Spring/Summer 2019 Class NNootteess IN THIS ISSUE . See page 27 Faculty News School of Theology Faculty, Graduation 2019 This year, Fr. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S. pub - Recent Revisions to the Catechism. Also in March Fr. Brown was in lished two articles: “Prescription and the Washington, DC attending the Anniversary Celebration of the Usefulness of Time” in A Service Beyond All Election of Pope Francis at the Apostolic Nunciature. In late Recompense: Studies Offered in Honor of Msgr. March, Fr. Brown attended the annual meeting of the St. Thomas Thomas J. Green CUA Press and “The Right of More Society of Maryland Board of Trustees in which he was re- Defense and Due Process: Fulcrum of Justice, elected to serve on the Board of Trustees. In April, Fr. Brown Heart of the Law” Studia Canonica 52/2 (2018). attended a conference on the Role of Lawyers in the Clergy Fr. Brown, an active member of the St. Thomas Abuse Crisis at Georgetown University Law Center in More Society and the Canon Law Society of America, participat - Washington, DC. At the conclusion of the academic year Fr. ed in several board meetings this year as well as representing St. Brown attending the Biennial Sulpician Provincial Retreat in Mary’s at the National Association of Catholic Theological Seattle, Washington. On a monthly basis, Fr. Brown continues Schools annual meeting in Chicago, IL from September 27-29. to attend meetings as a Chaplain for Teams of Our Lady. St. Mary’s was honored to host the annual St. Thomas More Society Red Mass and Award Dinner in October and St. Mary’s Fr. Thomas J. Burke, O.SS.T., (SMSC’74 hosted its annual breakfast for Bishops at the USCCB meeting in and SMS’78), gave a retreat to the Diocese of Baltimore in November. Fr. Brown continues to travel to dioceses Scranton Permanent Deacon Candidates and for recruitment visits. This year he traveled to Louisville, their wives on the weekend of June 7-9, 2019 Memphis and Raleigh. In early February, Fr. Brown attended the at St. Gabriel’s Passionist Monastery in South Conference on the Current Crises in the Church at the Four Abington Township, PA. The retreat was Seasons Hotel and Conference Center in Georgetown which was entitled “Mary: Model of Discipleship.” sponsored by the Catholic Leadership Roundtable. In March Fr. Brown was a panelist at the University of St. Thomas School of Law discussing the topic Revisiting the Death Penalty in Light of 2 Class Notes Spring/Summer 2019 Dr. Michael Gorman’s recent publications Articles of Religion,” at the annual meeting of the Wesley include the book Abide and Go: Missional Theological Society, March 16, 2019, in Washington DC. Theosis in the Gospel of John and the booklet Participation: Paul’s Vision of Life in Christ , as In October 2018, Dr. Bill Scalia presented his well as the following articles: “Paul: His Life paper “Words on Film: Signification and and Theology” in The Paulist Biblical Predication of the Word-Image” at the 2018 Commentary; “First Corinthians and the International Festival of Authors conference Marks of God's Ekklesia: One, Holy, Catholic, in Toronto, Canada. In April 2019, Dr Scalia and Apostolic” in One God, One People, One Future: Essays In presented his essay “Being Between Word and Honor Of N. T. Wright ; “The Spirit, the Prophets, and the End of World: Heidegger’s Phenomenology of Poetry the ‘Johannine Jesus’” in Journal of Theological Interpretation ; “The and Poesis” at the 2019 Northeast Modern Holy Spirit and Cruciformity” in Holy Spirit: Spokesperson, Language Association conference in Washington, DC. Also, Dr. Scripture, Sermon, Society ; and “Romans from the Participationist Scalia’s essay “Alfred Hitchcock’s Lying Flashback: Ethics, Perspective” in Preaching Romans . He also wrote the forewords to Aesthetics, Memory, and Cinema” was published in the Suffering as Participation with Christ in the Pauline Corpus , by Proceedings of the 2016 International Festival of Authors (Toronto: Wesley Thomas Davey, and Suffering in Paul: Perspectives and Humber University Press). And, his essay “Between Diegesis and Implications , edited by Siu Fung Wu. Dr. Gorman delivered a Mimesis: Voice-Over Narration in Fiction Film” was published in paper entitled “The New Perspective on John: Ethics, Mission, the online journal Bright Lights (https://brightlightsfilm.com/wp- Theosis” at the annual meeting of the British New Testament content/cache/all/between-diegesis-and-mimesis-voice-over-nar - Society, and “Martin Luther King, Jr. as Prophetic Interpreter of ration-in-fiction-film/). Prophetic Paul” at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. He gave lectures at Lincoln Christian University, Northern Seminary, Harding University, and Boston College Dr. Paul Seaton translated two books which School of Theology and Ministry. He also delivered St. Mary’s were recently published: Moderately Modern commencement address