Discussing Boethius' "Consolation of Philosophy"

We had a great first conversation today about Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy.

Boethius lived in the 6th century and was falsely imprisoned and executed for treason.  While in prison and without any books, he wrote this brilliant work.  The Consolation is an imaginary dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy - a work which intertwines clever prose with beautiful poetry.

Today's discussion of the Book I focused on a number of interesting aspects, but one in particular caught everyone's attention:

• The reader meets Boethius writing melancholy poetry in jail, wallowing in his misery and pitying himself.  Immediately upon arriving at his side, Lady Philosophy chases away the Muses of poetry who have inspired Boethius sulk in his misery - albeit with beautiful poetry.  We then had an interesting conversation about our culture today and how much of pop culture art wallows in depression, misery and destruction.  This is starkly contrasted with how Lady Philosophy calls the Muses of poetry out and chases them away, for they are not leading Boethius to what is true, good and beautiful. 
• Pictured here is an image of Lady Philosophy who leads men toward virtue, truth and goodness.

Celebrating the 'Top 50' award

Living out the "Regula" of St. Benedict...

http://youtu.be/ZSZQceNbZLA

2012 Rosary Procession

It was great to see so many Saint Agnes faces at the 2012 Rosary Procession!  The procession began at the Capitol and ended at the Cathedral with a prayer service lead by Bishop Piche.  Saint Agnes students, parents, faculty and staff were on hand to pray with the clergy for the Marriage Amendment.

Here I am with Faustina, my daughter, and Joseph, a seminarian from Uganda.  We have "adopted" Joseph during his time at the St. Paul Seminary.

 

Book VII, The Confessions of Saint Augustine

Oct. 5, 2012

Students are grappling with the big, existential and philosophical questions.

The Problem of Evil

Book VII of The Confessions of Saint Augustine is absolutely fascinating!

Augustine's considerations of the problem of evil have immense ramifications for man.

Questions students are considering and discussing:
1.    Did God create evil?
2.    Is Satan/Lucifer evil?  Was he created as evil?
3.    Is evil a substance?
4.    Is God material or pure spirit?  Why?
5.    Are created things evil or good or a combination?  Why/how?
6.    Can human persons choose to do or love evil things?  Why/why not/how?
7.    From what does evil come or originate (according to Augustine)?
       a.    What do you think of Augustine’s answer?
8.    How does human freedom and God's providence fit into Augustine's consideration of evil?

A Fantastic Fall

Welcome back! Saint Agnes kicks off 2012-13 school year with a bang...

Welcome back to you, students, parents and friends of Saint Agnes School and the Capstone Seminar! Saint Agnes is blessed to report that enrollment continues to rise (up 5% from last year) and we were recently named by the Cardinal Newman Society as one of the "Top 50" Catholic High Schools in the nation! The Capstone Seminar is also stronger! We have more students in the course this year and students have started the year off with excellent conversations. This semester we will read: "On the Reading of Old Books" - C.S. Lewis (NOW DONE) De Incarnatione (On the Incarnation) - St. Athanasius (NOW DONE) The Confessions of Saint Augustine (Currently reading) The Rule of Saint Benedict The Consolation of Philosophy - Boethius Proslogium / Fides Quaerens Intellectum (Faith Seeking Understanding) - St. Anselm "Treatise on Law" (from the Summa) - St. Thomas Aquinas Please check back for more updates soon! -Capstone Faculty Mr. Blonigen Mr. DeJak Mr. Adkins

Capstone Summer Dinner

Saint Agnes School's annual Red & White Benefit Dinner offered an evening of edification whereby Capstone teachers Mr. John DeJak, Mr. Fred Blonigen and Mr. Michael Adkins prepared and served an Austrian themed meal. Dr. DeJak prepared the entire dinner from scratch, revealing his culinary prowess. We were graced with the presence of Fr. Mark Moriarty, new Pastor and Superintendent of Saint Agnes! Fr. Moriarty was doing some last-minute moving and we had an extra plate of veal for him. He began his tenure as Pastor of the Church of Saint Agnes on Sunday, July 1st. We are very excited and blessed to have him. Many thanks to all who attended!

