Not so much Catechism as Conviction
Thomas Aquinas College Produces a Harvest of Priests
Five alumni of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula were ordained
to the priesthood this year, bringing the total number of alumni
priests to 47. The college also boasts 20 graduates who are religious
brothers and sisters, and an additional 35 in seminaries preparing
for the priesthood.
These numbers are especially striking for a small, private college
with only 2100 alumni and a maximum enrollment of 350 students.
California Catholic Daily interviewed Fr. Sebastian Walshe, a TAC
graduate now belonging to the Norbertine St. Michael's Abbey in
Silverado, California. Father Walshe has been a Norbertine priest
for two years.
Does everybody at Thomas Aquinas College major in theology or
religious
studies?
Fr. Walshe: No, there are no majors, no areas of specialization.
The college follows the Great Books curriculum and the Socratic
method of teaching.
Do most of Thomas Aquinas students go straight from devout Catholic
families to this enclave of Catholic piety?
Fr. Walshe: Some do, but that was certainly not the case
with me. I was raised Lutheran and became a convert to the Catholic
faith at age thirteen.
And then you thought, "I need some serious catechism..."?
Fr. Walshe: No, I started out studying Electrical Engineering
at the University of California at Irvine. But while that was job
training, it wasn't really an education. That's why I enrolled in
Thomas Aquinas. What TAC gave me was not so much "catechism,"
but the conviction that faith is something that can deepen through
the application of reason.
So, can you "reason" yourself into religion?
Fr. Walshe: No, I don't think that's true. But you can dispose
yourself to be open to religious truths, and you can remove impediments
to the Faith. Grace builds on nature; if your mind is well-ordered
at the natural level, you can be more receptive to grace.
There are secular, non-Catholic colleges, such as St. John's
in Annapolis, where the Great Books curriculum has been helpful
in spurring conversions to the Catholic faith.
Fr. Walshe: But Thomas Aquinas College is a truly Catholic
milieu. One reason for the vocations from TAC is the integrity of
the curriculum with the faith as it is concretely lived out.
It's not just a theory. Even the 5-10% of the students who are
not Catholics are expected to live in a manner consistent with Catholic
principles. Most graduates will choose the vocation of matrimony:
they marry and build outstanding, child-rich Catholic families.
At the same time, at TAC there is a constant awareness of the primacy
of religious life as a vocation. The vowed celibate religious life
is encouraged and honored.
What's your advice to other Catholic colleges?
Fr. Walshe: If you're a student, you need the leisure to
integrate what you think, what you believe, and how you act. Joseph
Pieper wrote a book about this. A Catholic college should be faithful
to the magisterium and provide students with the leisure and moral
environment to think through the big questions: "Why am I alive?
What am I supposed to be doing? Where am I going? What is God?"
In that kind of environment, the harvest will be rich.
This article originally appeared in California Catholic
Daily on August 16, 2007. Posted with express permission.
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