The following is adapted from the commencement address delivered by Mr. Thomas Cole, M.A., M.T.S., at Holy Spirit Preparatory School in Atlanta, Ga, on May 24th, 2019. Mr. Cole is the chairman of the theology department at Holy Spirit and was chosen to be the commencement speaker by the graduating class.
Be a Teacher
I am immediately struck by the responsibility and unique honor it is to deliver an address of this sort. Typically, from what I have observed, the speaker so honored is famous, and famous beyond the confines of their own community. A big name seems to impress and add to the solemnity of the occasion.
In my case, however, I am immediately reminded of a conversation in Robert Bolt’s brilliant play about St. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons. Those familiar with the work may recall the conversation between Thomas More, then Chancellor of England. and the man who would ultimately betray him and commit perjury to secure his execution: Richard Rich. It begins with the saint urging the young man to a career in education:
“Why not be a teacher?” St. Thomas More asks, “You’d be a fine teacher. Perhaps even a great one.”
“And if I was, who would know it?”
“You, your pupils, your friends, God. Not a bad public that…” [1]
Not a bad public, this. So much for my fame.
On the Shoulders of Giants
If I don’t have fame to add luster to this occasion, hopefully I have at least some wisdom to share to benefit the graduating class, at whose request I stand before you…
John of Salisbury, 12th-century Bishop of Chartres in France, in his medieval work, the Metalogican, recalls that, “Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. He pointed out that we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature”[2] Hence, if I have any real wisdom here, it is that I am like that dwarf on the shoulders of giants.
What is my advice, then, to this graduating class?
Seek the truth, do the good, love the beautiful. In all things, love. “Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”[3]
Truth
Let us begin with truth. “Quid est veritas?”[4] In his interrogation of Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate asks this question. “What is truth?” Many struggle to answer this fundamental question of reality.
Our Holy Spirit graduates are not so lost as to how to respond. If I might take the liberty of putting them on the spot: graduates, what is truth?
St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae, says the, “truth is defined by the conformity of intellect and thing.”[5]
This is absolutely essential to our understanding of the intellectual life and our meaning as human persons. If we think about it, truth is conformity to the “thing,” that is, with the reality external to us. Truth is not about bending reality to conform to our perspective, preferences, or priorities – it is about us having the humility to realize that to possess the truth is to come to understand and orient ourselves to the real world; to existence itself.
Our world tells us that we can be whatever we want; I fear that is the lie of the Garden of Eden, “you yourselves will be like gods.”[6] I hate to be a downer on your graduation day, but the reality is that you can’t be whatever you want. You can certainly choose your occupation – but you can’t choose who and what you are by nature.
In the end, you can either be what you are made to be – a creature conforming to the order of reality – or you can make of yourself a god, and set out in defiance of reality to be whatever suits your fancy.
The truth, which we know through both faith and reason, is that we are made to know and love God – in order to be saint. Knowledge of the truth of Him who is “the Way, Truth, and Life”[7] makes it possible for us to achieve our purpose and ultimate happiness.
Class of 2019, seek the truth.
Goodness
Now for goodness. “It belongs to every virtue to do good and avoid evil,”[8] St. Thomas Aquinas informs us with his customary clarity. Virtue! A word we mention here at Holy Spirit – indeed, we speak of our core virtues of Faith, Prudence, and Magnanimity. Faith, a theological virtue whereby we believe in God and what He has revealed; Prudence, the cardinal virtue whereby we know what ought to be done, and do it; and Magnanimity, that part of the cardinal virtue of fortitude whereby we have the courage to strive after moral greatness.
As wise men back to Aristotle note, virtue is a habit of right moral action. The Catechism calls it, “an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.”[9]
As an aside, I rather object to imprecision like we find on the bumper sticker that reads, “practice random acts of kindness.” Random acts of kindness? Who wants to be randomly kind? If it is worth being kind, we need to be consistently and habitually kind.
Do remember that even little things add up – consider the $4 of a cup of coffee. That cup 300 days of the year – taking off two months – costs $1,200. Repetition does make a difference. And repetitive goodness makes a difference.
The goodness I want in you, class of 2019, is that habitual goodness; goodness that is second nature. It is only with such goodness that you will have the character to become that saint that, in truth, you know you are meant be. As St. Robert Bellarmine notes, “a good death depends upon a good life.”[10]
Let me tell you a story about goodness: back in Northern Virginia, where I finished my education and taught for ten years, I knew a devoutly Catholic family, the Vander Woudes. The father of that family, Thomas Vander Woude, was a good man. Good in that rich sense of which I have spoken.
Let me read the opening of a Washington Post article about him:
If you ever ran into Nokesville dad Thomas S. Vander Woude, chances are you would also see his son Joseph. Whether Vander Woude was volunteering at church, coaching basketball or working on his farm, Joseph was often right there with him, pitching in with a smile….[11]
I remember seeing them around, myself. Joseph, or Josie, is the most cheerful fellow you will ever meet; Josie has Downs Syndrome. He was about 20 years old in 2008 when this article was written. It continues,
Vander Woude, 66, had gone to Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville on Monday, just as he did every day, and then worked in the yard with Joseph, the youngest of his seven sons, affectionately known as Josie. Joseph … fell through a piece of metal that covered a 2-by-2-foot opening in the septic tank.…
At some point, Vander Woude jumped in the tank, submerging himself in sewage so he could push his son up from below and keep his head above the muck, while Joseph’s mom and the workman pulled from above.
When rescue workers arrived, they pulled the two out, police said. Vander Woude, who had been in the tank for 15 to 20 minutes, was unconscious. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
… For those who knew him, Vander Woude’s sacrifice was in keeping with a lifetime of giving.[12]
I remember the multitudes that passed by during the viewing of Mr. Vander Woude at Holy Trinity parish to pay respects to this hero. I know, because I was among them. This was a good man. A virtuous man.
What gave him the strength to jump into such filth? When faced with the moment of crisis, he was able to draw on what was already a habit – a virtue – of self-sacrifice, of goodness. This was no random act!
Class of 2019, do the good.
Beauty
Why do I bring up such a sad story on such a joyous occasion? Quite simply, because – to the Christian – it is a beautiful story. With the eyes of Faith, we see the sorrows and sufferings of this world in their larger context. Why is Good Friday so good? Easter. Have you ever wondered why we typically celebrate the feasts of saints on the day that they died? Actually, come to think of it, did you know that we typically celebrate the feasts of saints on the day that they died? The Roman Martyrology refers to that day as their “birthday.” Why?
