Five Dominican friar students of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology will be ordained to the diaconate on January 31, 2009 by the Most Reverend Allen Vigneron, Bishop of Oakland, at the new Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, California. Brothers Michael Augustine Amabisco, John Marie Bingham, Christopher Fadok, Stephen Maria Lopez, and Tap Vu will enter into the apostolic ministry of deacons by their reception of the sacrament of Holy Orders, through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church. Bishop Vigneron will lay hands on the candidates, signifying their special attachment to him in the activity of ministry—or ‘diakonia.’ He will then give the book of the Gospels to the new deacons who will have just received their mission to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. As deacons, these Dominicans will share in Christ's mission and grace in an important way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with a character that cannot be revoked and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the ‘deacon’ or servant of all.
Fulfilling the work that was intended for them, these ordained friars will assist bishops and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries – above all the distribution of Holy Communion, but also in assisting at and blessing marriages, in baptizing, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to various ministries of charity. Perhaps of greatest significance to these five friars of the Order of Preachers is the gift of proclaiming as deacons the Gospel of Jesus Christ and preaching the Word in the celebration of the Eucharist. This proclamation and preaching is especially fitting for the sons of St. Dominic, whose conception of the vita apostolica for his friars means to this day men on mission, proclaiming and preaching the Good News of salvation. God willing, all five men will be ordained priests in the summer of 2010.
Br. Michael Augustine Amabisco
I was born and raised in Orange County, California and I am the youngest of four children. I wasn't raised in the Catholic faith, or any faith for that matter. Attending church wasn't one of the activities we shared as a family. Now don't get me wrong, we weren't a household of pagans; we knew who Jesus was, we just didn't belong to any organized church. That slowly started to change for me when I was in the 4th grade. That was the year I met my best friend. He and his family were Catholic and I would occasionally attend Mass with them, and that is where the seeds of my faith were first planted. After years of exploring different Protestant faiths and not finding the answers I was looking for, I found myself praying in a Catholic church and feeling that I had finally found a home. At age 23, I was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, and the first inklings of my vocation started to appear. Not too long after I entered the Church I began to think about the priesthood, but dismissed the thoughts and feelings and figured it was just the fire and fervor of my conversion coming out. After a few years the call to priesthood was back. I began a serious discernment with the aid of the local diocesan vocation director and began to seriously consider studying and preparing for the priesthood. As the time to make that decision came closer, I found that my fear of the commitment was stronger than my faith. I abandoned my discernment and went back to the pursuit of career, money, and materialism. Three years later I found myself living in Houston, Texas. My career was taking off; I was making good money and had most of the material things I wanted. I had those things that I thought would make me happy, but I found myself feeling unfulfilled. One day while at Mass, it struck me. "That priest has the best life. He is God's instrument that brings Christ to the world in the Eucharist. That is the life I want." I heard my vocation call again, and this time I listened. With lots of prayer and the graces of God, I found my way to the Dominicans and the fulfillment I was searching for.
Ferris Bueller summed it up well when he said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” I realize how true this is when I reflect back on the past 6 1/2 years I have spent as a Dominican and the events that have brought me to this point, Ordination to the Diaconate. As I stop and look around I recognize the numerous gifts and graces that have been part on my life. Faith, vocation, brotherhood, and ministry to others are the gifts that have been given to me. Through Holy Orders, I will be given the opportunity to serve the People of God in a special way. I am thankful for the life I have been given and for not missing God’s presence in my life, as I continue to pray for God’s blessings in the service to others.
Br. John Marie Bingham
My dad was an Episcopal priest and my mom a source of strength and discipline at home. Daily prayers were a part of our life, and every Sunday my mom would drag my brothers and me to my dad's parish and sit us in the second pew, Epistle side (that's on the right), whether we were late or on time. Even with this regimen, I don't distinctly remember learning the basics of Christianity. I reckon I had an osmosis experience or something because by the time I started attending Catholic schools in 7th grade, I knew the Christian (and Catholic Christian) faith better than many of my Catholic classmates. As time went on, my parent's convictions concerning the truth of the Gospel began to lead them closer to Rome. In their private conversations, they stopped using the phrase 'if we join the Catholic Church', and started saying 'when we join the Catholic Church'. In the spring of my junior year of high school it happened. My dad made the formal announcement that he was leaving the Episcopal Church and priesthood to enter the Church of Rome. I suppose my schooling had made me ready. In any case, my mom, younger brother and I came with him. After graduation (and a couple extra years of searching), I enrolled at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. At the College, I frequented the sacraments, started discerning my vocation, and met my first Dominican – Fr. Bart de la Torre. But when my time was over in sunny California, I still couldn't figure out God's will regarding my vocation. So after graduation, I journeyed back home to Georgia. After a year there, I accepted a position as Assistant to the Vocation Director of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. The vocation director's name was Fr. Brett Brannen. Fr. Brett watched me twiddle my thumbs concerning my vocation for a couple of months, and then he had had enough. He called me into his office and gave me a proverbial kick. After a few visits to various communities, I discovered that the Dominican charism of seeking the truth, living the truth communally, and preaching the fruits of the contemplation of that truth resounded in my soul. And so I entered the Order, made vows on August 30, 2003 and I am now studying to be a priest as a son of St. Dominic and will soon be ordained to the diaconate.
