In the News: SBI and Restorative Justice Conference Featured in Holland Sentinel

It's going to be a bit of an unusual conference. The public can attend, but the organizers cannot.

"Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform" was conceived and organized by inmates from the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia. Although they cannot be at the conference, the Calvin Prison Initiative Students from the R.A. Handlon Correctional Facility will have a chance to watch recordings of the proceedings later. 

The Saint Benedict Institute is hosting "Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform," a daylong conference on restorative justice, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 4, in the Maas Center at Hope College.

The conference developed after Eric Boldiszar connected with Jared Ortiz, Ph.D., of the Hope religion faculty and executive director of the Saint Benedict Institute.

"He read an interview with me in the FAITH Grand Rapids magazine a few years ago," Ortiz said. "He invited me to the prison to speak to his restorative justice reading group. I did and was very blessed by the exchange. We kept up a correspondence."

Read the rest at the Holland Sentinel.

Jared Ortiz Discusses Upcoming Restorative Justice Conference with Catholic Radio's Al Kresta

Hope College professor and Saint Benedict Institute director Jared Ortiz was a recent guest on Ave Maria Radio's Kresta in the Afternoon show with Al Kresta. Dr. Ortiz spoke about the Saint Benedict Institute's upcoming conference "Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform."

Listen to the audio archive here.

(VIDEO) “Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform” Conference on Restorative Justice

“Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform”

A Conference on Restorative Justice Organized by Calvin Prison Initiative students from the R.A. Handlon Correctional Facility

Saturday, March 4, 2017
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Maas Center at Hope College
264 Columbia Ave.
Holland, Michigan 49423

The Saint Benedict Institute hosted “Hope for Restoration: Radical Hospitality and Prison Reform,” a day-long conference on restorative justice, on Saturday, March 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Maas Center at Hope College, Holland, Michigan.

The public was able to do something that the event’s organizers cannot: attend. The conference was conceived and organized by inmates from the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, who will have a chance to watch recordings of the proceedings later.

The conference’s keynote speakers were Ted Lewis of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota; Kristen Deede Johnson, associate professor of theology and Christian formation at Western Theological Seminary; and Eric Boldiszar, Handlon inmate and Calvin Prison Initiative student, through a pre-recorded presentation.

Other speakers and panelists included Bishop David J. Walkowiak, Diocese of Grand Rapids; Rep. David LaGrand, state representative (D) for Grand Rapids; Rep. Joe Haveman, former state representative (R) for Holland; Troy Rienstra of Network for Real Change; Warden DeWayne Burton of Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility; Tricia Worrell, director of prison and jail ministry, Diocese of Grand Rapids; and Julie Bylsma and Todd Cioffi of Calvin Prison Initiative.

In addition to the Saint Benedict Institute, the conference was presented in partnership with Hope College, Calvin College, Calvin Seminary, the Calvin Prison Initiative and the Corpus Christi Foundation.  The Calvin Prison Initiative is a partnership between Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary that provides a Christian liberal arts education to inmates at Handlon.  A total of 40 inmates are participating in the initiative, which leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree in ministry leadership.

Event co-sponsors included Hope Campus Ministries, the Center for Ministry Studies, the Dean of Social Sciences, the Dean of Arts and Humanities, the Departments of Art and Art History, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Sociology and Social Work; Encounter with Cultures Program, Emmaus Scholars Program, Hope United for Justice, Hope Catholics, Hope College Republicans, Hope College Markets & Morality, and the Tocqueville Forum.

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Recent Press Coverage:

Jared Ortiz on Kresta in the Afternoon with host Al Kresta, 2/15/17.

"Prisoners organize conference with faith groups," Holland Sentinel.

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Film Screening of "Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism"

Free Film Screening of
"Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism"

The Saint Benedict Institute and Hope College Markets and Morality hosted a free film screening of Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism, on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Hope College’s Knickerbocker Theater in downtown Holland.

A lecture by Dr. Jonathan Pidluzny of Morehead State University followed the screening.

