How Should Christians Think About the Environment? A Reflection On Laudato Si' With Omar Guitiérrez

As Catholics and Christians, how are we to think about and care for the environment? On April 6, 2016, Omar Gutierrez addressed this question as he meditated on the themes of Pope Francis' latest encyclical, Laudato Si'. 

You can watch his excellent talk, "Praise Be to You, My Lord: How Christians Should Think about the Environment" below.

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Omar F. A. Gutiérrez has worked for the Church since 2001. Currently, he is the Special Assistant to the Archbishop of Omaha, George J. Lucas, and the Manager of the Office of Missions & Justice handling international missionary efforts and their funding, grants for charitable works, poverty-reduction programs, as well as formation in Catholic Social Teaching within the archdiocese.

A graduate of Franciscan University of Stuebenville with a BA in Theology, Omar then studied at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the Angelicum) and completed his MA in Theology from the University of Dallas. His Master’s thesis applied John Henry Cardinal Newman’s marks of authentic development of doctrine to the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty.

Omar is a sought-after speaker on the social teaching. He has a weekly program through DiscerningHearts.com which is aired on Nebraska’s Spirit Catholic Radio entitled “Regnum Novum: The New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching,” and he is a regular guest on various other programming for the radio station.

Omar has been published in a number of print and online magazines and newspapers including The Catholic Answer, the National Catholic Register, Catholic World Report, CatholicVote.com, HLI’s Truth and Charity Forum and he has a regular column, “Charity in Truth”, in the Archdiocese of Omaha’s paper The Catholic Voice. His first book, The Urging of Christ’s Love: The Saints and the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church was release in October of 2013. Omar’s writings can be accessed through his website omargutierrez.com.

Most importantly, Omar is happily married to his wife Miriam, and they are very blessed by their four children. His hobbies include watching Cleveland Indians baseball and lamenting the same.

Event Co-Sponsored by the Religion Department, Environmental Studies Program, Geological and Environmental Sciences, the Corpus Christi Foundation, and the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Film Screening and Discussion of Poverty, Inc.

Along with 15 other student organizations, academic departments, and programs at Hope College, the Saint Benedict Forum invites you to join us for a screening of the thought-provoking and award-winning film, Poverty, Inc.

Saturday, April 2, 2016 7:00 p.m.

The Knickerbocker Theater 86 E. 8th Street Downtown Holland Free and Open to the Public

Focusing on the worldwide "poverty industry," the film asks some hard questions about the West's involvement in international poverty alleviation, including whether some of our methods of helping might actually be hurting those experiencing poverty. We hope you will consider attending and perhaps suggest the same to others by forwarding this email or inviting them to the screening through this Facebook event page.

Following the film, a faculty panel comprised of Dr. Virginia Beard (Political Science), who specializes in the policy and politics of Africa, and development economist Dr. David Phillips (Economics and Business) will lead off an audience discussion of the film and how Christians might respond to the issues it raises.

Contact Professor Sarah Estelle (estelle@hope.edu), director of Hope's Markets and Morality student organization, with any questions. We hope to see you on April 2 for what is sure to be a memorable and edifying community event!

Homosexuality and Anthropology Day of Study

On Saturday, February 20, 2016, from 9:00-4:00, the Saint Benedict Forum hosted a Day of Study on the theme, "Homosexuality and Anthropology."  The study day consisted of four papers, each of which addressed the question, "What does the virtue of chastity mean for the gay person?" Joshua Gonnerman, Daniel Mattson, Eve Tushnet, and Daniel Keating all offered 25 minute papers on this question.  Each paper was followed by 30 minutes of conversation with the twenty invited "thoughtful interlocutors" from the region: priests, counselors, family and marriage therapists, chaplains, professors, artists, leaders from the Diocese of Grand Rapids, and religious sisters.

It was a riveting day of fellowship and meaningful exchange.

Flapjacks with Jack

Many thanks to our friends in the Knights of Columbus Council #7115 (Saint John Neumann) who organized a pancake breakfast at St. Francis de Sales Church in Holland to benefit the Saint Benedict Forum.  It was great to see so many of our friends, fellow parishioners, and students turn out to support our work.  God bless you all and stay warm!

March for Life 2016

Sadly, due to the dangerous weather conditions, the trip to the March for Life was cancelled.  Fortunately, we were not trapped on the PA Turnpike for 24 hours.  Please pray for us as we continue to witness to a culture of life.

Ecumenical Dialogue: What Does It Mean to Be Catholic? (VIDEO)

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On January 28, 2016, the Saint Benedict Forum hosted a Catholic-Reformed Dialogue about Jack Mulder's new book, What Does It Mean to Be Catholic?(Eerdmans, 2015).  Dr. Mulder's book is the meditation of a Hope College professor and convert to Catholicism from the Reformed tradition.  It was written as an effort to practice robust ecumenism, the idea that different Christian groups should share the distinctive gifts of their own tradition as they walk together toward full Christian unity.

Two Reformed scholars offered generous, yet critical responses to Dr. Mulder's book.  Han-luen Kantzer Komline, Assistant Professor of Church History and Theology at Western Theological Seminary, took up the question of the relationship between Scripture and Tradition.  Lynn Japinga, Associate Professor of Religion at Hope College, challenged Mulder on Mary, development of doctrine, women's ordination, and contraception.  Dr. Mulder responded to each presenter.

This event was co-sponsored by the Philosophy and Religion Departments, Campus Ministries, Center for Ministry Studies, Lilly Group on Robust Ecumenism, the Office of the Provost, and the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.