Br. Christopher Fadok
I was born in 1968 and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where I attended Catholic grade school at Most Holy Trinity Parish and high school at Brophy College Preparatory. In 1987 I began to study philosophy at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I questioned my Catholic faith for years, but was impressed by the philosophical works of John Paul II and other Catholic thinkers, so I began a study of Catholic thought and formally returned to the Church, receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in 1997. That same year I joined the Dominicans, whose life of prayer and study I greatly admired. After six months in the Novitiate, I left the Order to discern a vocation to marriage. I returned to Arizona and dated the same wonderful woman for four years while working in the field of computers. But compelled by the power of the Gospel and a sense that God was truly calling me, I returned to the Dominicans in 2002. I received my Master of Arts (Philosophy) from DSPT in 2006 and am currently working toward the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts (Theology) degrees. I see my mother and father, brothers and sisters, and their spouses—my entire family—as the greatest school of love and self-sacrifice I have known. I therefore credit all of them with building up in me the strength to happily receive the grace of my religious and priestly vocation.
Br. Stephen Maria Lopez
I was born in New York, and raised in Seattle, Washington and San Diego, California. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, I worked for several years in corporate accounting/finance before entering the Order of Preachers in 2002. As part of my formation as a Dominican friar, I spent my residency year (2006-2007) serving at his province’s parish in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. I have had other mission experiences in Chiapas, Mexico, and the Philippines as well as Spanish language studies in Argentina. My areas of academic interest are spirituality, liturgy, Mariology, and the theology of consecrated life. Following my ordination to the diaconate and before my ordination to the priesthood in June 2010, I will spend my final year studying theology at the Dominican house of studies in Toulouse, France.
Br. Tap Vu
I'm Br. Tap Vu. When I was in Vietnam, I studied at a school run by the Dominicans. Before I joined the Order, I was working as a Mechanical Engineer. When I was laid-off, I went on a weekend retreat and realized that I had not been using God's gifts to work for His Kingdom. So I left everything and determined to be God's servant for the rest of my life. Since I had studied at a school run by Dominicans, when I decided to become a religious, I contacted the Vietnamese Vicariate and was able to join the Dominican Order. Now I'm in my third year of theology and will be ordained as a Deacon this month.
Greetings from Washington, DC: Br. Isaiah Mary Molano
I found my vocation at Saint Andrew’s Newman Center serving UC Riverside, a ministry of the Province. Majoring in Creative Writing (unofficial motto of the department: the few, the proud, the clinically insane) I held onto a dream to write screenplays for television or feature films. A year after graduating from the University, however, I entered the Dominican Order because the payoff was better. I find myself with a goal that has not changed since entering 7 years ago: campus ministry. The energy is incredible, the questions are real and the conversions are providential. Call me nuts, but being on campus is really the best place to encounter the divine.
Currently, I am studying with the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. DHS is located across the street from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Catholic University of America, and is practically next door from the USCCB. Other Religious Houses of Study—the Marists, the Franciscan Capuchins and the Josephites, for example—are only blocks away. This part of the Capital is aptly named “Little Rome”. It is both a surreal and wonderful experience to be surrounded by so much Catholicism. It is surreal because you can see habits and collars everywhere. And it is wonderful for just the same reason.
In early September, I visited the Capitol to see a friend, Representative Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), who is a parishioner at All Saints Catholic Newman Center, Arizona State University, where I spent my residency year. Representative Mitchell was gracious enough to allow me to accompany him as he went to the Congressional floor to put democracy to work. It was pretty exciting.
I will be ordained to the diaconate with the brothers of the Eastern Province on January 10, by the hands of Bishop Holly, auxiliary of Washington.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Reflections on DSPT’s First Offering at St. Dominic’s in San Francisco
In the Fall 2008 semester, Fr. Michael Sweeney offered a course, “Theology of the Laity: the Role of the Lay Person in the Catholic Church,” at St. Dominic’s Parish in San Francisco. Joseph Ratzinger, while still a cardinal, remarked that we likely should speak of a sort of “world office” of the lay person in the Church; in other words, along with the clergy, the laity have an office in the Church. In this course Fr. Sweeney suggested that we should, indeed, speak of a lay office in the Church, which is ordered to the Church’s secular mission.