Liberating a Continent, narrated by Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ, Person of Interest) and with original music by Joe Kraemer (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher), tells the incredible story of one man’s unwavering faith born of deep personal suffering, his steadfast defense of the dignity of the human person amidst the horrors of Nazi and Soviet Occupation, and his unyielding belief in the spiritual unity of Europe. Liberating a Continent portrays how these convictions toppled an empire and how they remain today the moral foundations for a prosperous and free Europe.

Liberating a Continent was honored with two Emmys at the 58th annual Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards.

The event was co-sponsored by Hope College Campus Ministries, the Economics and Business, History, Political Science, and Religion departments; the International Studies Program, the Peace and Justice Minor and the Tocqueville Forum. 

Photos by Aaron Estelle.

(VIDEO) The Catholic Priesthood: Why Is It Reserved to Men? Catholic-Reformed Dialogue with Sr. Sara Butler and Dr. Jim Brownson

“THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD: WHY IS IT RESERVED TO MEN?”

Talk and Catholic-Reformed Dialogue
with Sr. Sara Butler and Dr. Jim Brownson

The Catholic Church “has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women.” Such was the solemn declaration of Pope St. John Paul II and the beginning of the argument Sister Sara Butler made at Hope College in a lecture on Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 7 p.m. in Winants Auditorium in Graves Hall at Hope College. Sr. Sara Butler argued that the unbroken tradition of the Catholic Church is not discrimination against women but related to the doctrine of Holy Orders as a sacrament.  Dr. Jim Brownson of Western Theological Seminary provided a response.

Sister Sara Butler, M.S.B.T., Ph.D., S.T.L. is Professor Emeritus of Dogmatic Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL.  Sister Sara has served on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission and the International Theological Commission (a papal appointment).  She is past president of the Academy of Catholic Theology and is currently a consultant to the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Doctrine Committee.  She is the author of many scholarly articles and of The Catholic Priesthood: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church (Hillenbrand Books, 2007).

Dr. Jim Brownson is the James and Jean Cook Professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary (Holland, MI), where he teaches courses on Scripture, church governance, and women's ordination. He’s the author of several books, including most recently Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships (Eerdmans, 2013). 

The event was co-sponsored by Western Seminary and the Departments of Religion and Women's and Gender Studies at Hope College.

On January 26, 2017, Sr. Sara Butler spoke on "The Catholic Priesthood: Why Is It Reserved to Men?" Dr. Jim Brownson responded. This event was part of the Saint Benedict Institute Catholic-Reformed Dialogue series.

Film Screening of Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message

The Saint Benedict Institute is proud to host a film screening of Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message, on Monday, December 5, 2016 at 7 p.m. in Winants Auditorium, Graves Hall, Hope College.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message, narrated by famed actor Jim Caviezel, tells the story of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 and traces the history of this transformative event from the 16th century to the present. Featuring interviews with leading theologians, historians and experts on the scientific inquiries into the miraculous image, the film explores both the mysteries behind the image and the continued relevance of the Guadalupe apparition to the modern world.

For more information about the movie, visit the official film website.

(VIDEO) Recap of R.R. Reno's "Restoring Love to the Intellectual Life"

(VIDEO BELOW)

by Carly McShane, ‘17

On Wednesday Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. students, professors and members of the Holland community gathered at Hope College to hear R.R. Reno give a lecture on “Restoring Love to the Intellectual Life”. Dean Marc Baer introduced Dr. Reno (Ph.D. Yale University), the editor of First Things magazine and former professor at Creighton University.

Reno began his lecture by laying out his concerns with our current educational culture. He fears that superficial intellectualism has become the norm and that an attitude of knowingness has replaced truly knowing. Secondly, he is concerned with the age of suspicion and distrust where students are encouraged not to accept any claim without thorough investigation on their own. Reno puts forth that critical thinking has become the goal of higher education, the essence of the intellectual life. Professors and administrator want student to ask questions and think critically rather than present answers to questions of consequence. While thinking critically can be good it must not be overemphasized. Instead, the intellectual must devote herself to truth because larger truths are elusive and we must be “animated by love’s reckless passion for truth”.