It is on that day that they were born into the glory of the Beatific Vision – ultimate happiness and the very purpose of our lives! A beautiful is the soul born to eternal life. We are able to echo St. Paul, “Where then, death, is thy victory; where, death, is thy sting?”[13] For only sin gives death its power, as St. Paul reminds us; only our free will choice to reject God in sin do we find in death nothing more than punishment and despair.
Our world is intoxicated with pleasure and self-gratification; enslaved to the false promises of sin. You can see it too often in our arts; when reduced to nothing more than self-expression or as monuments to our own pride, they become ugly and signs of despair. When we look to ourselves for the meaning of reality, we fall back into the error of Eden. There is nothing beautiful about narcissism, and too much of modern art proves that point so eloquently. Our world is awash in ugliness.
On the other hand, where you find truth and goodness together, where you find them in a way that is whole and proportional, you find something that is striking and pleasing: you find real beauty, even in the midst of suffering or hardship.
Beauty, especially the beauty of truth and goodness, but also, in a particular way, beautiful art – like what we saw in abundance in Rome — beautiful music, or beautiful literature conveys something true about our world in a manner that compels; it teaches us goodness in a way that inspires. Our world is starved for beauty! In the end, “our hearts are restless until they rest” in God, to paraphrase St. Augustine of Hippo.[14]
Class of 2019, love the beautiful.
Love
In the end, truth, goodness and beauty find their fulfillment in love. Our Divine Lord instructs us: “This is my commandment, that you should love one another, as I have loved you. This is the greatest love a man can shew, that he should lay down his life for his friends; and you, if you do all that I command you, are my friends.”[15]
We are called to love. This is not the love of sappy sentimentality, the pop song, or the selfie. This is the self-sacrificial love of keeping the commandments in a life of virtue; the love of a parent that tends to a sick child in the middle of the night, a friend who cancels his social plans to visit a buddy in the hospital, a missionary who leaves home and family to preach the gospel to strangers, a martyr who offers up his life for the faith. A Thomas Vander Woude, who dies to save his son.
If your love is authentic, it will be true, good, and surely beautiful.
Class of 2019, love!
Models and Humor
I leave you with two final practical points in living this out:
First, find heroes, find role models, and spend time with those that will build you up, not break you down. The great biographer of the saints, Fr. Alban Butler, rightly notes that:
The method of forming men to virtue by example is, of all others, the shortest, the most easy way, and the best adapted to all circumstances and dispositions…[i]n the lives of the saints we see the most perfect maxims of the gospel reduced to practice, and the most heroic virtue make the object of our sense, clothed as it were with a body, and exhibited to view in its most attractive dress. [16]
Finally, never forget to have a sense of humor; a humble and joyful sense of humor – not a sneeringly cynical one! St. Teresa of Avila, the Spanish Carmelite and Doctor of the Church is said to have prayed, “From silly devotions and sour faced saints, deliver us, O Lord.”
Conclusion
I will close by quoting Bishop Robert Barron, auxiliary of Los Angeles, who gave a commencement address earlier this month focused on the virtue of magnanimity:
You are meant to go forth, carrying what you have received and cultivated here, in order to sanctify our suffering world. Is this an arduous task? Yes! But magnanimous people like arduous tasks, for they are ordered to the moral work that will give the highest honor. [17]
Holy Spirit class of 2019, go, take the light of what you have learned and begun here at Holy Spirit Prep into our increasingly dark world. Our world needs those that in living sacrificial love, manifest the true, good, and beautiful. Those who seek to serve and not be served. I mean it most sincerely when I say: I know that you are up to this sublime challenge!
Come Holy Spirit and congratulations to the class of 2019!
[1] Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons, Act One, pg. 8.
[2] John of Salisbury, Metalogicon, Bk III, (translated by Daniel McGarry, UC Press, 1955), 167.
[3] Line from the motion picture, The Princess Bride.
[4] John 18:38.
[5] St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 16, a. 2.
[6] Genesis, 3:5.
[7] John 14:6.
[8] Aquinas, STh, II-II, q. 79, a. 1.
[9] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1803.
[10] St. Robert Bellarmine, The Art of Dying Well (Sophia Institute edition), 5.
[11] Jonathan Mummolo, “Father Who Died Saving Son Known for Sacrifice,” Washington Post, 10 Sept 2008.
[12] Ibid.
[13] 1 Corinthians 15:55.
[14] St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk I.
[15] John 15:12-14.
[16] Alban Butler, Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Introduction, (Notre Dame, IN: Christian Classics, 1956), xiii-xiv.
[17] Bishop Barron, Commencement Address at Thomas Aquinas College (CA), 11 May 2019. https://thomasaquinas.edu/news/bishop-barron-commencement-address-2019
Who Will Defend Catholic Education?
/in Blog Commentary, Hiring for Mission Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyRecent lawsuits by teachers fired from Catholic schools are part of a growing threat to Catholic education. Our schools and colleges increasingly face harmful lawsuits, legislation, the loss of accreditation, and social rejection if they do not fall in line with ideologies that deny the nature of marriage, sexuality, even human life itself.
Catholic education is the Church’s most important means of evangelization. Is every Catholic educator and bishop prepared to defend it?
America once had arguably the world’s strongest network of Catholic education, but enrollment and Catholic identity suffered greatly in recent decades. Many Catholic schools today are easy prey for those who would hollow out Catholic education altogether. In many cases, the danger comes from within the Church.
It was four years ago, when a firestorm erupted in San Francisco, California, as Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone insisted that Catholic school teachers in the Archdiocese publicly uphold the faith, inside and outside of the classroom. He updated teacher contracts and faculty handbooks and created a new Office of Catholic Identity Assessment. Morality language in teacher contracts came as a shock and disappointment to some teachers, but it was applauded by Catholics who value the unique mission of Catholic education.
Now more dioceses are coming under fire from their own school leaders and teachers. A teacher fired from Bishop England High School in Charleston, South Carolina, for publicly defending abortion is suing the school, which is recognized by The Cardinal Newman Society for faithful Catholic education. The leaders of Brebeuf Jesuit College Preparatory School have filed a canon law complaint against Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson, appealing his declaration that the school cannot call itself Catholic. Brebeuf refused to dismiss a teacher in a same-sex marriage; but nearby Cathedral High School, which properly removed a teacher for the same scandal, is now being sued by the teacher.
The Lyceum, a faithful Catholic school also recognized by the Newman Society, successfully fought back a local government threat that could have severely compromised its Catholic identity, based on false claims that Catholic teaching discriminates against people who claim same-sex attraction.
