St. Thomas Lumen A Catholic Studies Publication FALL/WINTER 2022
St. Thomas Lumen FALL/WINTER 2022
Published by the University of St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies 55-S
2115 Summit Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105 (651) 962-5700
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catholicstudies@stthomas.edu stthomas.edu/catholicstudies Catholic Studies Communications Karen Laird Associate Director, Center for Catholic Studies Editor Brant Skogrand ’04 MBC, APR, CPPM Art Director John Mau Photographers Mark Brown Liam James Doyle Azure Getzel ‘25 University Archives
News/Did You Know? ..................4 Chivalry Is Not Dead ....................5 Exploring the Identity of a Catholic University........................6 Friendship. ....................................8 A Simple Priest With a Big Dream....................................10 Mathematics and Faith...............14 Bringing God-given Gifts to the Marketplace..........................16 Summer Conference Recap........18 Alumni Notes and News.............20 Transformed Into Light...............22 Andre Dubus’s Short Fiction.......24 Catholic Studies 30th Anniverary...................................26
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Contributors John F. Boyle Nathan Kilpatrick
Heather LeClair ‘21 Michael J. Naughton Susanna Bolle Parent ’13 Michelle Rash ‘16, ‘24 CSMA Eva Sundheim ‘23 Kathryn Wehr Joan Wieland ‘20, ‘22 CSMA
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Student Assistant Madison Liebl ‘23 On the cover “Nothing but you, Lord” A photo of the St. Thomas Aquinas icon commissioned by Campus Ministries and written by artist and iconographer Nicholas Markell ‘84.
The University of St. Thomas is an equal opportunity educator and employer. St. Thomas does not unlawfully discriminate, in any of its programs or activities, on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, family status, disability, age, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, membership or activity in a local commission, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. stthomas.edu/eostatement
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“N
othing but you, Lord.” The words of St. Thomas Aquinas, shown in
We are delighted to share with you in this issue a broad sampling of the Catholic Studies vision – through insightful articles on Monsignor Terrence Murphy’s view of a Catholic university (Joan Wieland ‘20, ‘22 CSMA), God and mathematics (Heather LeCair ‘21), sacred art (Katy Wehr), and alumni in business (Susanna Bolle Parent ‘13), to name a few. For the next year, we at Catholic Studies are focused on those who follow in this exploration of the Incarnation – the students, parents, alumni, benefactors and leaders who will also say, “Nothing but you, Lord.” Our strategic plan, fundraising goals, and 30th anniversary celebration in 2023 all point to this extraordinary mission that transforms hearts and minds to see Christ in all that they are and in all that they do. Please keep our efforts in your prayers and know of our gratitude for each of you.
detail on the cover of this issue of Lumen, capture the essence of his faith. Aquinas heard the Lord ask while he was deep in prayer, “You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?” The Doctor of the Church replied, “Non Aliam Nisi Te.” Translated, “Nothing but you, Lord.” In a similar way, the bold and entrepreneurial vision that fueled the Catholic Studies movement at the University of St. Thomas nearly 30 years ago made a similar claim: to keep Christ at the center of the spiritual, academic and social lives of our students. This does not mean Catholic Studies lives in its own bubble. On the contrary, Catholic Studies serves as a bridge to the dynamic engagement of faith and reason locating the arts, sciences, humanities and professions on the widest possible conceptual map.
JOHN F. BOYLE, CHAIRMAN DEPARTMENT OF CATHOLIC STUDIES
MICHAEL NAUGHTON, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR CATHOLIC STUDIES
St. Thomas Lumen Fall/Winter 2022 Page 3
Did you know? Catholic Studies News
In July, Catholic Studies welcomed Father Austin Litke ’04, OP (pictured center) back to campus as a visiting professor. A native of western Kentucky, Litke attended the University of St. Thomas and Saint John Vianney College Seminary. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and was ordained a priest in 2011. After assignments as chaplain at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Hospital and New York University, Litke did his doctoral studies in patristic theology at the Pontifical Patristics Institute “Augustinianum” in Rome. Prior to the pandemic, he served as chaplain for Catholic Studies students at the Bernardi Campus in Rome. Most recently,
band of friars of the Order of Preachers. They have released three studio albums. Proceeds from the albums support the formation of friars at the Dominican House of Studies. This fall, Litke taught the Newman course for undergraduate students, as well as a patristics course at The Saint Paul Seminary.
“Father Litke has a deep understanding and appreciation of the work of Catholic Studies,” Dr. John Boyle says. “He knows our students having served them as their chaplain for several years in Rome. We are so very happy that he will be with us this year.” Litke is also a musician and member of the Hillbilly Thomists, a bluegrass
he taught classical languages and dogmatic theology at the
Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.
