We Choose to go the Moon...

The following is a written version of a “Last Lecture” speech delivered to high school seniors in preparation for graduation in 2026. It was intended as both a reflection on the world they are inheriting and a challenge to face the future with courage, faith, confidence, and hope.

Thank you. I really am honored to give your final lecture.

When I started preparing for this, I thought a lot about what seniors might actually want to hear at graduation time. But I also realized there are probably a few things you need to hear too.

So today, I wanted to do a little bit of both by telling you a story — a story about the past, the present, and the future… your future.

Before we go back in time, we have to talk about the present. For those of you who have had me in class, you know I try to talk about current events almost every day. The reason I do that in a history class is simple:

If we can understand the past and recognize where we came from, we are better able to interpret the present and where we stand today.

And if we can do both honestly, we gain a clearer sense of where we are headed, who we may become, and can face the future with confidence and hope.

That’s really what I want you to leave here with: confidence and hope.

Now, I’ll be honest — most days my attempts to talk about the news were met with complete indifference. Most of you couldn’t have cared less. And honestly, that’s normal. When I was your age, I didn’t spend much time worrying about the state of the world either. But every once in a while, a story would break through. Something that almost all of you had seen, heard about, cared about — a story that moved you.

Most recently, I noticed that it was the Artemis II mission to the Moon.

And, as many of you know, the astronauts on Artemis didn’t actually land on the Moon. Because of that, a lot of people asked the same question:

“What was the point?”

I’m sure NASA could give a very technical answer involving scientific data, preparation for future missions, and technological advancement. But those answers, while important and necessary, don’t really get to the heart of why missions like that matter. They inform — but they do not inspire. They do not move us.

However, the Artemis mission wasn’t the first time Americans questioned the purpose of going to the Moon and demanded an answer as to why.

Back in the early 1960s, the United States was losing the Space Race to the Soviet Union.

The Soviets were the:

• First to launch a satellite into space

• First to send a living creature into orbit — a stray dog found wandering the streets of Moscow

• First to send a human being into outer space

America was behind. And many people began asking:

“What is the point?”

What is the point of spending so much money, time, and energy on a space program that could largely be considered a failure?

Then, on September 12th, 1962, at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy stood before a crowd of students and academics, much like the one assembled here today, and offered his response to the question of why.

“But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw

Kennedy understood something important.

Human beings desire daunting challenges. We crave mountains too tall to climb.

When people asked him why he would publicly commit the country to such a seemingly impossible task — risking failure, embarrassment, and potentially far worse on the world stage — he would often reply:

“We have thrown our hat over the wall… and we have no choice but to go over and get it.”

And by now, I hope you realize this story isn’t really about missions to the Moon.

It’s about you.

In a few weeks, after the ceremonies and parties are over, after you have spent time that was hard earned and well deserved celebrating everything you’ve accomplished, I encourage you to pause and ask yourselves some simple but important questions:

• What walls am I willing to scale?

• What mountains are worth climbing?

• Which goals would I continue to pursue even when they are difficult, uncertain, or frightening?

And as you choose the height, difficulty, and danger of the next wall in your life — or if one is placed in front of you without your permission, as life will most certainly do — remember this:

You were created to do hard things.

Things that scare you. Things that seem impossible. Things that remain impossible until one day, through courage, perseverance, and faith, they are finally overcome.

But also know this: the world you were born into will constantly encourage the exact opposite.

Your generation, through no fault of your own, has grown up with comfort at your fingertips. Nearly everything — entertainment, distraction, approval, information — is available instantly with the click of a button.

And because of that, your generation more than any other in the history of our world must intentionally choose difficulty, while also resisting the temptation to settle for a life of comfort, convenience, and complacency.

Pope Benedict XVI described this tension between our world and your call best:

“The world offers you comfort… but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

Now, I won’t lie to you: greatness is uncomfortable.

At times it will hurt. At times it will exhaust you. At times you will fail.

But if your “why” is large enough — if the thing you are pursuing truly matters, if it actually moves you — it will be worth it.

And if the voice of doubt has crept into your head during this talk — the one that lies and tells you that greatness is reserved for others, but most certainly not for someone like you — STOP... and look where you sit today.

Clearly, you are capable of it — and more.

Now, when I was your age, if I heard a message like this, I would have asked one question:

“How?”

How do I actually become that kind of person? How do I climb walls I don’t feel like climbing? How do I face challenges that feel bigger than I am?

And the honest answer is: I don’t know.

That is the terrifying and exciting part of life.

It is up to you.

But just because it is up to you doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. In fact, the exact opposite is true.

Turn toward your faith. Lean on your family. Surround yourself with people who love you.

Because eventually you will realize two things:

First, you cannot do great things alone.

And second, the journey toward greatness never ends.

Every adult you know is already walking the same path that you begin today. We are just farther down the road and a little wiser, having learned from the mistakes we’ve made along the way.

Now, I hope I already succeeded in giving you hope for your future.

But I also promised an attempt to send you forward with confidence. And for me, confidence often comes from a sense of knowing what to actually do in the world.

So I’ll give you my best attempt at real advice — and like all advice, you can take it or leave it.

I’ll share something with you that my dad told me many times throughout my life. He learned it from a nun who taught his catechism class when he was a little boy.

So, in the 1960s, around the same time the world was racing toward the Moon, as millions looked to the stars and questioned our place in the universe, a humble nun whose feet remained firmly planted here on earth recognized her own call to greatness.

Because greatness can be found in historic achievements, surely — but also in the small, ordinary moments with the people placed right in front of us.

She told my dad, who told me, and now I am offering it to you:

• If you know what to do — do it. Don’t wait. Don’t care what people think. Don’t count the cost. Do it.

• If you know what not to do — don’t do it. If you are already doing it, stop. If you can’t stop, get help. But best of all, just don’t do it.

To these instructions, my dad replied:

“Well, Sister… what if I’m not sure?”

And she answered: "If you have to ask, you probably already know the answer.”

“But,” she would add, “if you truly are not sure what to do…”

Wait.

And while you wait — pray.

To the Class of 2026, congratulations. I wish you nothing but the best.

May the road rise up to meet you, the wind be always at your back, the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Thank you.