Even the federal Education Department and accrediting agencies pose dangers to Catholic colleges — especially those that are committed to orthodoxy — because of poorly devised diversity and nondiscrimination requirements.
In faithful Catholic education, there can be no compromise on the role of Catholic teachers as witnesses to the faith and the key elements that are expected in Catholic schools. Catholic schools are about the integral formation of students, and teachers play a key role in witnessing and providing a faithful example. Catholic teachers are called to prepare students for sainthood.
According to the bishops’ National Directory for Catechesis (pp. 231, 233), Catholic schools are required to “recruit teachers who are practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals.”
If the role of the Catholic teacher is so essential, then it must be protected — not only by fighting lawsuits and legislation, but by doing everything possible internally to ensure that a school or college always acts consistent with Catholic values, which is essential to asserting protection for religious freedom under the First Amendment and various federal and state laws.
A good starting place is for Catholic school leaders to review model language for “morality clauses” in teacher contracts. The Newman Society compiled examples after reviewing the policies of more than 125 dioceses.
Much can be done by lay Catholics also, to help defend and renew faithful Catholic education. When Archbishop Cordileone made strong efforts to change the direction of the schools in his diocese, he faced significant backlash but also had strong and valuable support. When a secular San Francisco newspaper put up an online poll asking if Archbishop Cordileone should be removed from his position — no doubt expecting the majority of respondents to display outrage toward the Archbishop — Catholics turned the poll overwhelmingly in favor of his efforts.
The road ahead for Catholic educators will not be easy, but Catholics everywhere should rally behind and pray for these faithful school leaders. Pray that our bishops and Catholic educators will have the fortitude to insist upon faithful Catholic education, which, when done well, is a great blessing for young people and for our Church.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.
College Years ‘Uniquely Formative,’ Says Dominican Sister
/in Blog Newman Guide Articles, Profiles in FCE/by Kelly SalomonEditor’s Note: Over the next several weeks, the Newman Society will be featuring profiles of graduates of faithful Catholic schools and Newman Guide colleges who are leading the renewal of the Church. The Newman Society is grateful to Sister Albert Marie and the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, for allowing us to share this story.
Sister Albert Marie of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, attended Ave Maria University in Michigan before it moved to its permanent location in Ave Maria, Fla. She believes that she would have kept her faith at a secular college, but she wanted more out of her college experience.
“I wanted a place where I could study Catholic theology and philosophy. I wanted to be in a place where I could be deepening my understanding of God’s role in reality, rather than merely defendingmy high school-level understanding,” she said.
“One of the huge advantages of a Catholic university is the chance to mature your intellectual understanding of God at the same time that you are maturing other parts of your mind,” Sr. Albert Marie explained. “At Ave Maria, I came to see that reality itself was Catholic. I might not know all the answers, but I knew that I did not need to be afraid to ask any question. God is the source of all reality.”
During college, Sr. Albert Marie built strong friendships and made time for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She credits her studies at Ave Maria with drawing her toward the Dominican order and has since taught at two Newman Guide colleges: Ave Maria and the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Tex.
The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is a vibrant, growing order in Michigan that recently opened its second convent in Texas. The community has more than 140 sisters with an average age of 32, and their next discernment retreat for young women is being held this November. They are devoted to Eucharistic adoration and Marian devotion, and they wear long white habits. The community, whose apostolate is Catholic education, even started its own publishing company to teach the Truth.
Sr. Albert Marie offers advice for students on how to choose a college, whether or not they are discerning a religious vocation:
“Definitely choose a school which offers the professional formation that you need, but also consider choosing one that will offer you deeper spiritual and intellectual formation. You are more than a future employee,” she says. “Choose a school that will also help you become a better human, a better spouse, more able to appreciate of art and literature, more able to contemplate the face of God. Expanding your heart and mind in this way expands your capacity for joy and for friendship with others and with God.”
Sister echoes what many graduates of Newman Guide colleges have said: “The years in university are a uniquely formative moment in life.”
Educators Need More than ‘Male and Female He Created Them’
/in Blog, Student Formation Commentary, Sexuality and Gender Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyThe Vatican has reasserted one of the most basic facts of Christian anthropology: “Male and Female He created them,” which is good as far as it goes. The question for Catholic educators is, ”Now what?” They are being challenged by the relentless march of “gender theory” or “gender ideology”—a deception that claims that sexual orientation and gender are fluid and self-determined—and they desperately need a path forward.
Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, has described Male and Female He Created Them as a “practical” document, in contrast to the deeper theological reflection expected soon from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. But the education document does not give practical guidance to educators on the thorny particulars of admissions, personnel and student policies.
And educators urgently need such guidance, because every week brings another activist, lawmaker or attorney accusing Catholic educators of discrimination for refusing to comply with the dictates of the new gender ideology and a parade of related causes that are wholly contrary to the traditional Catholic understanding of human nature. This is a grave threat to faithful Catholic education.
Consider cases similar to the one in Kansas City, where the Archdiocese turned away a kindergarten student because of same-sex parents. What are the principles that guide Catholic school and college admissions policies? Can Catholic educators and administrators articulate them? Is a student always admitted out of concern for the child, regardless of the parents’ actions and ideology, or should educators consider the influence that adults can have on other children and protect against scandal? Does a school or college accept a child struggling with gender confusion? If so, what message does this send to other students and what pronouns are used, and when? Answer these questions the wrong way, and a school could compromise its Catholic mission or be the target of a lawsuit.
With regard to personnel policies, how does a Catholic school or college respond when a teacher or professor announces a same-sex marriage, declares a new gender identity, or simply insists on embracing aspects of gender ideology? At the Cardinal Newman Society, we have heard from well-intentioned academic leaders who refuse to spell out their policies, instead leaving each situation to their own discretion. That is a recipe for disaster.
In all of these examples, clear standards consistent with traditional Catholic moral and theological norms are key and will help ensure fidelity, compassion and justice.
But there’s another sense in which the truths taught in Male and Female He Made Them need to be developed further to address the practical needs of educators. As noted above, the document’s teaching addresses one of the most basic aspects of human anthropology, the fact that we are created male and female.
Following from that truth and over the centuries, Catholics had developed tried-and-true lessons and habits that helped young people preserve chastity, respect marriage and celebrate children. But in many ways, our culture has forced us to start again from scratch, re-learning simple habits and patterns of male-female relationships.