Monsignor Martin Schlag published a handbook in Spanish on Catholic social thought, Manual de Doctrina Social de la Iglesia (Saint Paul Seminary Press). It is an introduction to Catholic social teaching on topics of morality, economics, politics and society. Contributors include: Pau Agulles, Arturo Bellocq, Norberto González Gaitano, Gregorio Guitián, Antonio Malo, Jennifer E. Morel, Elizabeth Reichert, Martin Schlag and Tebaldo Vinciguerra. Edited by Schlag, the book’s nihil obstat was granted by Father John Floeder, and the imprimatur was granted by Archbishop Bernard Hebda. In August, Schlag’s paper titled “Adam Smith’s Virtue of Prudence in the E-Commercial Society: Developing
a Conceptual Framework for Users and Managers of E-Commerce Platforms” was nominated as the best paper for the track of CSR, Business Ethics and Sustainability at the Irish Academy of Management Conference at Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin. Finally, Schlag edited and contributed a chapter to the book Holiness through Work: Commemorating the Encyclical Laborem Exercens (St. Augustine Press). Dr. Michael Naughton contributed a chapter to the same book that was distributed by the University of Chicago in September.
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Undergraduate Student Essay
This I Believe... Chivalry Is Not Dead By EVA SUNDHEIM ’23
As someone who has been rejected on more than one occasion and grown from it, I have concluded that yes, it takes away the pressure for the man, but it also takes away his ability to be chivalrous. Snapchat destroys a man’s opportunity to be chivalrous. Tinder destroys a man’s opportunity to be chivalrous. And women, if we do not expect it, we too destroy this opportunity.
Being a 21-year-old woman in the 21st century who has never been asked on a date does not seem that wild to me. My mother would tell you it is because I do not put myself out there. False. I have a simple request. Ask me out. I do not need to be courted per se, but is the fear of rejection really holding men back that much? This I believe: Chivalry is not dead. Women have just ceased to expect it.
Prizes do not chase winners. Do we remember that we are a prize? I am perfectly content remaining in my singleness, knowing that I am to be pursued and sought after. Flowers are $5 at Trader Joe’s and dinner is not necessary, just a bottle of wine please. Do not text me that you are here. Knock on the door and allow my slightly nosy roommates to greet you. Why? Because it makes it harder to say goodbye and that is OK. Chivalry is not dead; I am just still looking for it.
Women today have told themselves, “He’s confused, he doesn’t know what he wants, he’s still getting over his ex.” The list is extensive when rationalizing why he will not ask you out. But if he wanted to, he would. No great love story starts out with him coming up with every reason not to commit but rather doing everything in his power to be with the one woman he sees as worth it all: you. I do not think men are afraid of rejection as much as they are afraid of commitment.
Spending time with someone without the big “date” word attached means that if it does not work out, we do not have to be sad because it was not a date and therefore it was a subpar time of socializing. Some say this shift is all because of the digital age or its seductive mistress, the hookup culture. This may be true, but as men do less, women expect less. Dating is intentional which is why we avoid it. Although we try to avoid emotional pain, the lack of commitment can be taxing on men and women over time leading to fewer marriages and prolonged singleness.
Marketing major Eva Sundheim wrote this essay last spring for an assignment in her Mission of the Engineer course, an integrated course between the Catholic Studies and Engineering departments. Inspired by Edward R. Murrow’s CBS radio program in the 1950s, the assignment required students to respond to the prompt, “This I Believe...”.
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EXPLORING THE IDENTITY OF A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
By KAREN LAIRD
CATHOLIC STUDIES HOSTS ANNUAL FACULTY SUMMER SEMINAR
In preparation for Catholic Studies’ 30th anniversary next fall, I recently visited the university archives where documents and records from the early years are carefully tucked away for research such as this. A box that contained issues of the Signature, the student-led newsletter of the Catholic Studies program in the 1990s, caught my eye. Several familiar headlines stood out, including “Got Catholic Identity? The Ongoing Struggle of the Catholic University.” (March 1998) I was intrigued. The conversation about the identity of a Catholic university began in the 11th century, was brilliantly articulated by St. John Henry Newman in the 19th century and has been deliberately considered in every era since. Thus, the reason for the Interdisciplinary Faculty Summer Seminar, held in Sitzmann Hall the first week of June. Hosted every year by Catholic Studies and university faculty, the purpose of the five-day seminar is for scholars from all disciplines to engage in and deepen their understanding of the mission of a Catholic university broadly and St. Thomas specifically. Every faculty member is invited to participate.
The first seminar in 1993 began with the guiding principle that all universities need renewal, especially in rapidly changing societies. With the belief that no single academic discipline can provide an account of the entire reality, the interdisciplinary approach provides space for faculty to inform, balance, correct and complement one another. The 2022 seminar, organized by Dr. Phil Rolnick (Theology), Dr. Jeff Jalkio (Physics) and Dr. Michael Naughton, included faculty from engineering, business, mathematics, theology and philosophy, as well as Dougherty Family College. Interim President Rob Vischer, Provost Eddy Rojas and Dr. Bill Tolman, the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, participated as well. Naughton shared that this is the first time in the summer seminar’s nearly 30-year history that university leadership was so well represented. “They came to the seminar not as administrators but as colleagues enhancing the conversation on the complex and important nature of Catholic mission and identity.” This year’s seminar explored three competing claims of what defines the soul of the university: faith and reason; reason alone; and justice and change.