The course met in one of the two classrooms in a temporary building in the parking lot of St. Dominic’s; not so convivial as DSPT’s Berkeley campus, but certainly adequate. Eight students took the course, six as auditors, and two for full graduate credit as special students. The students were introduced to MOODLE, the new internet program being used by the GTU, permitting them to access course notes, the course reader, and magisterial documents posted at the Vatican website and on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. DSPT filmed the class presentations, and posted them on MOODLE, so that students could refer back to the class presentations when they wished.
For all of the students, the class was their first graduate course in theology. They were particularly interested in the ways in which the role of the laity can be practically applied to life in the Church and world, and concerned that very few lay Catholics are aware of the mission that has been entrusted to them. The course was timely, in that it corresponded to the presidential election, and afforded lots of opportunity for reflection upon the practical implications of the role – and responsibilities and rights – of lay Catholics. The students who enrolled in the class would likely not have attended a class at our Berkeley campus. Most had jobs that would preclude anything but evening classes, and fighting rush hour traffic to make a 7:00 p.m. class at DSPT would also have denied them dinner. In order to accommodate people’s schedules, the format of the class called for two hours of in-class presentation (mainly lecture) and one hour per week using MOODLE.
After having offered a course in San Francisco, Fr. Sweeney remarked that the use of St. Dominic’s as a satellite campus, particularly once the parish refurbishes the school building for the sake of adult faith formation and education, is something that DSPT should seriously pursue. He is committed to teaching there again himself because the venue gives working students access to DSPT programs that they would, otherwise, not be able to enjoy. DSPT is continuing to look at ways to offer flexible class times to meet the needs of working people.
Candidates Needed for Online Marketing Survey
Do you have at least two years of professional or technical experience and feel that your work would benefit from studies in theology? Would you be interested in integrating your faith into your career? The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is evaluating a possible new master's-level degree program – a Master of Theological Studies – and we need qualified candidates to participate in a brief online survey in early February to determine the need for such a program. Please contact Heidi McKenna at hmckenna@dspt.edu if you would be willing to participate.
The course met in one of the two classrooms in a temporary building in the parking lot of St. Dominic’s; not so convivial as DSPT’s Berkeley campus, but certainly adequate. Eight students took the course, six as auditors, and two for full graduate credit as special students. The students were introduced to MOODLE, the new internet program being used by the GTU, permitting them to access course notes, the course reader, and magisterial documents posted at the Vatican website and on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. DSPT filmed the class presentations, and posted them on MOODLE, so that students could refer back to the class presentations when they wished.
For all of the students, the class was their first graduate course in theology. They were particularly interested in the ways in which the role of the laity can be practically applied to life in the Church and world, and concerned that very few lay Catholics are aware of the mission that has been entrusted to them. The course was timely, in that it corresponded to the presidential election, and afforded lots of opportunity for reflection upon the practical implications of the role – and responsibilities and rights – of lay Catholics. The students who enrolled in the class would likely not have attended a class at our Berkeley campus. Most had jobs that would preclude anything but evening classes, and fighting rush hour traffic to make a 7:00 p.m. class at DSPT would also have denied them dinner. In order to accommodate people’s schedules, the format of the class called for two hours of in-class presentation (mainly lecture) and one hour per week using MOODLE.
After having offered a course in San Francisco, Fr. Sweeney remarked that the use of St. Dominic’s as a satellite campus, particularly once the parish refurbishes the school building for the sake of adult faith formation and education, is something that DSPT should seriously pursue. He is committed to teaching there again himself because the venue gives working students access to DSPT programs that they would, otherwise, not be able to enjoy. DSPT is continuing to look at ways to offer flexible class times to meet the needs of working people.
Candidates Needed for Online Marketing Survey
Do you have at least two years of professional or technical experience and feel that your work would benefit from studies in theology? Would you be interested in integrating your faith into your career? The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is evaluating a possible new master's-level degree program – a Master of Theological Studies – and we need qualified candidates to participate in a brief online survey in early February to determine the need for such a program. Please contact Heidi McKenna at hmckenna@dspt.edu if you would be willing to participate.