Next Dr. Reno pointed us to the post-modern mindset influenced by Jacques Derrida’s method of deconstruction and the materialism of Epicurus and Lucretius. Reno claims that both deconstruction and materialism seek to weaken truth in order to lead people to live more peaceful lives. The skeptic or deconstructionist highlights that fact that if nothing is worth fighting for no one will fight and if nothing is worth sacrificing for then no one will sacrifice. While the materialist claims that everything, even philosophy, is just our physical state, which can be explain by the methods of science. Reno points out that neither of these claims are attempting to be nihilistic, they are simply trying to protect people from disappointment. In other words, don’t hope for too much goodness because the world will disappoint, but if nothing matters we can relax not having to worry about the deep need for meaning in our lives.

Unfortunately, this is the spirit of thought that most often dominates the classroom. Often faculty members want to challenge students on their religious beliefs by filing them with doubt, lacking a deep love for truth. They do this not because they do not care for their students but because having intense, substantive beliefs about truth is seen as dangerous. If we want people to be more tolerant and inclusive then a deep belief is a detriment to their ability to live peacefully in an all-affirming society. Having deep beliefs means you will eventually encounter someone who you do not agree with regarding something of consequence, sexuality and marriage for example.  So it would seem that it is the job of our education system to ensure that student do not take their deeply held beliefs with them into adulthood. Professors see this as a positive duty because they are forming students into tolerant, peace-seeking individuals. Reno asserts that we dream of a utopia with loose beliefs and no grasp on truth so critical thinking becomes the ambition of higher education, disenchantment a therapy of the soul, and value is given to developing tolerance rather than cultivating a fierce love for truth. Reno digressed for a moment stating that many could claim that the natural sciences and mechanical professions do lead student to pursue truth. Reno insists that while this is accurate in some fashion, the truth that these fields uncover is existentially inconsequential. For example, “your biology class doesn’t help you know what to say to your dying parent.”

Then there must be a better way to encourage devotion and love of truth. Reno believes that we need to be romanced away from error. He points to the book of Proverbs where a group of men are seduced by prostitutes. Lady Wisdom wants to teach them their error by using arguments but her efforts do not win them over. So she tries a different approach wooing the men with a banquet in her palace and beautiful maidservants to call them in. Reno uses this to say that if we wish to cultivate a desire for wisdom we need to enchant rather than disenchant. We need a greater, truer love to pull us away from our false loves. Enchantment can come from the traditions and rituals of our schools (perhaps professors should wear their robes all the time). Professors who are devoted to their subjects and believe in the truth of what they teach enchant students by inviting them into their discipline. In this world of educational enchantment lectures are performances that draw us in and the books that line our professor’s shelves remind us that our love of wisdom has no end.

So, while we should not rid our institutions of critical thinking it cannot be the goal of education. Critical thinking must take place in the larger context of love and devotion. Instead of leading students towards indifference and tolerance we need a pedagogy of enchantment that looks to the transcendent to seek truth and wisdom. 

On November 2, 2016, the Saint Benedict Institute co-sponsored editor of First Things, Rusty Reno's lecture, "Restoring Love to the Intellectual Life."

Wanted: Catholic Chaplain

We are hiring!

Since its inception, one of the Saint Benedict Institute's major goals has been to bring a Catholic priest chaplain to serve Hope College and its 600+ Catholic students. We are overjoyed to announce that we are now looking to hire for the 2017-2018 academic year!

Hope College, located in Holland, MI, was founded over 150 years ago in partnership with the Reformed Church in America. Hope is known for its rigorous academics, dynamic Christian community life, and commitment to ecumenism. The Saint Benedict Institute is an apostolate of the local Catholic parish, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, and the chaplain will be an employee of St. Francis de Sales in service to Hope College and the broader West Michigan community.

To download a copy of the job prospectus, click here. The position description is also included below (scroll down). Those wishing to support this mission financially may click here for more information. We thank you for your interest!

Campus Chaplain

Position Description

Mission

The Saint Benedict Institute seeks to promote and nurture intellectual work done from the heart of the Catholic Church, to foster an ecumenical community of Catholic Christians and friends committed to the renewal of culture, and to aid in the formation of intellectually and spiritually mature Christians by making available the riches of the Catholic tradition to Hope College and the wider community.