this year on the topic “Parables of (St. Augustine Press, 2019), by Rémi Brague, Communion.” translated with an Introduction by Paul Seaton, and The Kingdom of Man: On the Genesis and Failure of the Modern Project On October 27, 2018, Fr. Thomas R. Hurst, (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018), by P.S.S. , participated in a Day of Recollection Rémi Brague, translated with an Introduction for Volunteer Ministers at Resurrection Parish by Paul Seaton. He also had published some review essays and in Ellicott City. Also in October, he spoke at articles: review essay of Leo Strauss and His Catholic Readers , “Introduction to Spiritual Direction” voegelinview.com, April 15, 2019; review Essay of Daniel J. Workshop at the Center for Continuing Mahoney, The Idol of Our Age: How the Religion of Humanity Formation at St. Mary’s Seminary. In Subverts Christianity , Modern Age, Spring, 2019; review essay of November, Fr. Hurst spoke on “Spirituality of Thomas Hibbs, Wagering on an Ironic God: Pascal on Faith and the Diocesan Priest” at the New Pastors Workshop at the Center Philosophy , The Review of Politics, Special Issue Honoring for Continuing Formation. Also at St. Mary’s Seminary, on Catherine H. Zuckert, Spring 2018, Vol. 80, No. 2, pp. March 8, 2019, Fr. Hurst spoke at an Evening of Recollection, 365-369; and “Charlemagne’s European Project – and Rémi “Praying the Scriptures in Lent.” Finally, he spoke at an Brague’s,” Modern Age, Winter 2018, Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. Afternoon of Recollection for priests for the Diocese of 45 – 54. Harrisburg on April 15, 2019, “Preaching and Praying the Easter Gospels.” Fr. Gladstone H. Stevens, P.S.S. , gave a retreat for the priests of Newark in October. Dr. Brent Laytham chaired a Comprehensive He also gave a retreat to the priests of Evaluation Visit to Pope St. John XXIII Scranton beginning on June 24th. National Seminary for the Association of Theological Schools, and presented “The ‘Since’ of an Ending: The Substance of Things Hoped For in Hebrews 11-12 and the 25 In our next issue St. Mary’s will welcome and introduce our four new faculty members: Fr. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R., Fr. William Burton, O.F.M., Fr. Robert Cro, P.S.S. and Dr. Matthew Dugandzic. Spring/Summer 2019 3 Class Notes THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE: The New Evangelization for a Secular Age: A Study in Development (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2019) By Robert F. Leavitt, P.S.S. As many know, I’ve spent my life as a Sulpician priest in this seminary as a teacher and educator of future priests. A decade after my ordination in 1968, I was appointed president-rector here. Whatever modest dreams I har - bored then about a scholarly life went by the wayside. The longer I remained in office, the more remote the prospect of publishing became. On the other hand, for my nearly three-decades as president-rector, I did more than seminary administration. That included serving on several boards, establishing a tutorial center for elemen - tary school children as well as occasional retreats, lec - tures and weekly liturgies for the Carmelite Sisters and others. I also taught one or two courses at the seminary each year for thirty years. For me, the intellectual life of a Catholic priest is as important as his spiritual life. Fr. Leavitt at book signing event, May 2, 2019. Leading a seminary in the cross-currents of the post-con - ciliar period of the Catholic Church was stressful. To layered interpretation of selfhood as we now understand relieve that stress, I read as widely as I could about the it. It was a tour de force. A few years later, I made my way fractured experience of the modern age. through the philosophical sequel to Sources of the Self I wanted to join the larger philosophical and cultural entitled, A Secular Age . This was based on Taylor’s 1999 conversation taking place in certain intellectual circles Gifford Lectures in Scotland. In it, Taylor continued the about the nature of modernity. The dean of the School of philosophical exegesis of social mentalities he had devel - Theology at St. Mary’s asked me to prepare a course I oped in Sources of the Self but turned his attention to the hadn’t taught previously -- the philosophy of human question the birth and development of the secular state, nature. That led to my reading a book by the Canadian social secularization and especially versions of secular Catholic social philosopher, Charles Taylor, called humanism as alternatives to a Christian humanism. Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity. Taylor proposed replacing the default “substitution narra - What impressed me most about it was the way Taylor tive” of post-religious secularization with what he called wove together social history, adjustments in the social his own “master-reform” narrative of the secular age.