That means that Catholic educators need to recover and teach to young people these habits and patterns.
For example, not a single faithful Catholic from any generation prior to the 1960s would have doubted that coed dormitories and closed-door visits by the opposite sex in student bedrooms would result in premarital sex, mortal sin, STDs and even sexual assault. Yet most Catholic colleges, with notable exceptions at a few Newman Guide colleges, allow a student to have their boyfriend or girlfriend in their bedroom with the door closed, often after engaging in binge drinking that lowers inhibitions. How many souls have been damaged by these visitation policies that clearly invite near occasions of sin?
Yet when I and my Newman Society colleagues raise the concern of Catholic college dorm policies and near occasions of sin, we are looked upon as relics of a bygone age. I am entirely certain that near occasions of sin are still quite real. What has been lost is our sensitivity to man’s fallen nature and the grave importance of preserving chastity for the good of families and for the good of our souls.
Yes, God created us male and female. It is very good that the Vatican has reasserted this basic truth.
But like mathematicians reasserting fundamental arithmetic, we ought to also understand much more about the natural and moral implications of our sexuality and human nature—and Catholic educators especially need to teach these to the young.
Our problem, of course, is that we Catholics got comfortable compromising on little things when the culture was still reliably Christian. In today’s militantly secular culture, we had better get serious about consistently teaching the truth and remembering fundamentals like 2+2=4, that God created us male and female, and that concupiscence is real. And we had better be able to articulate the principles behind the policies we develop, to uphold Catholic identity before it is too late.
This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.
Counter-Cultural Newman Guide Colleges Recommended in 2019-20 Edition
/in Blog Newman Guide Articles/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffWe’re thrilled to release the 2019-20 edition of The Newman Guide!
The colleges recommended in The Newman Guide are committed to uniting faith and reason and strive to be faithfully Catholic.
The Newman Guide colleges reject the moral laxity that is typical of campus life, and instead help prepare students for this life and the one to come!
At NewmanGuide.org, you’ll find in-depth profiles on each recommended college, including:
A hard copy edition of The Newman Guide is not currently available, but high school students can learn more about Newman Guide colleges by signing up for our Recruit Me program. Recruit Me allows students to be recruited by Newman Guide colleges, find tips on navigating the college search, and compete in the Newman Society’s $5,000 Essay Scholarship Contest.
Throughout the year, we have been asked about the nature of The Newman Guide, and so we want to provide some clarifications.
Colleges are not members of The Cardinal Newman Society; there are no member fees, and the Newman Society does not represent any college. The colleges recommended in The Newman Guide are selected entirely at the discretion of the Newman Society following careful review of each college’s activities and policies. We do recommend and promote certain colleges as models of strong Catholic identity, primarily to assist Catholic families who are navigating the college search, but also to highlight exemplary models of strong Catholic identity.
All of the institutions recommended in the Guide are unique, each with its own special charism, approach to education, and campus culture. Not every Newman Guide college may be right for each student’s unique needs, but there are probably several that offer what a particular student needs and is looking for. To understand why a student should consider a faithful Catholic college, we encourage families to read the winning essay of this year’s Essay Scholarship Contest, which makes a convincing case to choose a “college that boldly embraces its Catholic character.”
In many ways it’s an exciting time for the future of faithful Catholic education!
In recent weeks, there have been several new presidents named at Newman Guide colleges. These include Fr. David Pivonka, TOR, at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Dr. Thomas Hibbs at the University of Dallas, Dr. Ryan Williams at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College, and Timothy Collins, Ed.D., at Walsh University in Canton, Ohio. The search for a new president is currently underway at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Fla. Please pray for these leaders! They play a crucial role in ensuring faithful Catholic education.
The Newman Guide colleges provide hope and light in our culture. Yet, the reality is that every Catholic college today faces a strong pull from the culture to compromise Catholic identity and secularize.
You may notice that two colleges that were formerly recommended in The Newman Guide, DeSales University in Center Valley, Penn., and Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., are not included this year. We take seriously our role in recommending Catholic colleges to families and have done extensive work this year in dialoguing with the presidents, faculty, students, and families affiliated with these universities, in addition to monitoring their activities and policies. After careful review, we have decided not to recommend these universities to Catholic families for the 2019-20 edition of The Newman Guide. Our recommendation does not hinge on single issues, but rather a comprehensive review of the institutions.
We hope that The Newman Guide will be a great resource for you, your family, and friends!
Fake News About Brebeuf Jesuit School
/in Blog, Mission and Governance Commentary, Nondiscrimination and Diversity Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyAccording to secular news reports about Brebeuf Jesuit High School in Indianapolis, which Archbishop Charles Thompson declared to be no longer Catholic, you’d think the decision was all about the Church’s eagerness to fire a “gay” teacher.
Likewise, articles about Cathedral High School in northeast Indianapolis, which upheld its Catholic identity by dismissing one of its teachers, also emphasize the teacher’s sexuality.
Such is “fake news”—it’s rooted in some fact, but not in truth. In fact, the Indianapolis situation is primarily about a Catholic school’s obligations to teach the faith clearly and without contradiction.
The Indianapolis Star proclaimed, “Indianapolis Archdiocese Cuts Ties with Jesuit School Over Refusal to Fire Gay Teacher.” FOX News claimed Brebeuf was “Stripped of ‘Catholic’ Label Over Gay Teacher.” Newsweek announced that Cathedral “Fires Gay Teacher,” and the USA Today headline likewise reported that Cathedral “Is Firing a Gay Teacher.”
And now, a New York Times contributor has lectured the bishops on the need to defend our “L.G.B.T.Q. brothers and sisters.” The article is titled, “How to Defy the Catholic Church.”
To be sure, at both Brebeuf and Cathedral the teachers under scrutiny are identified as “gay”—but what caused the controversy is not that directly, but instead their public actions contradicting what they are supposed to be teaching in a Catholic school. Both entered into civilly approved same-sex marriages. Such public scandal makes someone ineligible to teach in a genuinely Catholic school, and this would be true of scandal leading children into any type of grave sin, whether homosexual or otherwise.
Indeed, both teachers had been employed despite apparent awareness of their sexuality, so the claim of discrimination is ludicrous. Public identification as “gay” can be scandalous, if sexuality is touted in such a way as to lead young people into sin. But this is not why the Archdiocese of Indianapolis raised concerns about the teachers at Brebeuf and Cathedral, and apparently no employee’s job was at risk because of private struggles with sexuality.
