Commencement Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology
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Commencement Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology SS. Robert and William Parish May 6, 2021 Commencement Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology SS. Robert and William Parish May 6, 2021 page 1 page 2 Dear Graduates, It is with great joy that I offer my sincere congratulations on this occasion of commencement marking the completion of your graduate studies at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. For all of you, seminarians soon to be ordained priests, lay men and women already serving in pastoral and educational ministries, and vowed religious already living out your charism, this day marks a significant step in your vocational journey and your life of service to the Church. An academic commencement marks a new chapter in your life, but you do not come to this day alone. Our gratitude as a diocesan Church extends to your families and friends who have supported you, the seminary administration, faculty and staff who have dedicated their lives to preparing candidates for ministry, and those who so generously support Saint Mary Seminary. Their commitment assures the continued vitality of this important ministry of priestly formation and theological education for years to come. In God’s plan each of you has been created and called according to God’s purpose. You have also been given the great gift to hear and respond to the Word of Jesus Christ, and, as St. Hilary of Poitiers writes, to be “saturated in His love and faith.” That love and faith which you have probed deeply in your theological studies mark you forever with a radical mission. May St. Hilary’s prayer be yours: “Now, Lord, I cannot change my attitude to my faith, I can only die for it.” St. John Paul II’s words at the turn of the Third Millennium apply so well to today’s commencement: “It is very important to cross the threshold of hope, not to stop before it, but to let oneself be led.” May our good and provident God continue to fill each of you, graduates, with joy as you cross this threshold. eW accompany you with our affection, gratitude, and prayers to where the Lord will lead you in His service. Go now to serve the Lord with gladness. God bless you and those you love. Your brother in Christ, Most Reverend Edward C. Malesic, JCL Bishop of Cleveland Chancellor page 3 President’s Message Rev. Mark A. Latcovich, PhD President-Rector As you enter through the main entrance of the Marotta-Bruening library, and look at the last window on the left side, you will see the Latin inscription Studium Theologiae. The “Study of Theology” is depicted in this window by a brilliant sun shining with golden rays offering light to a bird within a cage. If you look more closely, it appears that the bars of the cage seem to disappear, so the bird could be poised to fly out of the cage toward the sun and sing its melodious song with true freedom. This stain glass window provides a great perspective of what a theological education at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology means for one at commencement time. As students of theology, you have felt over these years the warming light of “the Son.” You have come to see what faith seeking understanding looks like in real life. You have come to know Christ, as proclaimed in the Easter Vigil’s Exsultet, as “the one who broke the prison bars of death,” who is “the one Morning Star who never sets.” This realization provides both the inspiration, focus and outcome in your theological education. Be inspired! Your interactions with each other that occur inside and outside the classroom through mentors and teachers have provided a venue to engage in theological reflection. This process has begun to shape your heart and nourish your soul. Remain focused! Your theological journey happened in the corridors of this school; in the seminary chapel and parish communities that formed you. You have been taught by field education supervisors, by parish staff members, and the People of God to whom you have ministered. The outcome of theological formation is to grow a disciple’s heart. You now trust the Master’s guiding light. Go forth as one who has accepted a call to know, love and serve the One who is your Light and Life. Congratulations graduates! Rev. Mark A. Latcovich, PhD President-Rector page 4 Commencement Speaker Reverend Gerald Bednar, PhD Professor of Systematic Theology Rev. Gerald J. Bednar, Ph. D., has taught systematic theology at Saint Mary Seminary & Graduate School of Theology for 31 years and philosophy at Borromeo for 5 years. A native Clevelander and graduate of St. Ignatius High School, Fr. Bednar attended the University of Notre Dame where he received his A.B. degree in government in 1968. Winning a National Defense Education Act Fellowship, he continued his studies in political theory at Georgetown University where he earned a master’s degree in 1971, after interrupting his studies to serve in the Army at Ft. Dix, NJ, and Ft. Holabird, MD. He then enrolled at Notre Dame Law School and received a J.D. degree in 1974. After working for five years as an attorney in Washington, DC, he left the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski to pursue a vocation to the priesthood at Cleveland’s St. Mary Seminary. Ordained in 1983 by Bishop Anthony M. Pilla, Fr. Bednar was assigned to St. Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls. In 1986, he was asked to pursue graduate studies at Fordham University which awarded him a Ph.D. in systematic theology. Joining Saint Mary’s faculty in 1990, Fr. Bednar has taught Christology, Fundamental Theology, Anthropology, Ecclesiology as well as Theology and the Arts, and several other electives. He has served as the Administrative Trustee of the Outreach Trust Fund and as the Mullen Lecture Coordinator for many years. He has also performed legal work as a member of the Bishop’s Medical Moral Board. In 1991, he was asked to join a task force to help start Project Hope for the Homeless, Lake County’s only homeless shelter. He served on the Board of Trustees as Legal Advisor and then as Chairman, a position he held for 15 years. He now continues to serve as a board member. In addition to various articles and book reviews, Fr. Bednar has published Faith as Imagination: The Contribution of William F. Lynch (Sheed & Ward, 1996) and Mercy and the Rule of Law: A Theological Interpretation of Amoris Laetitia (Liturgical Press, 2021, forthcoming). page 5 Order of Service Introductory Rite Processional Greeting Opening prayer Liturgy of the Word First Reading .........................................................................................Genesis 45:24-28 Responsorial ....................................................................................................... Psalm 71 Text: Lectionary for Mass, © 1969, 1981, ICEL. Second Reading ........................................................................................1 Peter 1:22-25 Gospel ....................................................................................................Matthew 2:19-23 Commencement Address ................................................... Rev. Gerald Bednar, PhD Conferral of Degrees Concluding Remarks Solemn Blessing Recessional page 6 Candidates for the Degree Master of Divinity Alexander Vincent Leo Clark Chad Edward Johnson Cameron David Popik Alexander Charles Spenik James Thornton Winings page 7 Candidates for the Degree Master of Arts (Theology) Tonia Borsellino Liberated by Love’s Dark Night Alexander Vincent Leo Clark The Human and Divine Heart in the Old and New Testament: A Scriptural Anthropology of the Heart Ryan M. Franzinger Fundamental and Pastoral Insights from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises in a Catholic Educational Community Context Lindsay B. Fullerman Theology of the Body and Virtue Theory: A Critical Lens to Understanding Healthy Living. Raquel Gutierrez Becoming What We Receive: Transformation in Christ and Mercedarian Spirituality Chad Edward Johnson Be Sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit: Sacramental Preparation for Confirmation as a Case Study in Liturgical Catechesis Cameron David Popik The Lifeline of the Priest: Giussani’s Event of Encounter and Sharing Life with Christ page 8 Alexander Charles Spenik Enfleshing Christ: Ministry and Mission as Liberation in the Life of Sr. Dorothy Kazel, OSU Julie M. Tragon Living Laudato Si’: Toward an Integral Ecology in Liturgy and Life James Thornton Winings The Marriage-Bed of the Cross: Probing the Supernatural Character of Christianity in the Theologies of Matthias Scheeben and Henri de Lubac page 9 Board of Trustees The Most Reverend Edward C. Malesic Bishop of Cleveland, Chancellor The Very Reverend Mark A. Latcovich President Rector The Reverend Daniel F. Schlegel Secretary and Vicar for Clergy and Religious Mr. James Gulick, CPA Finance Officer, Diocese of Cleveland Mr. Kevin Burke, Esq. Legal Office, Diocese of Cleveland Mr. Gerard D’Souza, Esq. Attorney - US Immigration and Naturalization Law Mr. Cary Dabney African American Ministry - Diocese of Cleveland Mr. Frank R. DeSantis, Esq. Thompson Hine The Reverend Dave Ireland Pastor, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Mr. Timothy Jakubisin Codonics, Inc. page 10 Dr. Katherine Kelly Cleveland VA Medical Center Dr. Michael Kelly Metro Health Medical Center Mr. Tom Latsko Random Products Sr. Mary McCormick, OSU Faculty Representative Academic Dean, Professor of Systematic Theology Mrs. Thi Nguyen Department of Defense - Defense Finance and Accounting Services Mr. Bill O’Brien ESSROC, Nazareth PA (ret.) Sr. Eileen Marie Quinlan, SND Notre Dame College Dr. Raymond Staron, Jr Engineering Fellow at Rockwell Automation, retired page 11 Administration & Faculty 2020-2021 Rev. Mark A. Latcovich, PhD President-Rector Professor of Pastoral Theology Rev. Gerald J. Bednar, PhD Vice President, Vice-Rector Professor of Systematic Theology Rev. Michael G. Woost, STL Dean of Students Associate Professor of Liturgical-Sacramental Theology Sr. Mary McCormick, OSU, PhD Academic Dean Professor of Systematic Theology Sr. Mary Brendon Zajac, SND, DMin Registrar, Assistant Academic Dean Professor of Pastoral Theology Rev.