Background

The Saint Benedict Institute has a threefold mission which is intellectual, spiritual, and ecumenical. We are an apostolate of the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Holland, Michigan, and we serve Hope College and the broader West Michigan community.  We sponsor a variety of programs aimed at cultivating intellectually serious Christians, forming students in the Catholic tradition, contributing to the ecumenical mission of the College, and nurturing the hearts of students so that they might learn to love God and their neighbors more deeply. Currently, we host a Catholic Speaker Series, a Catholic-Reformed Dialogue, spiritual retreats, a vocation discernment program for students considering religious life, spring break immersion trips to Haiti and inner-city Chicago, and an annual day of study.  We work closely with Hope College’s Campus Ministries and other academic departments to provide a faithful Catholic witness.  Please explore our website to see the kinds of things we do.

Description

We are seeking a priest chaplain to help establish and build the Catholic campus ministry at Hope College.  On average, twenty percent of the students at Hope College are Catholic, roughly 650 students.  Of these 650, we estimate that about 85% do not attend Mass—this is confirmed by the national average (Pew Research) and our own observations.  The priest chaplain will be responsible for building a credible Catholic witness on Hope’s campus, one which strengthens the faithful Catholic students, draws in the lapsed Catholics, and embraces the non-Catholic students in ecumenical friendship. This priest would be responsible for forming Catholic students as faithful Catholic witnesses in an ecumenical environment and would work closely with the local Catholic parish and Hope College’s Protestant campus ministers to deepen the commitment of all students to the faith we hold in common.  The Catholic chaplain would work to foster a Catholic spiritual rhythm that works in harmony with the ecumenical character of Hope College.  Start date would be August 1, 2017

Responsibilities    

• Celebrate daily and weekend Mass, train altar servers, and cultivate a love of reverent liturgy

• Encourage and offer regular Confession

• Provide opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration

• Lead Bible studies and Catholic devotions (e.g., rosary, Divine Office, processions, etc.)

• Lead the Vocation Discernment Program, including weekly prayer and direction

• Offer spiritual direction and informal counseling to students

• Foster a sense of Catholic community

• Bear robust witness to the joy of being Catholic and the beauty of Catholic traditions

• Engage in formal and informal ecumenical dialogue on campus and in the community

• Train students to engage in peer-to-peer ministry

• Organize service opportunities

• Supervise lay Catholic volunteers and missionaries (e.g., FOCUS)

• Participate in and bless Saint Benedict Institute events

• Collaborate with Catholic priests at St. Francis de Sales Church

• Partner with Hope College’s Campus Ministry to coordinate efforts

• Preach occasionally at Hope College’s chapel services

• Partner in Saint Benedict Institute fundraising initiatives

Qualifications

• A Catholic priest in good standing

• A pastoral vision guided by Evangelii Gaudium

• A theological vision that accords with Ex Corde Ecclesiae

• A deep love of Scripture and fluency in it (see Verbum Domini)

• Solid understanding of faith development and the spiritual needs of emerging adults

• Experience working in ecumenical environments and a commitment to the receptive ecumenism St. John Paul II articulates in Ut Unum Sint

• Ability to preach well and connect to large and small audiences

• Ability to present the faith in a winsome and irenic manner

• Fluency in Spanish, while not required, is a bonus

Application

Open applications accepted until the position is filled. Please send all materials to the Executive Director, Dr. Jared Ortiz, at jared.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org.  Please provide:

• a curriculum vitae,

• a list of three references with contact information (one reference should be a superior; another should be a student or parishioner you have worked with),

• a list of the five most important books you’ve read with a brief explanation of why,

• an answer to the following:

In light of the mission of the Saint Benedict Institute and the unique ecumenical environment of Hope College, how would you help build a Catholic culture that ministers to a community with a wide range of faith commitments? (Please answer in 500 +/- words.)

Jack Mulder Discusses His Latest Book with Catholic Radio's Al Kresta

Hope College professor and Saint Benedict Institute assistant director Jack Mulder was the featured guest September 15 on Ave Maria Radio's Kresta in the Afternoon show with Al Kresta. Dr. Mulder spoke about his latest book, What Does It Mean to Be Catholic?, released 2015 by Eerdmans.

Listen to the show archive here.