Still, the secular media and activists like Jesuit Fr. James Martin have deliberately characterized the Archdiocese as targeting people for their “sexual identity.” This falsehood stirs up the crowd to persecute the Body of Christ, with claims of discrimination and attempts to erode religious freedom.
Witnesses to the Faith
Such discrimination claims are wrong. Central to Brebeuf’s tragic loss of Catholic identity are the school’s failure to insist that teachers publicly witness to the Catholic faith, its betrayal of families who rely on Catholic education to uphold Catholic teachings, and the school’s refusal to abide by the rightful authority of Archbishop Thompson to establish expectations for Catholic schools in his diocese.
A Catholic school exists for the purpose of forming young people for the fullness of humanity, all that God intends for them. This includes formation in the Catholic faith, indeed in all truth about God, man and reality.
It is essential, then, that teachers in Catholic schools present the truth clearly in both word and deed. Their witness can powerfully reinforce Christian formation—or it can be dangerously destructive by misleading a child into falsehood.
This can be a real challenge for Catholic schools in a highly secularized and sexualized society, in which even well-intentioned Catholic teachers are confused about moral truth and may be poorly catechized.
“In today’s pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church” (Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, 1982, 18). An authentic Christian anthropology, of course, recognizes only two sexes and understands sexuality in the context of chastity and matrimony between a man and woman.
While a Catholic school is a Christian community full of mercy and compassion for its members who may struggle to live good and holy lives, it is essential to the work of the school that teachers not publicly challenge or contradict the Catholic faith in which students are being formed.
Canon law is clear: “The instruction and education in a Catholic school must be grounded in the principles of Catholic doctrine; teachers are to be outstanding in correct doctrine and integrity of life” (Canon 803 §2). It is essential that Catholic schools explain to employees precisely what that means, by including “morality clauses” in teacher contracts. The Cardinal Newman Society compiled model language here that can be adopted by individual schools and dioceses.
A lesson for teachers
In his announcement that Brebeuf is no longer Catholic, Archbishop Thompson has reaffirmed what the Church has always expected from Catholic schools. And Brebeuf’s consequence was not caused by the bishop: it was the school leaders’ decision not to comply with the Archbishop’s requirements for all Catholic schools, and they chose to stand with the teacher in public contradiction to the Catholic faith. Cooperating with such public contradiction implies dissent, whether or not the school’s leaders actually agree or disagree with Church teaching.
In the past, Catholic schools were largely staffed by clergy and religious. Although there remain some priests, brothers and sisters — notably the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and the Nashville Dominicans who set such a wonderful example — they make up less than 3 percent of America’s Catholic school teachers.
Therefore, in the last several decades it’s been up to the laity to take up evangelization by Catholic education, serving as ministers of the faith in word and deed. Archbishop Thompson recognizes the influential role that teachers play in the formation of students.
No teacher in a Catholic schools is sinless. But teachers should do everything possible to grow in virtue and avoid scandal, with special attention to persistent, public scandals that are most damaging to students. Catholic schools should ensure that they have qualified teachers who are able to fulfill the job of aiding parents in the formation of young people in the Catholic faith.
Archbishop Thompson provides a good reminder for Catholic school teachers everywhere about the importance of their vocation. Teachers have a crucial role to play in imitating Jesus Christ, the true Teacher, to communicate Truth and sanctify the world.
This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.
Students Discerning Priesthood Find Support at Faithful Catholic Colleges
/in Blog, Student Formation Commentary, Vocational Discernment Newman Guide Articles/by Kelly SalomonA high school student who thinks he may be called to the priesthood faces a hostile culture today—sadly even in the secularized environment of many Catholic schools and colleges. But faithful Catholic colleges offer students the opportunity for a quality education while discerning a calling to the priesthood with the support and encouragement of professors, campus ministers and peers who share a love for Christ.
John Wuller is a homeschooled student from Texas who first began thinking about the possibility of the priesthood during a youth conference hosted by Franciscan University of Steubenville. One of the speakers invited participants who believed that God could be calling them to the priesthood to come to the stage.
“At that moment, I felt for the first time that possibly God was calling me to the priesthood. During the next four years, a college’s academics, student activities, and residence life are vital to my discernment process, my formation and my life,” Wuller explained.
Wuller wants to find a place where he will be “formed by the truth” and learn from faithful Catholic professors, especially in philosophy and theology. He believes that a liberal arts core curriculum will help him to become “well-rounded” and develop “critical thinking skills.”
Wuller also wants to attend a college which will allow him frequent access to the sacraments and to be surrounded by other students who are “striving for holiness” and can help hold him accountable. Wuller believes that he has found what he is looking for at Franciscan University of Steubenville and will be heading to Steubenville, Ohio, this fall.
Daniel Donovan, who attended a Catholic high school in New Hampshire, says that he first sensed the Lord’s call when he was 13 years old. Donovan didn’t receive much support from his high school peers, but he expects that to change when he also attends Franciscan University of Steubenville in the fall. “To the students at Franciscan, becoming a priest is embraced by the student body. It is not considered strange or a waste,” Donovan explained.
At Franciscan University, he will live, study and pray with other men who are also considering vocations through the Priestly Discernment Program. “These are the friends which I have dreamt of all throughout high school. These are men that are in love with Christ and have said yes to His call, like me.”
Choosing to pursue a vocation is counter-cultural, especially when young people are being told that “what matters in the end is money” and “there is no time to have faith,” according to Joseph Rice, who attended a Catholic high school in Texas and will be a student at the University of Dallas in Irving, Tex., in the fall.Catholic colleges should be all about helping students find their vocation, Rice believes. He quotes Blessed John Henry Newman: “God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission.”
Vocations are “hope for the future of the Church,” says Rice. Faithful Catholic colleges can provide students with the “best education” and help students become “pious and virtuous citizens” who learn that life is “full of meaning.”
A key reason why Jacob Brown, a Seton Home School student from Idaho, will be attending Northeast Catholic College in Warner, New Hampshire, to continue to discern a priestly vocation is “easy and frequent access to the sacraments.” Brown cited his excitement for liturgy of the hours, daily Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Brown is attracted to a faithful Catholic education, because he wants to avoid the “propagation of opinions” in the classroom and instead learn the fullness of truth. Additionally, he is eager for a “community that is focused on the good of the other.”
These are just a few of the many students who will be attending faithful Catholic colleges this fall. They are open to God’s plan for their lives and believe that their college experiences can provide them a strong Catholic formation. This is good for the students and for the whole Church.
This article was first published at the National Catholic Register.
