Providence Journal photo / Kris Craig
The Very Rev. Robert Barron, creator and host of the "Catholicism" documentary series and founder of a global media ministry, gives the commencement address Sunday at Providence College.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In a season when newly minted college graduates are frequently encouraged to "dream big" and to think of wealth, power and success, the graduation speaker at Providence College's commencement Sunday cautioned graduates not to believe that any of those things will make them happy.
Addressing the school's 1,088 graduates and others in the Dunkin' Donuts Center, the Very Rev. Robert Barron, who founded the "Word on Fire" global media ministry, said inside every individual there is a "holy longing" that can only be satisfied by being filled with God and giving one's life away for the sake of the other.
"So here is the formula," he told the graduates. "If you want to be happy, contrive to make your life a gift."