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University Engagement
FAITH AND REASON Since its founding in the Middle Ages, the Catholic university has been given the responsibility and the opportunity to bring together in confident dialogue these two modes of gaining knowledge: the open- ended search for all the truths available to human reason and the grasp and investigation of all truths that have been made known through the fount of truth, the Logos, Jesus Christ.
Faculty Summer Seminar 2022
JUNE 6: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Dr. Michael Naughton, Director, Center for Catholic Studies “A Brief History of the Catholic University” Dr. Jeff Jalkio, Associate Professor, Engineering “Alasdair Macintyre’s Three Rival Versions of Morality and What They Say About Our Three Rival Visions” JUNE 7: THIS WORLD ALONE Dr. Arkady Shemyakin, Department Chair, Mathematics “A Siberian Experience of STEM” Dr. Rosemarie Monge, Associate Professor, Opus College of Business “A St. Thomas Experience of Teaching Business Ethics: Conflicted Visions of The Common Good— Secularism and Transcendence” JUNE 8: A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE Dr. Stephen Laumakis, Professor, Philosophy “The Very Idea of a University: Aristotle, Newman, and Us” Dr. Kenneth Goodpaster, Professor Emeritus, Opus College of Business “Teleopathy: A Tempting Disorder for Universities” JUNE 9: JUSTICE AND CHANGE Dr. Mark Spencer, Associate Professor, Philosophy “A Catholic Vision of Justice and Change in the University” Dr. Buffy Smith, Dean, Dougherty Family College “Reducing Inequalities in Higher Education” JUNE10: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ST. THOMAS? Dr. Jeff Jalkio, Associate Professor, Engineering “Lonergan: Bias and Cosmopolis” Dr. Eddy Rojas, Provost Seminar Summary
REASON ALONE Whereas a Catholic university view sees the
complementarity of faith and reason as the height of human wisdom, the modern research university, beginning in the 18th and 19th centuries, sees reason alone as the surest path to knowledge. In other words, the more reason and human action can be unburdened from religion and its historical context, the more the human mind – through science, technology and pragmatic rationality – will achieve progress. JUSTICE AND CHANGE The 1960s brought a third view of the university focused on justice and change. Largely dissatisfied with the religious and modern views, the university is about challenging and dismantling the dominant power structures of society so that a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive system can emerge. The role of the university is not to understand or interpret the world but to change it. Given the highly diverse world we live in, seminar organizers did not expect to achieve a uniformity of belief by the end of the week; however, they did achieve intelligent, in-depth exploration of the issues and, in doing so, achieved new levels of collegiality. The conversation will continue during the next Faculty Summer Seminar (June 5-9, 2023) which will focus on the distinctive characteristics of the Gen Z student and what that means for a Catholic university. Once again, all St. Thomas faculty will be invited and will receive a stipend for attending. OF BELIEF BY THE END OF THE WEEK ... ” “ GIVEN THE HIGHLY DIVERSE WORLD WE LIVE IN, SEMINAR ORGANIZERS DID NOT EXPECT TO ACHIEVE A UNIFORMITY
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Friendship We are made for friendship. Students discover in their time in Catholic Studies many opportunities for making and deepening friendships with each other and with the professors and staff of Catholic Studies. NAVIGATING HIGHER EDUCATION WITH CATHOLIC STUDIES By DR. JOHN BOYLE Chairman of the Department of Catholic Studies
such friendships. Students live together in Dowling Hall. They also study together, taking the core theology and philosophy courses together. Such is the fertile ground of friendship. “Telos” is the Greek word for goal or purpose, and we call our Living Learning Community the Telos
The Catholic Studies Telos Living Learning Community (LLC) invites incoming freshmen to just
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Common Good Profile
friendships. So too to live in the city that is central to our faith as Catholics and to deepen one’s faith with others. All of this makes for particularly good friends. As also does enduring the trials of living in another country with different customs which can delight and amuse as well as irritate and frustrate. Many a Catholic Studies wedding has a “Rome table” at the reception. The friendships extend beyond the students to the faculty and staff. Doors in Sitzmann Hall are routinely open and students are welcome to drop in to say hello or sit down for a conversation. Ann Serdar, program coordinator and house mother, has a jar of dark chocolates by her door for students who will stop in and talk and share their lives. The culture and life of Sitzmann Hall is marked by friendship. The simple truth is that good friends make us better and bad friends make us worse. Students in Catholic Studies have the opportunity to make good friends. It is so heartening to see the ways in which they help each other. Of course, they make mistakes. Confession is offered every day at St. Thomas for a reason. But good friends accompany each other up the incline plane. Such has always marked the life of Catholic Studies.