In the News: Jared Ortiz's New Book on St. Augustine's Confessions Featured in Holland Sentinel

The Holland Sentinel recently featured Saint Benedict Institute director Jared Ortiz and his new book on St. Augustine's Confessions. To read the full story, click here or see below.

"You Made Us For Yourself": Creation in St. Augustine's Confessions was released April 2016 by Fortress Press. Dr. Ortiz will speak on the book on October 13 at 7 p.m. in the Maas Auditorium, Hope College. All are invited to attend.

“You Made Us for Yourself: Creation, Worship, and Human Destiny in St. Augustine” with Jared Ortiz (VIDEO)

“You Made Us for Yourself:
Creation, Worship, and Human Destiny in St. Augustine”

Talk and Book Release Party with Jared Ortiz, Hope College professor and Executive Director of the Saint Benedict Institute

Dr. Jared Ortiz, who is a member of the Hope College religion faculty and executive director of the Saint Benedict Institute, spoke about his new book, “You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St. Augustine’s Confessions,” on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium at Hope College.  Ortiz’s lecture, “You Made Us for Yourself: Creation, Worship, and Human Destiny in St. Augustine,” explored Augustine's rich understanding of creation as God's gift of a beautifully ordered cosmos which is in dynamic motion back toward Him and whose destiny is to be transfigured through Christian worship.

A video of the lecture is available below.

Jared Ortiz (Ph.D., The Catholic University of America) joined the Hope College faculty in 2012 as an assistant professor of religion. He teaches Catholic studies and is co-founder and Executive Director of the Saint Benedict Institute, the Catholic spiritual and intellectual center that serves Hope College. Ortiz teaches courses on the Incarnation, church history, Catholic Christianity, theological hermeneutics and early Christianity. His scholarship focuses on early Christian theology, especially St. Augustine. He also has scholarly interest in liturgy and Latin patristic thought. Ortiz’s book “You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St. Augustine’s Confessions” was published with Fortress Press in April 2016.

The event was co-sponsored by the Center for Ministry Studies and the Department of Religion at Hope College.

On October 13, 2016, Dr. Jared Ortiz, assistant professor of Religion at Hope College and executive director of the Saint Benedict Institute, delivered a lecture on Augustine's Confessions, "You Made Us for Yourself: Creation, Worship, and Human Destiny in St. Augustine."

"Art is a Jealous God" with James Matthew Wilson, Catholic Poet and Villanova Professor (VIDEO)

How does the serious artist represent the religious and spiritual dimensions of human experience, especially in a culture suspicious of art that contemplates the divine? Award-winning scholar and poet James Matthew Wilson, Ph.D. (Villanova University) addressed this question and others in his talk, “Art is a Jealous God: Aesthetic Autonomy and the Claims of the Divine," on September 7, 2016 at Hope College.

James Matthew Wilson is Associate Professor of Religion and Literature in the Department of Humanities and Augustinian Traditions at Villanova University.  An award-winning scholar of philosophical-theology and literature, he has authored dozens of essays, articles, and reviews on subjects ranging from art, ethics, and politics, to meter and poetic form, from the importance of local culture to the nature of truth, goodness, and beauty.

Wilson is also a poet and critic of contemporary poetry, whose work appears regularly in such magazines and journals as First Things, Modern Age, The New Criterion, Dappled Things, Measure, The Weekly Standard, Front Porch Republic, The Raintown Review, and The American Conservative.  He has published six books, including most recently the major critical study, The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking (Wiseblood, 2015), a collection of poems, Some Permanent Things, and a monograph, The Catholic Imagination in Modern American Poetry (both Wiseblood Books, 2014).  Wilson also serves on the boards of several learned journals and societies.

Wilson was educated at the University of Michigan (B.A.), the University of Massachusetts (M.A.), and the University of Notre Dame (M.F.A., Ph.D.), where he subsequently held a Sorin Research Fellowship.  He joined the faculty of Villanova in 2008.

The event was co-sponsored by the Religion and English departments at Hope College.

On September 7, 2016, James Matthew Wilson spoke on "Art is a Jealous God: Aesthetic Autonomy and the Claims of the Divine" as part of the Saint Benedict Institute's Catholic Speaker Series.