Holy Cross Winter Convocation 2003

Mary Cerasuolo, philosophy department

How did I come to be on this program? Simple. I answered an ad 21 years ago for a secretary for the religious studies department at Holy Cross. The phrase that most caught my eye was "academic year" - 45 weeks of work. Summers off! It sounded like the dream job. It was a teacher's schedule without the 10-year-olds. I'd take the job while our children were young, have summers free, and look for something else when they were older.

I was already familiar with the College having attended many athletic events, way back when the basketball team played at the Worcester Auditorium and the football team was still competing against Boston College. I quickly learned that Holy Cross is so much more than its athletic programs.

Initially, I was rather intimidated working with highly educated Ph.D.s teaching classes with such mysterious titles as Biblical Hermeneutics, Theravada Buddhism, and Hindu-Muslim Mystics and implied this one day to Fr. John Paris. He immediately got out his copy of Jesuit philosopher Teilhard's, Divine Milieu, instructing me to read and I quote "Our work appears to us, in the main, as a way of earning our daily bread. But its essential virtue is on a higher level: through it we complete in ourselves the subject of the divine union ...Right from the hands that knead the dough, to those that consecrate it, the great and universal Host should be prepared and handled in a spirit of adoration. Hence whatever our role may be, whether we are artist, worker or scholar, we can, if we are God's people, speed toward the object of our work as though towards an opening on the supreme fulfilment of our beings." End quote. For me, working here has not only been a way to earn my daily bread, it has also been an opportunity for personal growth spiritually and intellectually. I could have worked for a widget company but would have missed the chance to meet and work with a work force that sees itself as an integral part of educating the young men and women who spend four years with us on Mt. St. James.

Whether it's Shirley and Jean dispensing tea and sympathy to an overburdened student (or faculty member), Phil hanging a shelf; Kate in Dining Services insuring that the event we are holding is a success, Lois in Housekeeping creating a more welcoming environment, or George and his crew beautifying the grounds every spring, I believe all of us work together to make Holy Cross work and, in our own way, are finding that God is attainable in all of our tasks whether it be typing, mulching or lecturing on Kant.

Because of the entire community, I have been exposed to a wide range of thoughts and ideas that has, I hope, made me a more tolerant person and one more open to the differences among us. What better way to spend one's working hours than to be afforded the opportunity to attend beautiful liturgies with thoughtful homilies, see and hear first class artists perform, be exposed to every kind of political idea, all the while surrounded by the energy, intelligence and enthusiasm of a great student body.

In the course of my time here, I have had many work-study students in the office as "assistants". Among these I can count a partner at Ropes and Gray, a physician, participants in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, a congressional aide in D.C., teachers, committed parents, social workers, all contributing members of society. I believe that these students are representative of our Holy Cross graduates, and it has been a joy to be associated with them.

On a personal note, let me thank the organizers of today's Convocation for inviting me to represent the Holy Cross staff. It is a great honor to be here in that capacity since my co-workers are a fine, hard-working group of people whom I have called friends for many years. That fact was brought home to me a few years ago when I experienced an illness and was not able to work for a number of months. During that time I was literally inundated with prayers and good wishes from every segment at Holy Cross. At one point my husband remarked, on his return from the mail box, that I must be getting better because the daily stream of cards and notes from "the Cross" had begun to wane. I have seen this same care and concern extended to so many staff members over the years - giving vacation days to a co-worker, donating blood platelets to a spouse undergoing chemotherapy, organizing a clothing drive for the homeless. The examples are many. Where does this generosity of spirit come from? I believe that the atmosphere which permeates Holy Cross comes from both the Jesuit tradition of the College and the character of the people who are attracted to work, study and teach here.

Do staff members ever grouse about their jobs? That's a definite yes. Is Holy Cross perfect? Of course not. However, I can't think of any secretarial position I could have had that would have been more gratifying and often just plain fun than working at this College on the Hill.

What began as a short-term job has given me a lifetime of good memories, wonderful friends, with a special nod to my luncheon partners and the members of the philosophy department, and the certainty that all of us on staff are contributing to the education of young men and women who, each in his or her own way, will surely make this world a better place, and that is much more satisfying than turning out the perfect widget.