LLC because we encourage students to think about their goals and their purpose, and to think about them together. We all need to eat, and meals are an important part of the life of Catholic Studies. Students in the LLC will gather for dinner and discussion at the beginning of the semester and at the end. Many an event is a lunch or dinner in which students and faculty can meet and talk both formally and informally. Many friendships develop around prayer and the Mass. Students will gather informally in Dowling to pray the rosary. We have Mass at 5:05 p.m. in the Albertus Magnus Chapel in Sitzmann Hall and our students, undergraduate and graduate, regularly attend. It is not at all unusual to see our students together at the 7 a.m. or 12:10 p.m. Mass in the main chapel on campus. Such is the glue of deepening friendships. Friends do things together and we work to provide such opportunities. Students in the LLC usually get a tour of the Cathedral of Saint Paul with the author of Stone and Glass: The Meaning of the Cathedral of Saint Paul who happens to be my wife, Dia. We have begun the year with paddle boats and mini golf. We have gone to
Wild games. We will often attend a performance at Open Window Theatre and then have a question- and-answer session after the performance with the actors. We invite alumni to meet with the students to discuss careers and vocation. Each year provides new opportunities for social and cultural events. The Rome Program produces particularly deep
friendships. To live together in Rome, to explore the city and its rich culture together, naturally cements
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Graduate Student Essay
A SIMPLE PRIEST WITH A BIG DREAM: MONSIGNOR TERRENCE MURPHY’S VISION OF A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
By JOAN WIELAND ’20, ’22 CSMA
I first met Monsignor Terrence Murphy – the 13th president of St. Thomas – not as a biographer or historian, but as a reader of his own words. As part of an assistantship coupled to my graduate pursuits in Catholic Studies, I was asked to transcribe the handwritten and typewritten homilies and speeches Murphy gave throughout his career. The documents were compiled and shared by his family after years of waiting in an old trunk. The sense of preciousness inherent to the documents originally slipped my notice, falling between intensive studies and the mundanity of PDF transcription copies.
When I began, I didn’t know Murphy was the man whose statue gestures heavenward outside of McNeely Hall. But I knew his handwritten scrawl had an unfortunate tendency to jilt like a seismometer when he reached a crescendo. Through perseverance and much squinting, I swooned. What got me hooked on all things Murphy was not the murals, the statues or the newspaper articles about him. It was the content of his homilies. Impressed and compelled, I rocketed through the project of transforming his handwriting into a digital text, and in a scholarly frenzy, I believed I had discovered an unknown hero of the local church.
Thanks be to God that before I could embarrass myself too much, I realized that I was not the first. The threads of Murphy’s life are woven into the campus. Like most Tommies, I know the more quotable names in university lore: Archbishop John Ireland, Bishops Dowling and Binz, and Mr. Ignatius Aloysius O’Shaughnessy. The more landmarks I found gesturing toward the accomplishments of Murphy, the more I was saddened that in discussions of our university, none of my classmates were acquainted with who – I am convinced – has been one of its most instrumental players.
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Graduate Student Essay
In his text he addresses the university by name. His gaze is steady and serious, and doting in a way that only a leader can muster. When Murphy first sat in the president’s chair in 1967, the College of St. Thomas was an all- men’s institution, a single campus located in St. Paul with an annual budget of $3.5 million. A mere 25 years later, at his retirement in 1991, St. Thomas had increased its annual budget to $84.4 million, added 12 graduate programs, quadrupled its enrollment, opened three new campuses, became coeducational, and renamed to what it had certainly become: a university. Truly, his list of accomplishments is so voluminous that biographies tend to crimp at each paragraph break. The awards, commemorations, projects and expansions of the university under Murphy’s leadership become tallies in which the character of the man can often be lost. This is precisely what put me in such a pickle. I found it
are also included on the website of the Terrence J. Murphy Institute, a collaboration between the Center for Catholic Studies and the School of Law. In this archive he stands patient, pastoral and convicted, never shying from the details of a homiletic fine point. He is attentive to nuance and distinction, uncompromising in the orthodoxy and tradition of the Catholic faith. His writing seems rooted and tough, but also humble and deeply caring. To read his works is to experience simultaneously the grounding that only a good father can give and convictions that can only come from a good leader.
I am so pleased to say that the documents which acquainted me with Monsignor Murphy, the
“ I AM INCREASINGLY AWARE OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE WORK OF THIS COLLEGE IS THE WORK OF GOD EXPRESSED IN CONCERN FOR AND SERVICE OF OTHERS.
”
— MONSIGNOR TERRENCE MURPHY INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 1967
impossible to explain to classmates whom I was researching – a professor, a priest, a president, an entrepreneur, a military chaplain, a spokesman on education, a local legend.
priest, before President Murphy, the legend, are now accessible in the Monsignor Terrence J. Murphy Digital Archive, which can be found in the University of St. Thomas Archive Digital Collections. Links
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Graduate Student Essay
Monsignor Terrence Murphy (r) is pictured with Archbishop Leo Byrne, coadjutor archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
upon me with ever greater clarity almost from the moment that my appointment was announced. I am increasingly aware of the extent to which the work of this college is the work of God expressed in concern for and service of others. If it is his work, then surely it must succeed.” As St. Thomas continues to grow, I hope that these archives may help inform current leaders about the great vision of our past president and his route toward future success. ____________ 1 Murphy, Terrence. A Catholic University: Vision and Opportunities, “The Religious Mission of a Catholic University.” p. 9.