10 Years After Obama, Notre Dame Continues to Secularize
/in Blog Latest/by Patrick ReillyIt is hard to believe that already 10 years have passed since Notre Dame’s scandalous decision to honor President Barack Obama as its commencement speaker. The event drew a substantial outcry from faithful laity and bishops – but since then, sadly, the situation has not improved.
Patrick Reilly writes at the Catholic Herald:
Amid all of the scandals in the American Church over the past decade, nothing has provoked a more dramatic display of outrage and unity than the protest 10 years ago against the University of Notre Dame’s choice to honour President Barack Obama (pictured). Yet Notre Dame’s leaders seem not to have learnt their lesson. A decade later, America’s most well-known Catholic university continues to slide toward secularisation.
When a college chooses a commencement speaker or honorary degree recipient, it is a clear, public statement of a college’s values and the sort of person that the college admires – a role model for students. Whereas faithful Catholic colleges will often honour Catholic bishops, noted academics, pro-life advocates and other people with strong character, Notre Dame fatefully chose the most pro-abortion president in history to address graduates on May 17, 2009.
Notre Dame’s statement to the world was that the Catholic university – and by implication, the Catholic Church – honours and celebrates those who attack human dignity and threaten the lives of innocent babies. American Catholics were faced with a choice of their own: to tacitly condone this compromise or stand up to declare the truth.
Continue reading at the Catholic Herald…
“Seek the Truth, Do the Good, Love the Beautiful.”
/in Blog Latest/by Thomas ColeThe following is adapted from the commencement address delivered by Mr. Thomas Cole, M.A., M.T.S., at Holy Spirit Preparatory School in Atlanta, Ga, on May 24th, 2019. Mr. Cole is the chairman of the theology department at Holy Spirit and was chosen to be the commencement speaker by the graduating class.
Be a Teacher
I am immediately struck by the responsibility and unique honor it is to deliver an address of this sort. Typically, from what I have observed, the speaker so honored is famous, and famous beyond the confines of their own community. A big name seems to impress and add to the solemnity of the occasion.
In my case, however, I am immediately reminded of a conversation in Robert Bolt’s brilliant play about St. Thomas More, A Man for All Seasons. Those familiar with the work may recall the conversation between Thomas More, then Chancellor of England. and the man who would ultimately betray him and commit perjury to secure his execution: Richard Rich. It begins with the saint urging the young man to a career in education:
“Why not be a teacher?” St. Thomas More asks, “You’d be a fine teacher. Perhaps even a great one.”
“And if I was, who would know it?”
“You, your pupils, your friends, God. Not a bad public that…” [1]
Not a bad public, this. So much for my fame.
On the Shoulders of Giants
If I don’t have fame to add luster to this occasion, hopefully I have at least some wisdom to share to benefit the graduating class, at whose request I stand before you…
John of Salisbury, 12th-century Bishop of Chartres in France, in his medieval work, the Metalogican, recalls that, “Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. He pointed out that we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature”[2] Hence, if I have any real wisdom here, it is that I am like that dwarf on the shoulders of giants.
What is my advice, then, to this graduating class?
Seek the truth, do the good, love the beautiful. In all things, love. “Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.”[3]
Truth
Let us begin with truth. “Quid est veritas?”[4] In his interrogation of Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate asks this question. “What is truth?” Many struggle to answer this fundamental question of reality.
Our Holy Spirit graduates are not so lost as to how to respond. If I might take the liberty of putting them on the spot: graduates, what is truth?
St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae, says the, “truth is defined by the conformity of intellect and thing.”[5]
This is absolutely essential to our understanding of the intellectual life and our meaning as human persons. If we think about it, truth is conformity to the “thing,” that is, with the reality external to us. Truth is not about bending reality to conform to our perspective, preferences, or priorities – it is about us having the humility to realize that to possess the truth is to come to understand and orient ourselves to the real world; to existence itself.
Our world tells us that we can be whatever we want; I fear that is the lie of the Garden of Eden, “you yourselves will be like gods.”[6] I hate to be a downer on your graduation day, but the reality is that you can’t be whatever you want. You can certainly choose your occupation – but you can’t choose who and what you are by nature.
In the end, you can either be what you are made to be – a creature conforming to the order of reality – or you can make of yourself a god, and set out in defiance of reality to be whatever suits your fancy.
The truth, which we know through both faith and reason, is that we are made to know and love God – in order to be saint. Knowledge of the truth of Him who is “the Way, Truth, and Life”[7] makes it possible for us to achieve our purpose and ultimate happiness.
Class of 2019, seek the truth.
Goodness
Now for goodness. “It belongs to every virtue to do good and avoid evil,”[8] St. Thomas Aquinas informs us with his customary clarity. Virtue! A word we mention here at Holy Spirit – indeed, we speak of our core virtues of Faith, Prudence, and Magnanimity. Faith, a theological virtue whereby we believe in God and what He has revealed; Prudence, the cardinal virtue whereby we know what ought to be done, and do it; and Magnanimity, that part of the cardinal virtue of fortitude whereby we have the courage to strive after moral greatness.
As wise men back to Aristotle note, virtue is a habit of right moral action. The Catechism calls it, “an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.”[9]
As an aside, I rather object to imprecision like we find on the bumper sticker that reads, “practice random acts of kindness.” Random acts of kindness? Who wants to be randomly kind? If it is worth being kind, we need to be consistently and habitually kind.
Do remember that even little things add up – consider the $4 of a cup of coffee. That cup 300 days of the year – taking off two months – costs $1,200. Repetition does make a difference. And repetitive goodness makes a difference.
The goodness I want in you, class of 2019, is that habitual goodness; goodness that is second nature. It is only with such goodness that you will have the character to become that saint that, in truth, you know you are meant be. As St. Robert Bellarmine notes, “a good death depends upon a good life.”[10]
Let me tell you a story about goodness: back in Northern Virginia, where I finished my education and taught for ten years, I knew a devoutly Catholic family, the Vander Woudes. The father of that family, Thomas Vander Woude, was a good man. Good in that rich sense of which I have spoken.
Let me read the opening of a Washington Post article about him:
If you ever ran into Nokesville dad Thomas S. Vander Woude, chances are you would also see his son Joseph. Whether Vander Woude was volunteering at church, coaching basketball or working on his farm, Joseph was often right there with him, pitching in with a smile….[11]
I remember seeing them around, myself. Joseph, or Josie, is the most cheerful fellow you will ever meet; Josie has Downs Syndrome. He was about 20 years old in 2008 when this article was written. It continues,
Vander Woude, 66, had gone to Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville on Monday, just as he did every day, and then worked in the yard with Joseph, the youngest of his seven sons, affectionately known as Josie. Joseph … fell through a piece of metal that covered a 2-by-2-foot opening in the septic tank.…
At some point, Vander Woude jumped in the tank, submerging himself in sewage so he could push his son up from below and keep his head above the muck, while Joseph’s mom and the workman pulled from above.
