “The Sisters of Mt. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested….We reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic. We are faithful members of the Catholic Church who embrace and promote the values of the Gospel, St. Benedict, and Vatican II and the teachings of Pope Francis.”
Conclusion
Many people have applauded the speech by Harrison Butker, and (as I mentioned above) I expect him to receive many more invitations to speak. The owners of his own Kansas City Chiefs have commended his speech, as has the Catholic leadership of that city. Many other celebrities have voiced their commendation. Which makes this clear: Butker speaks for many in our country. While all will not agree with everything he said, they concur with his condemnation of liberal values such as opportunities for women and freedom for homosexuals. In these and many other regards, some people reject the modern world and yearn for a yesterday of women in the kitchen, gays in the closet, and Latin in the mass. Everything else is chaos and dysfunction. The problems of our society, they contend, can be traced to women’s liberation, gay rights, and church reform. The motto “Make America Great Again” tags into this nostalgia.
It is this aspect of the otherwise obscure commencement speech that makes it culturally relevant, even powerful. Butker gave voice to the future many want: no abortion, no contraception, and no gays, plenty of babies and lots of Latin, plus enough football to keep all the men happy! Just not much Jesus.
Stay in Your Lane
This commencement speech of Mr. Harrison Butker was delivered to the 2024 graduating class of Benedictine College, Adkison Kansas. Mr. Butker graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree but now plays football as a professional with the Kansas City Chiefs. Dwight A. Moody is a minister, author, professor, and host of the media platform “The Meetinghouse: Conversations on Religion and American Life” (themeetinghouse.net). He holds the PhD in Christian theology.
The text used in the article is that published by The Catholic Register. The speech numbers 3,621 words. The paragraphs are numbered to coordinate with the commentary by Dr. Moody.
1
Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024: I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I’m sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined, and most likely, neither was your first couple years of college.
2
By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary. As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don’t stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society. It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are, and where we want to go as citizens and, yes, as Catholics. One last thing before I begin, I want to be sure to thank President Minnis and the board for their invitation to speak.
3
When President Minnis first reached out a couple of months ago, I had originally said No. You see, last year I gave the commencement address at my alma mater, Georgia Tech, and I felt that one graduation speech was more than enough, especially for someone who isn’t a professional speaker. But of course, President Minnis used his gift of persuasion. [Laughter] It spoke to the many challenges you all faced throughout the COVID fiasco, and how you missed out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted. While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique. Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.
4
Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro- abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.
5
He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it.
6
These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the “Church of Nice” is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.
7
It is safe to say that over the past few years, I have gained quite the reputation for speaking my mind. I never envisioned myself, nor wanted, to have this sort of a platform, but God has given it to me, so I have no other choice but to embrace it and preach more hard truths about accepting your lane and staying in it.
8
As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Don’t be mistaken, even within the Church, people in polite Catholic circles will try to persuade you to remain silent. There even was an award-winning film called Silence, made by a fellow Catholic, wherein one of the main characters, a Jesuit priest, abandoned the Church, and as an apostate when he died is seen grasping a crucifix, quiet and unknown to anyone but God. As a friend of Benedictine College, His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron, said in his review of the film, it was exactly what the cultural elite want to see in Christianity — private, hidden away, and harmless.
9
Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.
10
But make no mistake, before we even attempt to fix any of the issues plaguing society, we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that “That’s what Father said.” Because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory.
11
It’s easy for us laymen and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it. Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems. Just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him.
12
St. Josemaría Escrivá states that priests are ordained to serve, and should not yield to temptation to imitate laypeople, but to be priests through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners, and in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate’s girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt. [Laughter]
13
Saint Josemaría continues that some want to see the priest as just another man. That is not so. They want to find in the priest those virtues proper to every Christian, and indeed every honorable man: understanding, justice, a life of work — priestly work, in this instance — and good manners. It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or that theological teaching — unless, of course, you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation. And for most of us, that’s as married men and women. Still, we have so many great resources at our fingertips that it doesn’t take long to find traditional and timeless teachings that haven’t been ambiguously reworded for our times. Plus, there are still many good and holy priests, and it’s up to us to seek them out.
14
The chaos of the world is unfortunately reflected in the chaos in our parishes, and sadly, in our cathedrals too. As we saw during the pandemic, too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked. They showed by their actions, intentional or unintentional, that the sacraments don’t actually matter. Because of this, countless people died alone, without access to the sacraments, and it’s a tragedy we must never forget. As Catholics, we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people, and ultimately, the Church. We cannot buy into the lie that the things we experienced during COVID were appropriate. Over the centuries, there have been great wars, great famines, and yes, even great diseases, all that came with a level of lethality and danger. But in each of those examples, Church leaders leaned into their vocations and ensured that their people received the sacraments.