Graduation 2012 (Pt. II)

Fr. Robert J. Araujo, S.J., the fine gentleman we met in Chicago who gave our Capstone students a superb primer on the Natural Law, delivered the commencement address at Saint Agnes School on Friday, June 1st. He is a regular contributor to "The Mirror of Justice" a Catholic legal blog. In a recent post, he wrote the following of his address at Saint Agnes:

Commencement and the Road not Taken On Friday night I had the honor to be the graduation speaker at a coeducational Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul. I had many weeks to think about what I ought to say to the young men and women, most of whom will be attending college later this summer. As I prepared my words, I thought it prudent to relate the lives of these young and energetic people to those who have preceded them in faith and wisdom. Although the students have accomplished much, they really are just beginning to learn about life, its meaning, and who and what they are. The same questions are suited for law students as they graduate. The same can issues apply to the rest of us as well. As I mentioned in the address, these questions form a part of who the human person is, for they never go away. For those who might be interested in the full address, here it is: Download Graduation Address at St Agnes. A blessed Trinity Sunday to one and all. RJA sj

Download the commencement address here.

Graduation 2012

Below, senior and Valedictorian of the Class of 2012, Rose, sits in glory after finishing her Capstone oral exam. (We let the students sit in the dean's chair during orals!) This fall, Rose will head off to Creighton University to major in Biology/Pre-Medicine. She has made the faculty of Saint Agnes School very proud. Above (left) students process into the Church of Saint Agnes for the Baccalaureate Mass. At right, seniors listen to Fr. Ubel's final K-12 school homily.

The Thought and Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: Part 5:

Fr. Walter J. Ciszek, S.J.

Man was created to praise, reverence and serve God in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next. That is the fact of the matter; you believe it or you don't--and that is the end of it.---Fr. Walter J. Ciszek, S.J.

I can think of no other priest of the 20th century who is a better intercessor for us during the very difficult time in which we live. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why we chose to read He Leadeth Me as part of our reading list this year. Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. was a tough Jesuit who survived many hardships and suffered tremendously but kept his faith amidst seemingly insurmountable difficulties. I will likely offer some more reflections on Fr. Ciszek as our class proceeds, but by way of introduction, I offer for your edification this short 4-part video interview of Fr. Ciszek. It was filmed in 1984, several months before his death.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:

"The Ethics of Elfland"

It is a great joy to read G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy with our seniors.

Today we discussed Chapter IV: "The Ethics of Elfland" which is quite possibly one of the richest 20 pages of non-fiction text one may ever encounter. One will find himself pleasantly surprised, laughing, agreeing, imagining, remembering, nodding and feeling an overwhelming gratitude toward God and His goodness.

I found myself on the verge of tears: tears of sadness for those who have lost - or are in danger of completely losing - the wonder of childhood (people like me!), that wonder which allows us to see the world as it is: a fairytale (e.g. "God chose to paint the grass green and the sky... well, He's changing it all the time!" vs. "Photosynthesis, a very predictable and knowable scientific process, has caused the grass to be green through..."); and tears of joy at Chesterton's golden line: "...perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony" (pg. 65 of the Ignatius Press edition).

The chapter reminds me of the wonderment of my own little ones and how I'm often "so busy" and serious about the work of the house or my school work... I have no time to stare at the moon with two-year-old Jude! No, Jude's right: work can wait; gazing at the moon for this fleeting moment cannot.

It is fun to see you, dear seniors, mull Chesterton's words of wisdom. Only he can say such things as:

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors."

"Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense."

"The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."

New Saint Agnes School video!

Kudos to our Admissions staff for producing this great, new video.

Mr. DeJak's latest: "Living a Catholic Life: What the Ratzinger Family can Teach Us"

March 1, 2012 saw the publication in English of Msgr. Georg Ratzinger’s new book My Brother, the Pope. Media outlets have widely reported this ultimate insider’s view of Pope Ratzinger and have published excerpts from the book. Of particular interest to this writer was Msgr. Ratzinger’s recollections of his childhood with his younger brother. The traditional piety with which they practiced the faith may strike some of us modern Americans as strange, but it is instructive. This type of traditional piety is something that we must rediscover if we wish to grow in holiness in our own families; and it is an essential to prepare for the dark clouds of persecution that gather day by day.