Access to these homilies and transcriptions of Murphy is a witness to his understanding of the advocacy for the partnership of religion and university. His vision is a comprehension of the integrated human person in whom faith and reason work together. Contrary to modern belief, their coexistence does not in the least cripple the open-mindedness or expansive character of the university. Rather, the unity of the Catholic vision equips it for growth, a growth that is wholesome and resilient against the brittle fault lines of separate visions. In his inaugural address, Murphy said, “I confess to you today a very personal conviction that has grown
Murphy wrote that in years of increased secularization in the classroom, it is common to see a sentiment of shyness toward engaging religiosity. But in A Catholic University , he wrote, “For too long religion has been ignored and relegated solely to the private lives of people: their moral convictions were to be left at home and not influence their lives on the job, in community endeavors, or in the relationships with other people. Such a philosophy impoverishes people’s lives and undermines the health of society. For this reason, the conviction that religion should enter the marketplace and public forum became a guiding star that set the direction of the university.” 1
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PART OF THE WHOLE: MATHEMATICS AND FAITH
By HEATHER LeCLAIR ’21
D
Galileo says that without math, “one wanders about in a dark labyrinth.” God’s creation is ordered. He infused it with mathematical relationships. Since creation reveals these relationships, we can trust that our mathematical models accurately represent the world.
uring the early days as an undergraduate student, I could hardly explain why I chose to
double major in mathematics and Catholic studies. I knew I had a desire to discover the proof behind calculus and that I loved Christ and his Church. The decision was easy, but the harmony of the pairing was unclear. Today, the fruit is clear and abundant. Catholic studies revealed to me the beauty of mathematics and vice versa. Even more, God brought me a vocation through this formation. Three weeks after graduation, God led me to abandon my original postgraduate plans, and I joyfully accepted a position as a middle school math teacher at St. Peter Catholic School in North St. Paul. The mathematics curriculum in our school frames every concept in a real-world context. Students wrestle with patterns they experience in daily life and discover the mathematical abstraction of these patterns. All of the frustrations and laments (“Ms. LeClair, this doesn’t make sense! When will I ever use this?!”) end in brief moments of silent wonder as they finally grasp the order before them.
Yet even with the concrete applications, my students
unknowingly express their sense of the mystery of mathematics. Perhaps the most challenging moment for middle school math students is the introduction of x. (“Letters do not belong in math, Ms. LeClair!”) After all, how can you run x miles or earn y dollars? Variables are often a student’s first encounter with the heart of mathematics, that is, the abstraction of patterns. Although we can discover mathematics through creation, mathematical proofs and
“ GOD’S CREATION IS ORDERED. HE INFUSED IT WITH MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS. SINCE CREATION REVEALS THESE RELATIONSHIPS, WE CAN TRUST THAT OUR MATHEMATICAL
MODELS ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE WORLD. ”
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Alumni Reflection
conjectures are concerned with the idea of numbers, sets and their relationships to each other. A simple example is the number three, which is manifested by three books or three desks. Yet the number three itself exists apart from the physical objects. If mathematical objects are not physical, yet revealed through creation, then they exist in creation’s source. That is the mind of God. Although explicit conversations about faith are less frequent in my class than in religion class, it is the intimate connection between math and God’s mind that keeps the Logos at the center of my classroom. Christ became flesh so that we could partake in his divine nature and have
access to the Father. Thus, every human act can be fertile ground for a contemplative encounter with God. Math is no exception, regardless of the struggle that often comes with it. In describing the Incarnation, St. John Paul II wrote, “the Eternal enters time, the Whole lies hidden in the part.” These words enlighten us to how math can draw us to encounter God. We have a glimpse of the whole of God’s mind through the part of creation. Mathematics allows us to articulate God’s order. We should feel humbled and honored at such an opportunity.
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ALUMNI DUO CREATES ONLINE GATHERING SPACE Meet Blair ‘17 CSMA and Jordan Saiz ’15, a Catholic studies couple that shared a desire to furnish their new home in a more humane way but felt limited to the big-box stores. In order to find what they were looking for, they created a new option in the online marketplace: The Village Green. This creative couple chose the name to capture the idea of the common open space which sits at the heart of many English villages. “We see our online version as a way to get to know our neighbors and create a community around the values of home, family, and human-centered goods,” they say. Their website (shopthevillagegreen.com) features individual artisans, tells their stories and lists them by name along with their goods. Many are mothers who wish to stay home with their families while pursuing creative work. Their shop shifts away from the minimalist aesthetic and instead
Catholic Studies alumna and freelance writer Susanna (Bolle) Parent ’13 features three fellow alumni who are bringing their God-given gifts and fine-tuned talents to the marketplace in a very Catholic Studies sort of way. And speaking of using their gifts, you can find Susanna’s other published work at fiatandalily.blogspot.com. ALUMNI PROFILE
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Alumni Profile
offers goods with intricate details and ornamentation to show that even ordinary, everyday goods can be exceptional. Their business model is based on Catholic social teaching by taking the deposit of the faith and putting it into action in the marketplace.
paid off when clients tell her they can hardly believe that her goods don’t include gluten. “My formation through Catholic Studies taught me that my faith can, and should, animate everything that I do,” she says. I
So, she started Loreto Kitchen. This is where Mueller lives out her passion. While someone hosts the gathering, she is there as “co-host” for all things food and wine, providing desserts and wine pairings. The name of her business was inspired during her Catholic Studies semester abroad in Rome. Loreto is a little town in Italy near the Adriatic coast, best known as the site of the “Holy House” where it is believed the angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Mother. “Sitting within the walls that received Mary’s ‘Yes’ to God’s will for her life is a memory that will stay with me for all of my life,” Mueller says. “I knew how I desired to live my own life … to live a life
am able to use my business as a way to serve those around me … with every ball of dough I shape, I pray for the person who will eat that cookie.”
