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Rev. Paul K. Raftery, O.P.Born and raised in the small Northern California town of Dixon, just outside of the state’s capital, Sacramento, the young Paul Raftery attended public schools through the twelfth grade. The Faith, however, was always foremost in his heart and mind. After attending the University of California at Davis for a couple of years, he began to consider a vocation to the priesthood and religious life. He investigated a number of orders, but in talking with and receiving encouragement from his uncle, a Dominican priest, he decided to enter the Order of Preachers. Fr. Paul earned a Masters of Divinity degree at St. Albert’s College, commonly known as the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, in Oakland, California, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984. Having had his first two assignments at Newman Centers on the campuses of the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Oregon in Eugene, Fr. Paul is no stranger to campus ministry. Following on these, he began an extended period of parish work in Portland, Oregon, and in Northern California. In 1998, he earned a licentiate degree in the history of liturgy at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. Most recently, he served as an associate at St. Dominic’s parish in Eagle Rock, California. Early in his priesthood, Fr. Paul heard about Thomas Aquinas College. “When I was a student at St. Albert’s,” he explains, “I read about the College in Christopher Derrick’s book, Escape from Scepticism; I also read the Blue Book, [the College’s founding document].” In 2004, now assigned to a parish somewhat near the campus, Fr. Paul was asked to serve as chaplain for the College’s Chapter of Third Order Dominicans. His association with faculty members in that Chapter occurred at just the time the College was seeking a new chaplain. “Now that I’m here,” he says, “I find it a wonderful environment for coming to know God at the level of His natural revelation through the great books curriculum. The program is all so wonderfully ordered to and in harmony with the study of the Faith.” Fr. Paul is now busy offering daily Mass, administering the sacraments, and providing spiritual direction to the students. Having a keen interest in Gregorian chant, he is delighted with the College’s Chant Schola that enhances the liturgical life on campus. An avid hiker, he is also enjoying the trails and the natural beauty of the Los Padres National Forest above the campus. “I like to get together with some students,” Fr. Paul explains, “and walk down a trail so I can just be in their presence and share in their lives.”
Rev. Charles Willingham, O.Praem.Thomas Aquinas College is deeply grateful to the Norbertine order both for allowing Fr. Michael Perea to serve as a chaplain at the College for eight years, and for now sending Fr. Charles Willingham, to take his place in helping serve the spiritual needs of its students, faculty, and staff. A native of San Pedro, California, Fr. Charles was well on his way toward the life of a Catholic layman when a series of events caused him to think God might have a different path planned for him. While attending a junior college, working his way toward an engineering degree, Fr. Charles was caught by surprise at the intense media coverage of the passings of Pope’s Paul VI and John Paul I, followed so quickly by the election of John Paul II and his subsequent visit to the United States. “There seemed to be about a year and a half of solid media coverage of these incredible events in the Church,” he recalls. “It was so impressive to me that I just said,‘I have to be a part of that!’” He entered the diocesan seminary, but after two years of study, wondered whether he might instead have a vocation to a religious order. It was then that Fr. Charles discovered the Order of Praemontre, commonly known as the Norbertine order of priests. He visited St. Michael’s Abbey in Orange County, California, and began conversations with one of the Norbertine priests there that resulted in his entering their order. During preparations for the priesthood that included study both at the Abbey and in Rome, he earned an M.A. in spiritual theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1995. For the past 18 years, he has called St. Michael’s Abbey home. He has especially loved the Order’s devotion to the Office, whereby priests and fraters (brothers) gather seven times a day to pray together the prayer of the Church. Fr. Charles has had a number of assignments over the years, including parish work, the chaplaincy at a facility for developmentally disabled persons, and teaching in the Order’s high school, located on the grounds of the Abbey. “I taught morality and sometimes freshman religion,” he recalls. “It was a really great experience. By the time these boys are seniors they have a solid foundation for their faith.” Fr. Charles believes his teaching experience will serve him well in his new capacity as chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College. Admittedly, as he says, “There’s a difference between high school students and college students; one does not feel as free to call older students on something and tell them what they should be doing because the point is that they should be responsible. But the caliber of the students at the College and their spirituality and devotion are amazing.” Never having lived apart from his community of Norbertines, Fr.
Charles is adjusting to his new home at the College and, in particular,
learning to fit the prayers of the Office into the new rhythm of
daily life at Thomas Aquinas College. While he makes the transition,
he is finding the camaraderie of his fellow College chaplains a
tremendous blessing.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Fall 2006 |
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