Though we are in the season of Lent, dear readers, indulge me as I quote Msgr. Ratzinger’s recollections of Advent and the Ratzinger family’s participation in the rich liturgical life of the Church:

Generally speaking, our family made a big thing of Christmas. The preparations already began with the First Sunday of Advent. At that time, the Rorate Masses were celebrated at six in the morning, and the priests wore white vestments. Normally violet is the color of the vestments in Advent, but these were special votive Masses that were supposed to recall the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Mother of God and her words, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38). That was the main theme of these “liturgies of the angels,” as they were also called, in which the appropriate passage from the Gospel of Luke was read. After we started school, we used to attend these Masses in the early morning, before classes began. Outside it was still night, everything was dark, and the people often shivered in the cold. Yet the warm glow of the sanctuary compensated for the early rising and the walk through snow and ice. The dark church was illuminated by candles and tapers, which were often brought by the faithful and provided not only light but also a little warmth. Afterward we went home first, ate breakfast, and only then set out for school. These Rorate Masses were wonderful signposts leading us to Christmas.

Read the rest of Mr. DeJak's article at The Wanderer Forum Foundation.

Stand up for religious freedom rally (St. Paul, MN)

Shocking: Cardinal George's "What are you giving up for Lent?"

This article by his imminence, Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago bluntly states the predicament of the Catholic Church in America under the current regime.

We were blessed to meet with Cardinal George in December and he did not mince his words then either.

Ad multos annos!

Here's a snippet of the Cardinal's recent article:

The Lenten rules about fasting from food and abstaining from meat have been considerably reduced in the last forty years, but reminders of them remain in the fast days on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and in the abstinence from meat on all the Fridays of Lent. Beyond these common sacrifices that unite us spiritually to the passion of Christ, Catholics were and are encouraged to “give up” something voluntarily for the sake of others. Often this is money that could have been used for personal purposes and instead is given to help others, especially the poor.

This year, the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must “give up” her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations. This is not a voluntary sacrifice. It is the consequence of the already much discussed Department of Health and Human Services regulations now filed and promulgated for implementation beginning Aug. 1 of this year.

Why does a governmental administrative decision now mean the end of institutions that have been built up over several generations from small donations, often from immigrants, and through the services of religious women and men and others who wanted to be part of the church’s mission in healing and education? Catholic hospitals, universities and social services have an institutional conscience, a conscience shaped by Catholic moral and social teaching. The HHS regulations now before our society will make it impossible for Catholic institutions to follow their conscience.

So far in American history, our government has respected the freedom of individual conscience and of institutional integrity for all the many religious groups that shape our society. The government has not compelled them to perform or pay for what their faith tells them is immoral. That’s what we’ve meant by freedom of religion. That’s what we had believed was protected by the U.S. Constitution. Maybe we were foolish to believe so.

Read the entire article here.

Fr. Barron on atheist Christopher Hitchens

We've asked the students to watch this and think about it; a great example of modern apologetics.

The pope on silence

Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we draw near to World Communications Day 2012, I would like to share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved. When word and silence become mutually exclusive, communication breaks down, either because it gives rise to confusion or because, on the contrary, it creates an atmosphere of coldness; when they complement one another, however, communication acquires value and meaning.

Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves. By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible. It is often in silence, for example, that we observe the most authentic communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal themselves to each other. Joy, anxiety, and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression. Silence, then, gives rise to even more active communication, requiring sensitivity and a capacity to listen that often makes manifest the true measure and nature of the relationships involved.

Read the entire message here. Lots to imbibe. Enjoy!

Thought provoking article from David Brooks of NYT

David Brooks is an inconsistent writer. He jumps from one school of thought to another. He's a classic liberal, though he's branded as a conservative thinker. (There's a difference between today's political liberalism and "classical liberalism"... we won't get into that right now!)

Anyway, here are some tidbits from a recent Brooks article that I found interesting.