“Because of the interdisciplinary approach of Catholic Studies, we have come to the profound realization of how the Incarnational reality impacts all areas of life,” they share, “from the goods that fill our home to how we conduct our business and raise our children.”
Are you a Catholic Studies alumnus who has started your own business? We want to hear from you! Send your information to: cathstudies@stthomas.edu.
BLESSED MOTHER INSPIRES NAME OF ALUMNA’S NEW BUSINESS
that is always for others.” Because Mueller is on a
Mary (Burns) Mueller ’13, ’15 CSMA was a double major in Catholic studies and theology before adding a master’s degree in Catholic studies. While working for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as the director of marriage and family life, she felt a tug to make her deep love for hospitality a more concrete reality in her life.
gluten-free diet, she set out to make baked goods that were undetectably free of this allergen. With the goal of creating the best cookies that anyone has ever had, she got serious and started researching the actual chemistry of baking. Then came the testing, sometimes taking over a dozen alterations to the recipe. She knows her perseverance finally
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Murphy and Ryan Institutes
Summer Conference Connects Academics and Practitioners By MICHELLE RASH ‘16, ‘24 CSMA
Program Manager, Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy
THISJUNE nearly 70 academics and practitioners from 10 different countries gathered in Budapest, Hungary, for the Freedom, Subsidiarity, and Spirit of Gift conference at the University of Public Service – Ludovika. The purpose
of the three-day event was twofold: to explore the principle of subsidiarity as it pertains to business and society and to renew relational ties among colleagues after a marked drought of comradery caused by the inability to be together during the height of the
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Murphy and Ryan Institutes
pandemic. Conference participants and organizers included Catholic Studies faculty and staff Dr. Michael Naughton, Monsignor Martin Schlag, Nancy Sannerud and Michelle Rash, as well as CSMA graduate student John Lucke. Days one and two featured a familiar conference rhythm of plenary speakers and breakout sessions. Subsidiarity as a principle of Catholic social thought well illustrated its universality through the interdisciplinary nature of the gathering. Presentations included the theological roots of subsidiarity provided by Aquinas and various popes, the insight it offers for institutional conversations on diversity, its influential role in free markets, and its implementation in university classrooms as a tool for successful mentorship, among others. It was evident that the principle of subsidiarity is as applicable to the theologian as it is to the executive, to the economist and to the teacher. An ethos emerged which framed subsidiarity as a principle that involves the agency for the individual to act autonomously, the assurance of structures and systems in place to allow them to do so effectively, and the cultivation of a heart which allows them to do so generously.
Day three was spent on an excursion to the Pannonhalma Archabbey, a Benedictine monastery established in the 10th century and located 80 miles west of Budapest. The monastery is perched atop a large hill overlooking the entire town of Pannonhalma with a panoramic view of the Hungarian countryside, lending a sense of retreat to the day. The group celebrated Mass in the Basilica followed by a tour of the grounds and stroll through their famous lavender fields. To honor the Benedictine motto “ora et labora” (“pray and work”), the days of rigorous intellectual work were concluded with time in prayerful respite. The fine-tuning of papers and expanding of intellectual consideration were benefits to be sure. But perhaps more precious were the relationships built and strengthened in Budapest. Breaks, mealtimes, and bus rides were abuzz with attendees making points of connection between one another’s papers presented and projects back home. Among the fruits of the conference is the forthcoming special issue “Subsidiarity, Freedom, and the Logic of Gift” in the Business and Society Review.
Conference participants visited Pannonhalma Archabbey, a 10th century Benedictine monastery located 80 miles west of Budapest.
The June 2022 Freedom, Subsidiarity, and Spirit of Gift conference was co-hosted by the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought and the University of Public Service – Ludovika [pictured]. The Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy was a co-sponsor among other international partners.
St. Thomas Lumen Fall/Winter 2022 Page 19
Alumni Notes
Mara Cable ’22 CSMA began her doctoral program in organization studies at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Nadine Friederichs ’90, ’12 CSMA is the director of mission for All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville, and she recently earned a Certificate in Church Management from Villanova University. Matthew Goldammer ’16 graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame Law School in May. He served as a summer mentor for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship interns in Washington, D.C., before beginning a one-year judicial clerkship for Judge John F. Kness of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In August 2023, Goldammer will begin his second clerkship in Baton Rouge with Judge Kyle Duncan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
Bernardians Mark 10 Years Seventeen members of the spring 2012 Catholic Studies semester in Rome gathered in August for a 10- year reunion with Dr. John Boyle and his wife, Dia. Spouses and families gathered for Mass in the Sitzmann Hall chapel, celebrated by six priests who were students in Rome during that semester, followed by a picnic on the patio. The group of self- proclaimed “Bernardians” lived and studied together at the Bernardi Campus where lifelong friendships were formed.
