Due to the continued need for social distancing, the graduation ceremony was recorded for YouTube. The video was made public at 2 p.m.

The opening of the ceremony featured a montage of the 28 graduates marching separately in full cap and gown to “Pomp and Circumstance.”

The ceremony had multiple montages of the students inter-cut with videos of the speakers. Bishop John M. LeVoir congratulated the graduates. He said it was a difficult time, but it was graduation they would never forget.

LeVoir spoke from the book of Acts. He compared the graduation with Jesus sending the Apostles out into the world to spread the Word. The Apostle had spent three years learning from Jesus.

CHS Class of 2020 Lumen Christi recipient Isaac Roufs walks during the graduation montage.

LeVoir said Jesus did not leave the Apostles without help but sent them the Holy Spirit. The same was true for this year’s graduates. He warned that the environment outside of a Catholic school would be different and encouraged them to find others who share the faith.

CHS teacher Ann Moeller spoke on the importance of asking questions. She began by quoting Dr. Seuss, “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

She said this was proven by the Class of 2020 who were able to solve a complicated problem in the last month.

Moeller quoted Anne Frank who wrote in her diary: “‘Why’ not only taught me to ask, but also to think. And thinking has never hurt anyone.”

Moeller said the graduates understand knowing the answer represents knowledge, but learning happens when you don’t know the answers and seek the truth.

Moeller reminded the graduates that Jesus asked over 300 questions in the Bible, but rarely answered questions.

Moeller could not say where the students were going but she encouraged them to live a life of service.

Class valedictorian Kendra Lyimo gave the student speech. She quoted Ralph Abernathy who said, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

Lyimo said the future is uncertain, and the Class of 2020 knew that better others.

“The future is a bunch of question marks,” Lyimo said. She did not know the answers, but she could direct her classmates to the one who did.

The Class of 2020 was hit by a pandemic that altered their senior year, but Lyimo called on her class to be the ones to make sure this did not happen to others.

“Let us take the pain we are experiencing now and let it become the change we want for this world,” she said. She called on her class to be the ones who put more value on healthcare workers, teachers and other essential workers who do not get noticed. She asked for her class to be the one to bring the world together because we are not that different from everyone else.

The graduation ceremony ended with another montage of the CHS Class of 2020 tossing their caps in the air.