"How to Fight the Man" by David Brooks

A few weeks ago, a 22-year-old man named Jefferson Bethke produced a video called “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus.” The video shows Bethke standing in a courtyard rhyming about the purity of the teachings of Jesus and the hypocrisy of the church. Jesus preaches healing, surrender and love, he argues, but religion is rigid, phony and stale. “Jesus came to abolish religion,” Bethke insists. “Religion puts you in bondage, but Jesus sets you free.”

[...]

Right away, many older theologians began critiquing Bethke’s statements. A blogger named Kevin DeYoung pointed out, for example, that it is biblically inaccurate to say that Jesus hated religion. In fact, Jesus preached a religious doctrine, prescribed rituals and worshiped in a temple.

Bethke responded in a way that was humble, earnest and gracious, and that generally spoke well of his character. He also basically folded.

[...]

Bethke’s passionate polemic and subsequent retreat are symptomatic of a lot of the protest cries we hear these days. This seems to be a moment when many people — in religion, economics and politics — are disgusted by current institutions, but then they are vague about what sorts of institutions should replace them.

This seems to be a moment of fervent protest movements that are ultimately vague and ineffectual.

[...]

But rebellion without a rigorous alternative vision is just a feeble spasm.

Read the thoughtful conclusion here.

BXVI on Integrated Education

UPDATE: A Solid Rebuttle to the YouTube phenom: "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus"

This new video was produced by a priest in response to "Why I Love Jesus, and Hate Religion". Not bad!


You may have heard of this YouTube video "Why I hate Religion, but love Jesus" making the rounds, dear students.

The video raises some interesting questions and gets a number of important issues right,

but many of the statements are highly problematic (e.g. the main premise that religion is contrary to Jesus) by way of shallow rhetoric. The theology and Scriptural references are easy enough to parse.

I would suggest that this fellow's view of religion is not simply one we can ignore; this is because there are many, many Christians (even Catholics) who share his view in America and the modern west. We cannot afford simply to mock it - it needs to be engaged and thoroughly rebutted. This is one of the aims of our Capstone Seminar: to give you the tools to articulate truth in the face of skepticism, shallow fads, ideology and hatred in an unbiased manner. Likewise, if you cannot admit that some of the things he (and other people who are 1/2 correct) says are spot-on, we've failed too.

Also, the young man is obviously coming from a shallow, non-denominational protestant perspective, so many of the statements he makes (that are obviously wrong to Catholics) are simply the logical consequence of the failed teachings and pragmatism of main-line protestant religion. We as Catholics can learn from these mistakes.

With that, I offer you a solid rebuttal from "Bad Catholic".

It’s worth beginning with this: I agree with this guy on a lot of points. He reminds us Catholics of a striking truth; that without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, religion is a joke. He speaks the truth that Christ died for our sins, once and for all. I can’t help but think, in the midst of all this, that this hating-religion-loving-Jesus thing is the logical consequence of Protestantism. For a 21st-century Protestant looking at a thousand-something churches, I imagine there is an immense temptation to say “It’s all a wash. I will follow Christ, not a religion,” and be done with it. I empathize with him, knowing that if I were a Protestant I would be in full agreement: There is either one, true religion or there is no religion at all.

But nevertheless, there are two main problems with this video. 1. Jesus Christ would strongly disagree with it. That is to say, the creator of this video is very, very wrong. 2. He’s very, very wrong with some great video editing, good background music, a strong emotional appeal, catchy rhyme, and all in relatively well-timed YouTube moment. He’s wrong in style. When a man gains immense popularity by making blanket statements stylistically, how likely is it that his followers will read a rebuttal making specific statements prosaically? I don’t know, but rebut I must, for it is the duty of the Catholic to resist fashion and fads, no matter how unfashionable he looks doing it.

Read "Bad Catholic's" entire roast here.

Another related post by "Bad Catholic" here. Whoever the author of "Bad Catholic" is, he's pretty dang clever! Enjoy.

Capstone Parent Day images

Parents participated in a discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas' Treatise on Law, followed by a slide show of images from our Chicago trip.

One parent "Skyped" in from Israel on a laptop!

Thanks to all who came - it was a fun and edifying event.