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Alumni Notes
Sister Seraphine of the Heart of Jesus, OCD, (Brigetta Roden ’14) made her solemn profession to Archbishop Bernard Hebda on May 15. Sister Seraphine joins Sister Agnes of the Eucharist (Theresa VanDenBrooke ’13) and Sister Eliya of the Child Jesus (Hannah Polsky ’15) as a Discalced Carmelite of Our Lady of Divine Providence, a cloistered order located in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Father Nick Froehle, Father Mark Hopps, and Father Joe Campbell, all Class of 2013, concelebrated the Mass. Sister Eliya will make her solemn profession on Nov. 20. Kalynn Webster ’09 is director of Marisol Family, a parish-based ministry in Colorado that serves expectant mothers and families with young children.
Joan Wieland ’20, ’22 CSMA is director of mission, events and communications at St. Raphael’s Parish and School in Crystal, Minnesota.
John Paul Sonnen ’01 recently published Sant’Onofrio al Gianicolo:
Jonathan Liedl ’16 CSMA, senior editor for the National Catholic Register, was recognized for his work at the Catholic Media Conference in Portland, Oregon, in July. He received the Best Feature Writing distinction for his story, “Catholic Ink? Tattoos, Piercings, and the Pursuit of Holiness,” and he earned first place in the Best Reporting on Vocations to Priesthood, Religious Life or Diaconate category for his piece, “The Call of Duty: Priests, Seminarians Respond to Dire Need for Military Chaplains.” Liedl’s feature story for The Catholic Spirit, “Taking Back Sunday,” which highlighted efforts to rejuvenate a practice of the Sabbath, also received an honorable mention at the annual event. Catholic Press Awards acknowledge the outstanding work of its members as they strive to further the mission of the Church. Jim Schulz ’08 received the Republican nomination for Minnesota Attorney General in May and ran in the general election in November.
Journeying to a Citadel of Faith (Arouca Press,
2021). Sonnen, an editor based in Charlotte, North Carolina, wrote with the Catholic Studies student in mind, focusing on the aesthetical, historical, and literary foundations of Sant’Onofrio. He describes the Renaissance treasure as one of Rome’s best kept secrets.
St. Thomas Lumen Fall/Winter 2022 Page 21
A REFLECTION ON WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU’S TEMPTATION
By KATHRYN WEHR Managing Editor of LOGOS
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Sacred Art
W
hen I have a free afternoon, I love to go visit “old friends” at the Minneapolis
of – presumably – a mother and child and shows off Bouguereau’s skill both in scenic background and the subtle lighting of the figures’ faces. With the looming woods behind them, it has a strong chiaroscuro (light and dark contrast) effect and, when viewed in person, the painting glows and shimmers, particularly in the water’s reflective light on the woman’s face. Remarkably for Bouguereau, the two subjects are facing each other; what is happening between them? The title, “Temptation,” along with the apple in the woman’s hands, draws our reflection back to the Garden of Eden. Could this be a mother telling her daughter the story of the Fall? And yet, if we look closely at the woman and the girl, we see that they have matching burgundy velvet ribbons and similar hairstyles. It seems more likely that they are, in fact, the same woman, caught in a moral quandary, or are a symbolic contrast between naked Innocence in direct light and covered Experience in shadowed half-light.
As Catholics we are taught to reckon with the chiaroscuro in our own lives. Psalm 116:6 says, “The Lord protects the simple; I was helpless, but he saved me” (NABRE). This is why Christ came: to save and to heal; to sweep clean the dark infested corners of our lives. To expose sin as a shabby substitute for true charity and trust in our Maker. Through the tangible reality of the sacraments, we are invited again (and again) to acknowledge our helplessness and receive salvation. So, imagine with me what might happen if this woman turned toward the light over her right shoulder, to see its source, as pure Innocence can see from her point of view. To expose Experience’s face to the cleansing light and so be healed and transformed into light. Perhaps she would set down the apple and take Innocence up into her arms, walking out of the dark woods and into the sunlit meadow beyond. ____________ Image: “Temptation” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Minneapolis Institute of Art, public domain.