15
Great saints like St. Damien of Molokai, who knew the dangers of his ministry, stayed for 11 years as a spiritual leader to the leper colonies of Hawaii. His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique, when ideally it should not be unique at all. For as a father loves his child, so a shepherd should love his spiritual children, too.
16
That goes even more so for our bishops, these men who are present-day apostles. Our bishops once had adoring crowds of people kissing their rings and taking in their every word, but now relegate themselves to a position of inconsequential existence. Now, when a bishop of a diocese or the bishop’s conference as a whole puts out an important document on this matter or that, nobody even takes a moment to read it, let alone follow it.
17
No. Today, our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the chancery than they are with saying the difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it’s time for the annual appeal, whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the Church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians but shepherds, so instead of fitting in the world by going along to get along, they too need to stay in their lane and lead.
18
I say all of this not from a place of anger, as we get the leaders we deserve. But this does make me reflect on staying in my lane and focusing on my own vocation and how I can be a better father and husband and live in the world but not be of it. Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the Church than me complaining about her leaders.
19
Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders, there needs to be concrete examples for people to look to in places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River, are showing the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success. You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus, where over the past 20 years, enrollment has doubled, construction and revitalization are a constant part of life, and people, the students, the faculty and staff, are thriving. This didn’t happen by chance. In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success — worldly and spiritual — will follow.
20
I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn’t be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride. Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him. Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring laypeople using their talents.
21
President Minnis, Dr. [Andrew] Swafford, and Dr. [Jared] Zimmerer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life.
22
It is essential that we focus on our own state in life, whether that be as a layperson, a priest, or religious. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God’s Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.
23
For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
24
[Applause lasting 18 seconds]I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
25
She is a primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.
26
I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, No.”
27
As a man who gets a lot of praise and has been given a platform to speak to audiences like this one today, I pray that I always use my voice for God and not for myself. Everything I am saying to you is not from a place of wisdom, but rather a place of experience. I am hopeful that these words will be seen as those from a man, not much older than you, who feels it is imperative that this class, this generation, and this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal.
28
Heterodox ideas abound even within Catholic circles. But let’s be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children — whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive. No matter how you spin it, there is nothing natural about Catholic birth control.
29
It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man.
30
To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates, as well.
31
Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don’t necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. I speak from experience as an introvert who now finds myself as an amateur public speaker and an entrepreneur, something I never thought I’d be when I received my industrial engineering degree.
32
The road ahead is bright. Things are changing. Society is shifting. And people, young and old, are embracing tradition. Not only has it been my vocation that has helped me and those closest to me, but not surprising to many of you, should be my outspoken embrace of the traditional Latin Mass. I’ve been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives. But what I think gets misunderstood is that people who attend the TLM do so out of pride or preference. I can speak to my own experience, but for most people I have come across within these communities this simply is not true. I do not attend the TLM because I think I am better than others, or for the smells and bells, or even for the love of Latin. I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order, and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past, when in my parish, things such as ember days, days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests, are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available.
33
A lot of people have complaints about the parish or the community, but we should not sacrifice the Mass for community. I prioritize the TLM even if the parish isn’t beautiful, the priest isn’t great, or the community isn’t amazing. I still go to the TLM because I believe the holy sacrifice of the Mass is more important than anything else. I say this knowing full well that when each of you rekindle your knowledge and adherence to many of the church’s greatest traditions, you will see how much more colorful and alive your life can and should be.
34
As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges. Sadly, I’m sure many of you know of the countless stories of good and active members of this community who, after graduation and moving away from the Benedictine bubble, have ended up moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage. Some even leave the Church and abandon God. It is always heartbreaking to hear these stories, and there is a desire to know what happened and what went wrong.
35
What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success, and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It’s a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better. If you are dating someone who doesn’t even share your faith, how do you expect that person to help you become a saint? If your friend group is filled with people who only think about what you’re doing next weekend and are not willing to have those difficult conversations, how can they help sharpen you?
36
As you prepare to enter into the workforce, it is extremely important that you actually think about the places you are moving to. Who is the bishop? What kind of parishes are there? Do they offer the TLM and have priests who embrace their priestly vocation? Cost of living must not be the only arbiter of your choices, for a life without God is not a life at all, and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.
37
I’m excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life.
38
Never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, for this is the Church that Jesus Christ established, through which we receive sanctifying grace.
39
I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is Heaven.
40
I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis, who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic college and a thriving football program. [Laughter and applause]
41
Make no mistake: You are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this. And with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.
42
Christ is King.
43
To the Heights.
Recent Posts
Related Posts
Walk With Me, Jesus
The Red Letter Jesus
Joy to the World
Not Long Enough