‘You never have anything until you give it away’

As I prepared for first-year student orientation at Boston College (BC) in the summer of 2019, I perused BC’s YouTube channel to find a tour or other video that could acquaint me with the campus I would soon call home. Instead, however, I found a lecture by a BC professor entitled “The Last Lecture with Father Michael Himes.”

Though his many published books and other addresses are replete with wisdom, what has frequently brought me back to Father Himes’s Last Lecture in particular is a phrase – seemingly contradictory at first glance – that he so often repeated in it: “You never have anything until you give it away.”

I did not decide to enroll at BC because it was Catholic, but listening to Father Himes before I embarked on my BC journey reminded me, as it still does today, of my time at St. Matthias School in Somerset, where I was a student from kindergarten through eighth grade. One of the principal lessons from my time at St. Matthias was embroidered on a t-shirt that every student preparing for Confirmation was given: “Faith without works is dead.”

To my mind, Father Himes’s notion that “you never have anything until you give it away” is but a more recent expression of the lesson that my teachers at St. Matthias first tried to inculcate within me so many years ago: the Christian faith is a giving faith. Indeed, the entire narrative of Christianity is of giving oneself away. From Christ’s giving Himself away on the cross to, in more recent times, Mother Teresa’s giving herself away in service to the poor, for example, Father Himes’s adage lies at the heart of the Christian faith itself.

Though the thought of having something by giving it away may seem contradictory, personal experience offers confirmation. Is not the act of loving someone the act of giving oneself away to another person?

My Catholic education has provided me with countless opportunities to learn from teachers, participate in programs, and enroll in classes that have profoundly shaped who I am today. While Catholic and non-Catholic schools alike can empower students to succeed academically and professionally, Catholic schools – in my view – are uniquely poised to form students’ minds and hearts.

The formative education on which Catholic colleges and universities rightly pride themselves offers students not only academic and professional credentials, but also dispositions of heart that enable graduates to give away that which they have learned. As Father Himes’s adage suggests, giving away the fruits of this education ultimately allows students to be transformed themselves by these same fruits.

During this time of year, many high school seniors are beginning the long (and challenging) process of applying to college. I too was once in these shoes, but as I reflect on my application process, I now realize that there was one important factor that I neglected to appreciate: the religious identities of the colleges and universities in which I was interested.

I am lucky that I found my way to BC for reasons other than its religious identity. Nevertheless, if I had one piece of advice for soon-to-be applicants, it would be to not overlook how much a Catholic institution can offer you over and above its non-Catholic peers.

From the humble mentorship of priests and women religious to spiritual retreat opportunities and innovative courses that demonstrate the complementary relationship between religion and science, Catholic colleges and universities are, as BC’s president has remarked, places that “endeavor to educate a new generation of leaders – men and women who will be capable of shaping the future with vision, justice, and charity – with a sense of calling, with concern for all of the human family.”

This is not just advice I would give to prospective college applicants; it is also advice I have taken to heart myself. Next year, I will begin a J.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Notre Dame. As I went through my most recent application processes, the religious identities of the institutions to which I applied was among the most important factors I considered.

When it came time to ultimately make an enrollment decision, I knew that the academic and professional opportunities I would receive at Notre Dame would be analogous to those at other institutions to which I was admitted – including schools in the Ivy League and those more highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report. What I also knew, however, was that my time at Notre Dame would expose me to students, faculty, and programs that would contribute to my formation of mind and heart, thereby enabling me to continue to give away the fruits of my education and ultimately be transformed myself by these same fruits.

Dennis Wieboldt holds a B.A. and M.A. from Boston College and will begin a J.D./Ph.D. program in history at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2023. He can be reached at [email protected].