Wisdom and Discipleship: Honoring Francis Cardinal George

A Godly Humanism:Wisdom and Discipleship in the Thought of Francis Cardinal George

Tuesday, April 5th, 7:00 p.m.

Wege Ballroom Aquinas College 1607 Robinson Road SE

Free and Open to the Public

The Saint Benedict Forum is pleased to partner with their friends at the Lumen Christi Institute and Aquinas College to honor the great Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., who passed away last year.

Bishop David Walkowiak will be present to open us in prayer and share a little about his friend, the late Cardinal.  John Pinheiro, professor of history and director of the Catholic Studies Program at Aquinas, and Omar Gutierrez, Special Assistant to the Archbishop and Manager of the Office of Missions and Justice in the Archdiocese of Omaha, will both speak on Cardinal George's final book, A Godly Humanism: Clarifying the Hope That Lies Within, published posthumously.

Finished by Cardinal George nine days before his death, A Godly Humanism offers an account of the Catholic intellectual life by one of the most gifted thinkers to serve as bishop in the American Church. It draws on figures such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI to express a vision of the Church as a communion built around the relationship of God to human beings and of human beings to one another. The book provides a starting point for the interpretation of “Pope Francis’s Magisterium [as] evidence of another horizon having been opened more clearly for believers.”

Sr. Miriam Inspires Hope College

Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, inspired Hope College this week with a series of talks.  On Tuesday night, Sr. Miriam led a workshop entitled, "Called to Love: A Heart Fully Alive," where she discussed John Paul II's Theology of the Body with Hope College women.  One of the participants, Rebecca Pavlock, said, "This was easily in the top five best things I've ever done at Hope."  Another student shared, "This is exactly what I needed right now in my life."The following day, Sr. Miriam spoke to a thousand students in Hope College's chapel.  Her theme was "God's Masterpiece" and she brought the house down.  You can listen to her inspiring talk here.  Even President Knapp thought she was great.

Later that evening, Sr. Miriam led the annual Saint Benedict Forum Lent Retreat where she spoke on "Merciful Like the Father: Living in Forgiveness and Freedom."  Over a hundred people crammed into Western Seminary's Mulder Chapel to listen to Sr. Miriam's beautiful words.  Her talk was followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, confession, and Mass. On the walk back to the car after the retreat, two students stopped us and said what everyone was feeling: "Sr. Miriam!  You were so awesome today.  You have no idea how much you touched people.  Everyone has been talking about you all day.  Seriously, you have message that people really need to hear and reached a lot of people with it today.  Thank you."

SR. MIRIAM JAMES HEIDLAND, S.O.L.T. is a popular speaker on the Theology of the Body, authentic love and conversion, the healing power of Christ, and the dignity and beauty of woman.  She is the author of Loved As I Am: An Invitation to Conversion,  Healing, and Freedom through Jesus (Ave Maria Press, 2014).

March for Life: Becoming Missionary Disciples

Marchers have been gathering in Washington D.C. since 1974 on January 22nd to protest the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the USA. While this was the 41st annual “March for Life,” joining the event for possibly the first time were students from Hope College. The Saint Benedict Forum sponsored the Hope College contingent.

The group departed from Holland around 3:30pm the day before the march, arriving at their destination safe, but tired around 2am Thursday morning. After a short night’s sleep the team was up and off to its first event, the “Life is Very Good” rally sponsored by the Diocese of Arlington, VA and held at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University. Any sleepiness was soon dispelled by the inspirational message of Catholic Apologist Chris Stefanick, the music of Ike Ndolo Band, and the rousing homily brought by Bishop Loverde of the host diocese. Besides the thousands of young people in attendance, it was a powerful experience to see all the priests, seminarians and women religious present.

“There were around 100 or more priests that attended as well as four bishops” commented Eric Plaehn. “ I thought their dedication to the event, to the sacrament of the Eucharist and also to inspiring young minds (the next great generation) was very powerful." 

After the rally the group motored up to Washington D.C. to join the actual march. The group merged with the main body of marchers on Constitution Ave. about 5 blocks from the actual starting point. Hundreds of thousands of marchers passed famous sites such as the National Gallery of Art and the US Capitol with their peaceful but forthright pro-life message. The march ended appropriately enough in front of the Supreme Court building.

“It was eye-opening and moving to see so many people, who were mainly young adults, come together from across the globe to be the voice for the voiceless” said fellow marcher Kelley McKeon.

“I spent the majority of the March silent, just taking in everything that was happening around me.” According to Madeline Taylor, what was most impressive was the respect shown by all involved.

