Commencement Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology

SS. Robert and William Parish May 6, 2021

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

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. Andrew Turner, STL, DMin Director of Field Education Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology

Rev. David Bline, MDiv Spiritual Director

Alan K. Rome, MLS Librarian

Sr. Lisa Marie Belz, OSU, PhD Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture

Rev. J. Mark Hobson, DMin Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Edward Kaczuk, PhD Professor of Liturgical-Sacramental Theology

Rev. Joseph M. Koopman, STD Associate Professor of Moral Theology

Rev. John E. Manning, DMin Associate Professor of Church History

page 12 Rev. J. Patrick Manning, PhD Associate Professor of Church History

Rev. Mark S. Ott, SSL Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture

Rev. George Smiga, STD Professor of Sacred Scripture/Homiletics

Rev, Christopher J. Trenta, SLD (Cand) Assistant Professor of Liturgical-Sacramental Theology

Rev. Gary D. Yanus, JCD Professor of Canon Law

Luke Brown, LPC Adjunct Faculty – Pastoral Counseling

Rev. John C. Chlebo, DMin Adjunct Faculty – Doctor of Ministry Program

Rev. Scott P. Detisch, STL, PhD Adjunct Faculty – Systematic Theology

Rev. Donald Dunson, PhD Adjunct Faculty – Moral Theology

Mary Patricia Frey, DMin Adjunct Faculty – Pastoral Theology

Rev. Joseph T. Hilinski, MDiv Adjunct Faculty – Pastoral Theology

Rev. John P. McNulty, DMin Adjunct Faculty – Homiletics

Rev. Daniel F. Schlegel, DMin (Cand) Adjunct Faculty – Homiletics

Rev. Michael J. Stalla, DMin (Cand) Adjunct Faculty – Homiletics (Spanish)

page 13 Academic Regalia The academic regalia worn during the commencement ceremonies is a relic of the clothing worn by students and professors in medieval times in Europe. The scholars of the different universities, dressed daily in special garments, consistent with the custom of merchants and professionals such as doctors and lawyers who dressed in special working garments. The cap, known as the mortarboard, is adorned with a tassel, a black one for the person who has earned an associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degree; a gold one for the person who has earned a doctorate or is a governing officer of an educational institution. The gown is usually black and is cut three different ways to emphasize the degree earned by the wearer. Long pointed sleeves distinguish the associate’s and bachelor’s gowns from the master’s and doctor’s gowns. The master’s gown has sleeves that are sewn on the ends and have a hook on one side. The doctor’s gown has very full sleeves on which horizontal chevrons are sewn. The hood is the most colorful element of the attire. It is worn on the back suspended from the shoulders with a band that crosses in front of the neck. The shortest hood is worn by those who have earned an associate’s degree. The bachelor’s hood is three feet long, the master’s three and one-half feet long and the doctor’s four feet long. The inner lining is made with the fabric of the colors of the institution granting the degree. The color of the border indicates the field of specialty in which the degree is earned. Scarlet is the color for a degree in Theology.

The Presidential Chain of Office The presidential collar, or chain of office, bears the shield of the seminary surrounded by the inscription: “Seminarium Sanctae Mariae Cleveland”.

page 14 Mace The processional mace was commissioned by Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology to celebrate its Sesquicentennial Anniversary. The mace was designed and carved by Timothy C. Riffle in cherry wood and gilt with 24K gold leaf. The two inlays of the Saint Mary Coat of Arms of opaque and translucent enamel and 24K gold and silver in the Cloisonné style were grafted by Pamela Argenstieri.

Coat of Arms Blazon Quarterly Azure and Ermine, a cross quarterly Or and Gules, in the first and fourth quarters two barrulets wavy Argent.

Significance The Arms of St. Mary Seminary are quartered with the basic colors and quarters of the Arms of Pope Pius IX, during whose pontificate the seminary was founded. The two silver (white) wavy barrulets in the first and fourth quarters commemorate the first parish in the Diocese of Cleveland, St. Mary of the Lake, and honor the present dedication of the seminary. The ermine spots in the second and third quarters are derived from the Arms of the Diocese of Cleveland and are symbolic of the seminary as a diocesan theologate. The quartered cross in gold and red symbolizes the truths that are central to theology and honors the founder of the seminary, Louis Amadeus Rappe, first Bishop of Cleveland, who bore a gold cross on his Arms. The present development of the seminary owes much to Archbishop Joseph Schrembs, fifth Bishop of Cleveland, whose Arms were tinctured blue, gold and silver. Historical research has shown the diocesan seminary was, for a very short time, dedicated to St. Francis de Sales, the colors of whose Arms were blue, gold, and red. By a happy coincidence the Arms of Saint Mary Seminary incorporate these colors.

page 15 Acknowledgements

Rev. John Betters, Pastor, and the Staff of SS. Robert and William Parish The Administration, Faculty, and Staff of Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology Rev. Michael Woost, STL, Director of Liturgy Dr. Edward Kaczuk, PhD, Director of Liturgical Music Mr. Philip Guban, Chief Operating Officer, Treasurer X Press Printing Services, Inc., Alan Semethy Florist: Chris’ Creations, Chris Amos

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Preparing men for the Roman Catholic priesthood in the Diocese of Cleveland and serving as a center for advanced theological education

Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology 28700 Euclid Avenue • Wickliffe, OH 44092 (440) 943-7600 www.stmarysem.edu