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“LISTENING TO GOD”
Students Undertake Spiritual Exercises of
St. Ignatius at Triduum Retreat
Over the course of the Easter Triduum, Thomas Aquinas College students spent their time in retreat, practicing the Spiritual Exercise of St. Ignatius under the guidance of a Jesuit retreat master, Rev. Raymond Gawronski, S.J.
“We begin with Creation, and then move through the Fall, the Incarnation, the life of Our Lord, His passion, death and resurrection,” says Fr. Gawronski, a visiting scholar at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California, and a professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. “It’s always Christocentric, always centered on Christ and His life, and it’s always working out of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, who is the patron of all retreats in the Church.”
The retreat consisted of five conferences, which took place between the liturgies and rites of the Holy Triduum, culminating with the Easter Vigil late Saturday night. Its ultimate purpose, Fr. Gawronski adds, was to aid students’ in their contemplation. “We want to upgrade it a little bit, to the point where you’re actually listening to God.”
Full story 
Photos from the Easter Triduum
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St. Ignatius of Loyola
Rev. Ray Gawronski, S.J.
Easter Vigil
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PREPARING FOR THE SYNOD
Tutors Participate in Second “Gathering of Theologians” with Archbishop Gomez
Four members of the Thomas Aquinas College teaching faculty — Dean Brian T. Kelly and tutors Katherine M. Gardner, Jared P. Kuebler, and Paul K. Shields — recently participated in a gathering of theologians at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Conference Center, hosted by the Most Rev. José H. Gomez.
For this, the second such gathering in two years, Archbishop Gomez invited theologians from colleges and universities throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, including all four Catholic institutions — St. John’s Seminary, Loyola Marymount University, Mount St. Mary’s College, and Thomas Aquinas College.
“Archbishop Gomez is one of four American bishops who will participate in the Synod on the Family in Rome in October,” explains Dr. Kelly. “So he asked us to help advise him in order to prepare him for his participation.”
Full story
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Jared P. Kuebler, Archbishop Gomez, Katherine Gardner, Paul Shields, and Dean Brian Kelly
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FAITH IN ACTION
Highlights from the College’s Alumni Blog
• Chanting the Exsultet at this year’s Easter Vigil Mass, offered by His Holiness Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica, was a graduate of the College: Frater Jacob, O.Praem. (Joseph Hsieh ’06). A Norbertine canon and a transitional deacon, Frater Jacob is currently studying theology and music at the Norbertine Generalte in Rome. He is due to return stateside in time for his ordination to the priesthood on June 27. A video from the Mass is available on the College’s website.
• The latest issue of the Claremont Review of Books features one Thomas Aquinas College alumnus writing about another: Dr. Matthew J. Peterson (’01), a visiting assistant professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, reviews The Foundations of Natural Morality: On the Compatibility of Natural Rights and the Natural Law, by Dr. S. Adam Seagrave (’05), an assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Peterson characterizes the work as “not a wholly Lockean but, as [Dr. Seagrave] says, a ‘Locke-ish’ case for how natural rights arise from the very structure of human beings.”
• The Catholic News Agency reports that the chart-topping Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, have released a new album for the Easter season, Easter at Ephesus. For three years in a row, the community, which is based in Gower, Missouri, has been the best-selling artist on Billboard’s “Classical Traditional” list. Two of the nuns, Sr. Mary Josefa of the Eucharist, OSB (Kathleen Holcomb ’07), and Sr. Sophia Eid, OSB (’08), are alumnae of the College. Easter at Ephesus features 27 tracks, in both English and Latin, including traditional hymns, original compositions, and chants.
The Faith in Action Blog
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SUMMER LEARNING
Upcoming College Seminars and Events
After the last vehicle rolls off the Thomas Aquinas College campus following Commencement; when the residence halls, once teeming with students, grow quiet; when silence briefly replaces Socratic discourse in the classroom buildings, it may seem as though the intellectual life of the College has slipped into a summer’s hibernation.
In reality, the intellectual life of the academic year has merely given way to a very different, albeit still vibrant, sort of intellectual life. Most of the students have left, but not all, and although their formal instruction has been suspended, their learning most certainly has not. Likewise, the summer offers educational opportunities for the College’s various other constituencies — prospective students, faculty, alumni, and benefactors.
As usual, Thomas Aquinas College will offer a wide range of conferences, seminars, and other academic opportunities this summer. Follow the links below to learn more about any of the events.
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“Virtue and Friendship”
Aristotelian-Thomistic Studies Conference
June 18-19 |
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Happiness, the Common Good,
and Political Society
Social Doctrine Conference
June 19-21 |
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The 2015 Summer Seminars
“Choice and Moral Responsibility”
July 10-12 and 17-19 |
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High School Summer Program
for rising high school seniors
July 19 – August 1 |
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Seminars: Sacraments, Grace & Free Will
Napa Institute Conference
July 30-31 |
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IN MEMORIAM
Remembering Rev. Gerard Steckler, S.J.
1925 – 2015
By Dr. Brian T. Kelly (’88)
Thomas Aquinas College was very blessed by the presence and service of Rev. Gerard George Steckler, S.J., from 1982 to 1993. ...
I think that Father found being at the College to be a bit of a challenge. He liked to say shocking things, but we weren’t like the Jesuits. He couldn’t shock us simply by being orthodox. He had to try harder.
Still, he managed. ... For wayward bishops he wished and prayed for them the highest good possible, the blessing of a good and holy death — though he always added the qualifier “immediate,” so he asked for them a “good, holy, and immediate death.” Not a sentiment you will find on a Hallmark card, but a great blessing indeed. And always he gleefully exhorted us to “Suffer! Suffer!” ...
Why was he this way? I think it was because he loved us and he loved his vocation. He shared with us one day that, in the seminary, a wise old priest had advised him to adopt a style and live it. It proved an effective way to serve souls. It spoke to us. As students we felt that Fr. Steckler loved us. And I have to add that we loved and love him. He took care of us.
Full story
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Dr. Brian T. Kelly
Rev. Gerard George Steckler, S.J.
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