Dr. Michael J. Audain’s Honorary Doctorate Remarks to 2023 Graduates

The following speech was made by Honorary Doctorate recipient Dr. Michael J. Audain at the Corpus Christi and St. Mark’s College Convocation ceremony on May 13, 2023.

Good afternoon, Your Excellency Chancellor Miller, President Turcotte, Vice-Chair Chang, and Members of the Graduating Classes of St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi Colleges.

First let me tell you what an honour it is to receive this degree, especially when I learnt about all the really illustrious people you have honoured in the past and, importantly, I didn’t even have to write an examination. 

It is a great pleasure to offer my congratulations to members of the graduating class after all your hard work, and perhaps sacrifice, while attending St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi College. 

May you go forward from here to pursue various careers or higher degrees, bearing in mind that we all walk with Christ whether we have chosen to serve in the Church or laity. I also want to congratulate your parents and partners who supported your attendance at college. Today, they deserve to take great pride in your accomplishment. 

My path in life has at times been rocky, but in recent years I devoted myself to building homes for the people of Greater Vancouver. Nowadays, it seems to be a bit fashionable to look down upon us residential developers. After all, we disturb neighbourhoods and are frequently accused of making exorbitant profits.

But I don’t mind telling you that I am proud to have pursued this line of work, as I was confident in the knowledge that I was following in the steps of a certain carpenter—Jesus of Nazareth— whom we are told, before he was called upon to preach, worked together with his father Joseph and his brothers almost certainly as a homebuilder. Yes, that’s what carpenters mostly did in those days, they built homes! 

Besides homebuilding, my other great interest in life has been art. Last week I was trying to account for my lifelong attraction to art. Was I simply interested in having beautiful pictures to hang on the wall, was I interested in the respect that sometimes goes with exhibiting fine works of art in one’s home or office, or was I perhaps lured by the speculation that comes from hoping an object one owns will one day greatly appreciate in value? 

I don’t deny those influences, but after the privilege of living intimately with so many wonderful works of art, I have come to realize that it is the spiritual aspect of an association with art that has been the greatest attraction to me. 

Art has, of course, always been associated with the Church since early times. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the most important art museum in the world is the Vatican, and on the times that my wife, Yoshi, and I have joined the millions of pilgrims visiting that building, we have been deeply moved by not only the great works of, say, Michelangelo, but also by what many visitors might think are minor details. For example, I love studying the terrazzo floors that, although laid 600 years ago, to me are non-representational works of modern art. 

All the great religions of the world seem to endow their places of worship with art. The followers of Islam do it through the beautiful architecture of their mosques. The Buddhists I came to know in Asia do it through creating comforting art-clad temples for prayer meditation in the midst of bustling cities. And followers of the Jewish faith since ancient times have taken a special interest in the creation of beautiful ceremonial objects and manuscripts.

And, here on the Northwest Coast, the Indigenous people of this land have long been using art to help explain the eternal questions concerning from whence we came and to where are we destined.

The marvellous thing about Northwest Coast art is that it was, and continues today, to be used to demonstrate not only our respect for our fellow human beings, but also for our friends—the creatures of the land, sea, and sky: the eagle, the raven, the orca, the great bear, and so on. Art often serves to address questions that even experts in quantum physics do not seem to be able to satisfactorily answer.

Artists are, in a sense, blessed people, for through their creative ability, they can connect us with forces outside the material world. Such talent cannot be simply learned or bought; it can only be granted as a gift. 

I am often asked to define what I mean by art, but that’s something I can only do with the help of others. Today, I would like to use the words of Paul the Apostle, you know, that tax collector for the Romans who converted to Christianity after a rather startling experience on the road to Damascus. 

I have a special affection for Saint Paul because his life story exemplifies how a human being can radically change through the power of Divine Grace: in Paul’s case, from that of an official who persecuted early Christians, to undoubtedly the greatest evangelist of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In Saint Paul’s epistle to the Philippians nearly 2,000 years ago, he wrote a few words with which I would like to conclude. While I do so, please think about art.

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do and the peace of God shall be with you”. (Epistle to the Philippians 4, V. 8 and 9)