On the eve of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Bishop of Bacolod celebrated Mass with the graduating class of La Consolacion College Bacolod, urging them to carry the charism of their Augustinian alma mater into a fractured world.
The Cathedral-Parish of San Sebastian in Bacolod City became a place of both celebration and solemn commissioning on Friday, 29 May 2026, as Most Rev. Patricio Buzon, S.D.B., Bishop of Bacolod, presided at the Baccalaureate Mass for the graduating students of La Consolacion College Bacolod. In his homily, the bishop wove together Scripture, Augustinian spirituality, and the Churchโs most recent magisterial teaching into a message of hope, responsibility, and moral courage for the new graduates.
๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ก๐
Bishop Buzon opened his homily by reflecting on the providential aptness of the dayโs Scripture readings for such a momentous occasion. โGraduation,โ he said, โis not merely an academic achievement โ it is Godโs grace.โ He reminded the graduates that everything they have received โ their gifts, their formation, their very capacity to learn โ flows from the generosity of a God who is love itself.
With the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity falling the very next day, the bishop invited the graduates to contemplate the God they serve. โThis is our God,โ he said, โthe God who gave up His life for us. God is love.โ He called the graduates to love intensely, as members of the Body of Christ, each one unique, each one irreplaceable in the life of the Church.
๐ฟ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ง: ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐
Drawing from the first reading, Bishop Buzon acknowledged that the path beyond graduation will not be without trial. Yet he urged the graduates to banish fear. โChrist is with you,โ he assured them. โYou will face difficulties, but do not be afraid.โ He turned to the image of the fig tree as a symbol of fruitfulness, reminding the graduates that God has endowed each of them with gifts and talents not to be buried, but to flourish for the good of others. The parable of the stewards, he added, speaks directly to every graduate: with the formation you have received comes serious responsibility.
โTriumphs await you,โ the bishop declared. โGo forward with confidence.โ
๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ช๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐๐: ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ, ๐พ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ฎ, ๐๐ง๐ช๐ฉ๐
At the heart of his homily, Bishop Buzon invoked the patron saint of La Consolacion College Bacolod, Saint Augustine of Hippo, and the three pillars of his legacy: Unity, Charity, and Truth.
On Unity, he was direct and urgent. โThe primordial unity you are called to is unity with love โ unity with Christ,โ he said. โWe are Christians because Jesus has invited us to share in his very life.โ He then cast a sober gaze at the present state of society. โLook at our politics. It is chaotic, tribal, divided,โ he observed. In such a climate, the graduateโs mission is clear: to be witnesses of a deeper unity, proclaiming God not through words alone but through the concrete witnessing of love.
On Charity, Bishop Buzon spoke of the Churchโs social responsibility, connecting the Augustinian vision of love to the burning questions of the age. He drew the congregationโs attention to the encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, released on 25 May, which addresses safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. The bishop described it as a monumental document, noting that it develops the Churchโs social teaching in the tradition running from Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII through to the present day.
โTechnology is made for man โ not man for technology,โ the bishop said, echoing the Holy Fatherโs teaching. He pointed to the growing toll of depression and mental health crises linked to technology use, and to the way political discourse has been poisoned by disinformation and fake news. The encyclical addresses how society must collectively preserve human virtues in a time of rapid technological advancement, covering human dignity, technological responsibility, the culture of power, and the building of civilization through love. โArtificial intelligence,โ Bishop Buzon concluded, โmust serve humanity โ never the other way around.โ
On Truth, the bishop was equally forceful. โWalk in the path of truth and you will never be lost,โ he told the graduates. โRefuse to be manipulated by lies, by disinformation, by the fanaticism and populism that distort reality.โ He reminded them that all falsehood has its root in darkness, and that in an era when truth itself is weaponized for political ends, graduates of a Catholic institution bear a special obligation to integrity. โChrist is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,โ he said. โThat is your compass.โ
๐ผ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐
Closing his homily, Bishop Buzon addressed the graduates with pastoral warmth. Their lives after graduation will take many different paths, he acknowledged, but the values their alma mater has given them โ unity, charity, truth โ are not merely institutional slogans. They are a vocation.
โDear LCC graduates,โ he said, โlive by the values your alma mater taught you. Work for unity. Love intensely. And be guided always by the truth.โ
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La Consolacion College Bacolod is operated by the Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation and has served the educational mission of the Church in Negros Occidental for over a century.