When rescue workers arrived, they pulled the two out, police said. Vander Woude, who had been in the tank for 15 to 20 minutes, was unconscious. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
… For those who knew him, Vander Woude’s sacrifice was in keeping with a lifetime of giving.[12]
I remember the multitudes that passed by during the viewing of Mr. Vander Woude at Holy Trinity parish to pay respects to this hero. I know, because I was among them. This was a good man. A virtuous man.
What gave him the strength to jump into such filth? When faced with the moment of crisis, he was able to draw on what was already a habit – a virtue – of self-sacrifice, of goodness. This was no random act!
Class of 2019, do the good.
Beauty
Why do I bring up such a sad story on such a joyous occasion? Quite simply, because – to the Christian – it is a beautiful story. With the eyes of Faith, we see the sorrows and sufferings of this world in their larger context. Why is Good Friday so good? Easter. Have you ever wondered why we typically celebrate the feasts of saints on the day that they died? Actually, come to think of it, did you know that we typically celebrate the feasts of saints on the day that they died? The Roman Martyrology refers to that day as their “birthday.” Why?
It is on that day that they were born into the glory of the Beatific Vision – ultimate happiness and the very purpose of our lives! A beautiful is the soul born to eternal life. We are able to echo St. Paul, “Where then, death, is thy victory; where, death, is thy sting?”[13] For only sin gives death its power, as St. Paul reminds us; only our free will choice to reject God in sin do we find in death nothing more than punishment and despair.
Our world is intoxicated with pleasure and self-gratification; enslaved to the false promises of sin. You can see it too often in our arts; when reduced to nothing more than self-expression or as monuments to our own pride, they become ugly and signs of despair. When we look to ourselves for the meaning of reality, we fall back into the error of Eden. There is nothing beautiful about narcissism, and too much of modern art proves that point so eloquently. Our world is awash in ugliness.
On the other hand, where you find truth and goodness together, where you find them in a way that is whole and proportional, you find something that is striking and pleasing: you find real beauty, even in the midst of suffering or hardship.
Beauty, especially the beauty of truth and goodness, but also, in a particular way, beautiful art – like what we saw in abundance in Rome — beautiful music, or beautiful literature conveys something true about our world in a manner that compels; it teaches us goodness in a way that inspires. Our world is starved for beauty! In the end, “our hearts are restless until they rest” in God, to paraphrase St. Augustine of Hippo.[14]
Class of 2019, love the beautiful.
Love
In the end, truth, goodness and beauty find their fulfillment in love. Our Divine Lord instructs us: “This is my commandment, that you should love one another, as I have loved you. This is the greatest love a man can shew, that he should lay down his life for his friends; and you, if you do all that I command you, are my friends.”[15]
We are called to love. This is not the love of sappy sentimentality, the pop song, or the selfie. This is the self-sacrificial love of keeping the commandments in a life of virtue; the love of a parent that tends to a sick child in the middle of the night, a friend who cancels his social plans to visit a buddy in the hospital, a missionary who leaves home and family to preach the gospel to strangers, a martyr who offers up his life for the faith. A Thomas Vander Woude, who dies to save his son.
If your love is authentic, it will be true, good, and surely beautiful.
Class of 2019, love!
Models and Humor
I leave you with two final practical points in living this out:
First, find heroes, find role models, and spend time with those that will build you up, not break you down. The great biographer of the saints, Fr. Alban Butler, rightly notes that:
The method of forming men to virtue by example is, of all others, the shortest, the most easy way, and the best adapted to all circumstances and dispositions…[i]n the lives of the saints we see the most perfect maxims of the gospel reduced to practice, and the most heroic virtue make the object of our sense, clothed as it were with a body, and exhibited to view in its most attractive dress. [16]
Finally, never forget to have a sense of humor; a humble and joyful sense of humor – not a sneeringly cynical one! St. Teresa of Avila, the Spanish Carmelite and Doctor of the Church is said to have prayed, “From silly devotions and sour faced saints, deliver us, O Lord.”
Conclusion
I will close by quoting Bishop Robert Barron, auxiliary of Los Angeles, who gave a commencement address earlier this month focused on the virtue of magnanimity:
You are meant to go forth, carrying what you have received and cultivated here, in order to sanctify our suffering world. Is this an arduous task? Yes! But magnanimous people like arduous tasks, for they are ordered to the moral work that will give the highest honor. [17]
Holy Spirit class of 2019, go, take the light of what you have learned and begun here at Holy Spirit Prep into our increasingly dark world. Our world needs those that in living sacrificial love, manifest the true, good, and beautiful. Those who seek to serve and not be served. I mean it most sincerely when I say: I know that you are up to this sublime challenge!
Come Holy Spirit and congratulations to the class of 2019!
[1] Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons, Act One, pg. 8.
[2] John of Salisbury, Metalogicon, Bk III, (translated by Daniel McGarry, UC Press, 1955), 167.
[3] Line from the motion picture, The Princess Bride.
[4] John 18:38.
[5] St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 16, a. 2.
[6] Genesis, 3:5.
[7] John 14:6.
[8] Aquinas, STh, II-II, q. 79, a. 1.
[9] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1803.
[10] St. Robert Bellarmine, The Art of Dying Well (Sophia Institute edition), 5.
[11] Jonathan Mummolo, “Father Who Died Saving Son Known for Sacrifice,” Washington Post, 10 Sept 2008.
[12] Ibid.
[13] 1 Corinthians 15:55.
[14] St. Augustine, Confessions, Bk I.
[15] John 15:12-14.
[16] Alban Butler, Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Introduction, (Notre Dame, IN: Christian Classics, 1956), xiii-xiv.
[17] Bishop Barron, Commencement Address at Thomas Aquinas College (CA), 11 May 2019. https://thomasaquinas.edu/news/bishop-barron-commencement-address-2019
National Essay Contest Winner Seeks College That Helps, Not Hinders, Life of Faith
/in Blog Essay Scholarship Contest Newman Guide Articles/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffMost college-bound students are focused on preparing for a career, but Landis Lehman, a homeschooled student from Lucas, Texas, decided that she wants that and more. She searched for a college that “will prepare me not only for a career, but also for a life as a faithful follower of Christ.”