Institute of Art: paintings or sculpture that I have shown to students and community members on tours over the years and some that have offered gifts of personal spiritual insight. One of my dearest old friends is “Temptation” (1880) by William- Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Bouguereau is considered one of the great 19th-century French painters in the classical school and known for his opposition to impressionism. He himself was a one-time seminarian, and many of his sacred works are still used for holy cards and other Catholic publishing, especially “Innocence” (1893), “Song of the Angels” (1881), and “Queen of Angels” (1900), though a greater part of his work depicts classical and mythical subjects with female nudes, or pastoral scenes of children in regional costume. In “Temptation,” the meaning is more ambiguous and draws in the viewer. It has an everyday subject
St. Thomas Lumen Fall/Winter 2022 Page 23
The Penitential Imagination in Andre Dubus’s Short Fiction
By NATHAN KILPATRICK
BY CONSIDERING THE GREATER CONTEXT OF WRITER ANDRE DUBUS’S CATHOLIC IMAGINATION, LOGOS AUTHOR NATHAN KILPATRICK INTRODUCES AN ELEMENT OF DUBUS’S WORK IN LOGOS 25:2, SPRING 2022, NOT PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED BY SCHOLARS, NAMELY ITS PENITENTIAL DIMENSION.
Andre Dubus’s character Joe Ritchie in the novella “Adultery” returns to the sacrament of penance with an awareness of his sins, but Joe returns to seek an external authority that pulls him out of his moral morass and offers community that prepares him for his death. First published in 1974 in The Sewanee Review, “Adultery” is one of three novellas that make up a trilogy detailing the complications of the open marriages of Edith and Hank Allison and Jack and Terry Linhart. Joe Ritchie, Edith’s co-adulterer
and a former priest, is ultimately a minor character in the larger trilogy and within the novella “Adultery” itself, though no less significant for his minor status. As Edith thinks through what demands her broken marriage can make of her, it is her relationship with Joe that allows the reader to understand the ways in which sin isolates a person and penance reconciles him to the communities that will sustain him. The isolation caused by sin becomes apparent early in the story, when Joe thinks through his
relationship with Edith. Despite having been a priest, he tries to justify their adultery by insisting on the lack of nuance confessors might have for their situation: It was not that he believed he was sinning with her; it was that he didn’t know. And if indeed he were living in sin it was too complex for him to enter a confessional and simply murmur the word adultery; too complex for him to burden just any priest with, in any confessional. He recognized this as pride: the sinner
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LOGOS Journal
assuming the anonymous confessor would be unable to understand and unwilling to grapple with the extent and perhaps even the exonerating circumstances of the sin, but would instead have to retreat and cling to the word adultery and the divine law forbidding it. Within this description, Joe admits a lack of clarity concerning what he is doing with Edith. Neither denying nor confirming that their relationship is sinful, Joe attempts to understand the complicated mix of felt emotion and commitments to which both he and Edith are obligated. Importantly, Joe recognizes that refusing confession is a kind of pride, for he assumes that his understanding of the “exonerating circumstances” is superior to the priest who might hear his confession. More significant, however, is Joe’s isolation. Though he remains in relationship with Edith, her marriage
He smiled. “I realized he didn’t have to. It’s something I’d forgotten with all my thinking: it’s what ritual is for: nobody has to understand. The knowledge is in the ritual. Anyone can listen to the words. So I just used the simple words.” “You called us adultery?” “That’s what I called us,” he said, and drew her face down to his chest. Reversing his former prideful assertion that his knowledge of the exonerating circumstances is superior to the confessor’s; Joe here locates the efficacy of the sacrament in its performed nature rather than its ability to explain all mystery. His affection for Edith has not diminished, nor has hers for him; instead, he brings the moral authority of a wider religious community into their relationship, opening them to a vision of the good of which their relationship falls short. Indeed, Joe affirms the need for the sacrament of penance in the confession itself, stating that knowledge of sin and the responding grace comes from the ritual itself. Neither the priest hearing the confession nor Joe confessing his sins need to understand fully the mixed loyalties Joe feels to both Edith and the Church. Instead, the ritual gives Joe a communal role to fulfill, a typological way of re-entering community in order to die in the embrace of a Father awaiting the return of his prodigal son.
The novella importantly ends with Edith and Joe being physically united in light of the confession, her head resting on his chest. The choice for Joe is not between Edith or the Church. Rather, he chooses here to receive Edith within the life of the Church, rightly ordering his love for her to concern for his own soul. When she realizes the ways in which he has broadened their relationship to include this priest and God himself, she responds to his penance by receiving his love and regard for her and allows it to motivate her to demand better for herself in her marriage. Indeed, her relation to Joe, even in this potentially shaming moment of renouncing their relationship as adulterous, dissolves the boundaries she has tried to erect between her problematic marriage to Hank and the pleasurable but sinful relationship with Joe. Edith decides to leave Hank, making Joe’s love for her the measure by which she will repudiate Hank’s demeaning treatment of her. In doing so, Joe’s confession offers Edith herself the possibility of being received into a community that will sustain her separation even as she struggles with the concomitant celibacy implied by the choice.
to Hank and her commitment to their daughter make this
relationship partial at best, and Joe resists the very religious community that might help him to prepare for his death. This all changes, however, when Joe realizes the need for a final confession on his deathbed. When Edith joins Joe after this final confession, their conversation is masterful in its subtext: “Did he understand everything?” she said.
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St. Thomas Lumen Fall/Winter 2022 Page 25
As
Catholic Studies prepares to mark 30 years of an integrated, Christ-centered approach to Catholic thought and culture, we invite you to come along with us!
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