“To my knowledge, there was no belligerence; just the prayerful and respectful articulation of a deeply held belief. Indeed, there was a beautiful element of joy involved, as everyone present seemed to be happy to have the opportunity to speak up for our society's most vulnerable members” she said.

Following the March, the group walked down to the Holocaust Museum and learned of the atrocities committed against humanity by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was a good closing activity for a day focused on life and human dignity. It is clear that Catholics have much to do in our nation. Eric’s sentiment mirrored what the whole group was thinking at the end of the day.

“My mission is to take on the roles of a missionary disciple lovingly condemning evil, counseling and consoling the afflicted and to standing for my brothers and sisters, especially those that can’t stand for themselves.”

Fr. Damian Ference Preaches a Lenten Mission

By Catie Gammon, Hope College Senior and President of the Union of Catholic Students

On April 9, 2014, the Saint Benedict Forum hosted Fr. Damian Ference, a popular speaker and Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Borromeo College Seminary in Cleveland, OH. His visit was co-sponsored by Hope College’s Campus Ministries, the Religion Department, and the Union of Catholic Students.

Fr. Damian’s day began with a riveting talk to a packed chapel of Hope College students. He brought plenty of energy as he spoke about Christian identity. Preaching from Mark’s account of the baptism of Christ, Fr. Damian pressed the campus to think about who we are and whose we are. By virtue of our own baptism, God sees us as beloved sons and daughters. Fr. Damian challenged cultural lures to find love in other places than in Christ through numerous amusing examples. “God sees us not as the sum of our weaknesses, but of our Father’s love for us.” Catholic and non-Catholic students alike were captivated by his wisdom and impressed at the refreshing way he presented biblical truths!

After joining a few students for lunch, Fr. Damian presented a lecture on vocations to Dr. Jared Ortiz’s Catholic Christianity class. He deepened the class’ understanding of John Paul II’s Theology of the Body by talking about how we are all made for union, made to give ourselves away. We are all made for marriage, whether as husbands and wives or as celibates who are married to Christ or the Church. We learned that vocations to the religious life are a direct union with Christ and with His church, modeling a beautiful sacrificial life for us all.

The culmination of Fr. Damian’s day at Hope was his preaching of a Lenten Mission, “Nothing Scares Jesus.” Once again, he delighted and moved the audience with his passionate storytelling and powerful theological insights.

Using Mark’s account of Jesus healing the Gadarene Demoniac, “the most Flannery O’Connoresque story in the Bible,” Fr. Damian unpacked the story verse by verse. The unnamed demoniac represents ourselves, who chained in our state of sin harm ourselves and others. However, Jesus enters in to the forbidden, ugly, and unclean territories of our lives and heals us with His kindness, mercy, and compassion. Christ even has the power to turn our vices into our victories!

The talk was followed by an hour of adoration and time for confession which served as a wonderful time to reflect on this message of Christ’s mercy and to prepare many of students and faculty for Holy Week and Easter.

We were very blessed to host Fr. Damian’s first ever visit to Hope College and look forward to his return soon!

Media The audio of Fr. Damian's Chapel talk, "Who Am I? Whose Am I?" can be found here.

The video of Fr. Damian's Lenten Mission, "Nothing Scares Jesus," can be found here.

In Their Own Words: Immersion Trip 2014

Thirteen Hope College students went to the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago to be immersed in the life of the Franciscans of the Eucharist. Here are some of their reflections on that experience: “My trip in three words: life-changing, growth, and revelation.”

“My week at Our Lady of the Angels Mission was spiritually enriching, socially stimulating, and physically challenging; I learned how Catholics are working to find and foster Christ in impoverished West Humboldt Park.”

“Living simply with a bunch of Nuns helped me to see the way Christ lived and it allowed me to dive into the contemplation of everything about my life that I was struggling with.”

"I enjoyed experiencing the Franciscans' way of life, learning to enjoy the simple tasks."

“Honestly as a whole the trip helped heal me of fear that I had towards people in poverty, and helped me let go of what I want for my life and instead be more orientated towards God's will.”

"God revealed to me that he loves me despite my worst sins and invites me to pass that on."

"God revealed to me himself, by seeing his suffering on the cross in a more personal way like never before."

"I have come closer to God in my faith and have come away with a deeper desire to be committed in my faith."

"I learned how incredibly blessed I have been in my life."

"The ability to serve others while growing internally."

"I love my leader’s commitment and openness during the trip. Also their genuine love for God was wonderful to see."

"The heavy focus on, and balance between, work and prayer, but also enough free time to just spend leisure time together."

“I appreciated the opportunity to learn about myself through service.”

“I loved drawing close to God daily and seeing him teach me the ways in which he wanted me live.”

“This week brought peace.”