And rejecting the moral laxity that is typical of campus life, Lehman looked for a college that “helps me, not hinders me, towards my ultimate goal of Heaven.”
Her passion for Catholic education is what helped Lehman become this year’s winner of The Cardinal Newman Society’s third annual Essay Scholarship Contest on faithful Catholic education. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her first year at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is eligible for continuing aid from Benedictine in subsequent years.
“A college that boldly embraces its Catholic character stands out from the crowd,” Lehman opens her winning essay, titled “Prepared for Life.” Benedictine is one of several institutions that the Newman Society recommends for strong Catholic identity and fidelity in The Newman Guide, a free online publication including college profiles, in-depth questionnaires, statistics, photos and more. The scholarship must be used at a Newman Guide college.
The annual contest is open to high school seniors in the United States who participate in the Newman Society’s Recruit Me program and use The Newman Guide in their college search. The innovative Recruit Me program invites Newman Guide colleges to compete for students while providing information about faithful Catholic education. Rising high school seniors who wish to enter next year’s essay contest can sign up for Recruit Me online at https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/recruit-me/.
Lehman first learned about The Newman Guide while a high school sophomore in the Mother of Divine Grace program, because her older brother used the guide during his own college search. She says that she loves the way that The Newman Guide allowed her to “quickly and easily compare different aspects of authentically Catholic colleges.” After being accepted to a several of them, Lehman decided to join her brother at Benedictine College.
The topic for this year’s contest was to reflect, in 500-700 words, on the following question: “From academics to student activities to residence life, what makes a faithful Catholic college attractive to you?” Essays were judged by how well they demonstrate appreciation for faithful Catholic education, as well as the quality of the writing.
“We were impressed with Landis’s well-written essay,” said Kelly Salomon, director of Newman Guide programs for the Newman Society. “She identifies many of the key elements of an authentic education. Her essay will be helpful to high school students across the country because it makes a convincing case for attending a faithful Catholic college.”
Lehman relates how a faithful Catholic education will form her in mind, body and soul. She writes:
Ultimately, Lehman believes that “choosing to attend a faithful Catholic college is a decision that will affect more than my next four years—it will influence me for life.”
Lehman’s entire essay can be read here.
Her $5,000 scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of Joseph and Ann Guiffre, supporters of The Cardinal Newman Society and faithful Catholic education.
“We are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Guiffre for enabling this scholarship,” said Newman Society President Patrick Reilly. “They understand the unique value of a truly Catholic education, and they are thrilled to help a student experience all that a Newman Guide-recommended college can provide.”
New this year is the opportunity for the winner to receive an additional $15,000 from participating colleges over the course of their college education. Seventeen of the Newman Guide colleges, including Benedictine College, have agreed to supplement the Newman Society’s scholarship with additional $5,000 grants over three additional years, under certain conditions including full-time enrollment and academic progress.
Essays were submitted from students in 44 states, who together have applied to every U.S. residential college that is recommended in The Newman Guide.
Prepared for Life: Why Choose a Faithful Catholic College
/in Blog Newman Guide Articles/by Landis LehmanEditor’s Note: The Cardinal Newman Society recently announced Landis Lehman, a homeschooled student from Lucas, Texas, as the winner of the Society’s third annual Essay Scholarship Contest on faithful Catholic education. She will receive a $5,000 scholarship toward her first year at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and is eligible for continuing aid from Benedictine in subsequent years. Below is the full text of Lehman’s winning essay. More information about the Contest can be obtained here.
A college that boldly embraces its Catholic character stands out from the crowd. The education I will receive at this type of college will prepare me not only for a career, but also for a life as a faithful follower of Christ. In addition, I will become part of a close-knit community that is passionate about helping its students live healthy, holy lives. Overall, the college climate in which I will spend my critical developing years will be one that helps me, not hinders me, towards my ultimate goal of heaven.
The pursuit of truth—this will be the object of my education at a faithful Catholic college. Science and math will teach me about creation’s marvelous design, while history and literature will increase my understanding of the human person and society as seen in the light of Catholic teaching. Most importantly, through the study of theology, my mind will be enlightened by the divine truths that have been revealed to man by God Himself. Furthermore, I will develop critical thinking and reasoning skills, allowing me to continue distinguishing truth from falsehood as I move forward in life. In addition, I will gain the ability to clearly and persuasively express the truth through both the written word and oral communication. After four years of authentic Catholic education, my mind will be illuminated by truth, and I will be well prepared to continue in the lifelong pursuit of discovering truth and helping others do the same.
Not only will a truly Catholic college transform my mind, but it will also nurture my body and spirit. I will have the opportunity to develop my spiritual life by listening to prominent Catholic speakers, participating in Bible studies, and living out Catholic social justice teachings through service work. At the same time, I will be able to participate in athletics and other activities that promote a healthy lifestyle. What I look forward to the most, however, is the community and companionship that the college will foster through these and other events. Understanding the human need for fellowship, a devoutly Catholic college will ensure that it has activities that encourage students to spend their free time on campus, interacting with fellow students and forming deep, genuine friendships. Thus, a college that is truly passionate about its Catholic faith will not fail to provide me with opportunities to gain strength of body and soul and become an active member of its community.
The most important aspect, however, of attending a college that lives out its Catholic identity is the overall environment in which I will live—an environment that will guide me towards virtue during my most crucial formative years. Only at this type of college will the Mass be treated as an integral part of student life. Here alone, the sacraments will be available to me daily, and an Adoration chapel will never be more than a few steps away. I will be surrounded by students who have a passion for their faith, and their example will inspire me to pursue goodness in my own life. In addition, as I discern my vocation, I will find myself in a college atmosphere that promotes pure relationships through its policies. In short, as I mature into an adult and discover my calling, nothing could be more beneficial than to live in an environment where virtue and holiness are so much encouraged.
Choosing to attend a faithful Catholic college is a decision that will affect more than my next four years—it will influence me for life. The education I will receive will cultivate in me a love of truth that will stay with me long after graduation. Likewise, the godly relationships that I will forge with the inspiring students around me will become an integral part of my adult life. Most importantly, at a college where every aspect of life is pervaded by a devoutly Catholic culture, I will be provided with a foundation that will inspire me to strive for holiness every day of my life. A faithful Catholic college truly will make me prepared for life—not only for this earthly life, but also for the eternal life of heaven.