DSPT Galleria: Picturing Paradise: Cuadros by the Peruvian Women on the Pamplona Alta as Visions of Hope
Picturing Paradise is an exhibition featuring embroidered and appliquéd fabric pictures called Cuadros, created by women of Compacto Humano and Manos Ancashinas, two art cooperatives located in Pamplona Alta, a shantytown situated on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. The exhibition places emphasis on the women as artists and the way their art reflects a profound sense of resilience, spirituality, and hope despite the harsh conditions of their lives.The exhibition is the result of three commissioned projects which took place over three separate fieldwork trips to Peru. Hopes and Dreams (January 2006), consists of fifteen cuadros and depicts each woman’s personal aspirations for herself, for her family or for the world. Inspirations and Motivations (January 2007) illustrates narratives about each woman’s life and the individuals and the communities that sustain her. ¿Quien soy yo? (Who am I?), the most recent project (July 2008), reflects each woman’s self-perception and at the same time, the interconnectedness of her life with others.
The Exhibit will be on display in the DSPT Galleria from January 26 through March 20 as part of the Faith in Human Rights Symposium. See the events calendar for information about the artist’s talk and reception on February 8.
New at DSPT: On Facebook?
So are we! Join the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology group to stay in touch with the DSPT community! It features information on upcoming events, photos from past events, and allows you to stay in touch with former classmates, faculty mentors and others that share similar interests. This is also a chance for you to catch up and reconnect with long lost friends, make new friends and increase your friends list in the Facebook network.
For prospective students, the DSPT group is a great way to find out more about the community at DSPT. Have questions about what studying at DSPT is like? Join and pose your questions to the community! There will always be someone there willing to help!
For prospective students, the DSPT group is a great way to find out more about the community at DSPT. Have questions about what studying at DSPT is like? Join and pose your questions to the community! There will always be someone there willing to help!
January 2009: Faculty and Alumni News
Fr. Richard Schenk, DSPT Professor of Philosophy and Theology, published quite a few articles in 2008 that are now available! His article, “What does Trinity ‘Add’ to the Reality of the Covenants?” appears in Love Alone is Credible: Hans Urs von Bathasar as Interpreter of the Catholic Tradition, volume 1, edited by David L. Schindler (Eerdmans, 2008). The essays in this volume come from a 2005 conference that gathered together scholars to engage the fundamental questions of faith and reason in light of von Bathasar’s influential contribution to Catholic theology. The volume explores a wide range of topics, including metaphysics and causality, the nature of rationality, the relationship between God and the world, and the meaning of the body. Another article, “The Life of Study and the Common Good,” appeared in the second volume of Dominican Studies (2008) and is available online. Finally, Fr. Schenk was the guest editor for the Fall 2008 volume of Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture. The topic, St. Albert the Great and Dominican Teaching, and the articles in the volume came from DSPT’s Fall 2007 symposium on Dominican teaching.
Fr. Michael Sweeney’s recent article, “In the Eucharist is found the evidence and renewal of hope,” appeared in the December 15 issue of The Catholic Voice (vol. 46, no. 21) and is also available online.
A recent work of historical fiction, Mindful, by Sr. Barbara Green is now available on Amazon.com. She tells the story of exiles returning to a homeland they’ve never seen, opening in the year 535 BCE and following Tizkor and her three children as they journey home from exile in Babylon to make a fresh start. Their long journey allows them to reflect on their past hardships, present struggles, and their dreams for the future. Borrowing beloved language from biblical Deuteronomy, each character shapes his or her own experience through that language, enriching it with the insight gained through hardship.
Fr. Michael Sweeney’s recent article, “In the Eucharist is found the evidence and renewal of hope,” appeared in the December 15 issue of The Catholic Voice (vol. 46, no. 21) and is also available online.
A recent work of historical fiction, Mindful, by Sr. Barbara Green is now available on Amazon.com. She tells the story of exiles returning to a homeland they’ve never seen, opening in the year 535 BCE and following Tizkor and her three children as they journey home from exile in Babylon to make a fresh start. Their long journey allows them to reflect on their past hardships, present struggles, and their dreams for the future. Borrowing beloved language from biblical Deuteronomy, each character shapes his or her own experience through that language, enriching it with the insight gained through hardship.
Alumni Profile: Larry King, M.A. in Theology (2008)
My appreciation for the curriculum at DSPT has increased even more since I began doctoral studies at the Catholic University of America. Most of my classes today focus on twentieth century theologians: Congar, Rahner, von Balthasar, de Lubac, and so on. We often see these scholars as having abandoned the "scholastic" model of Thomas Aquinas. Yet I am finding that in their writings, they regularly assume that their reader is familiar with Thomistic concepts and scholastic terminology. So my study of Thomas at DSPT turns out to not only be valuable in its own right, but to be an essential preparation for the study of more recent scholars. Schools that consider Thomas to be antiquated and skip straight to the "moderns" are therefore not only omitting Thomas, but actually preventing their students from fully understanding these modern theologians as well.
DSPT also prepared me for my doctoral studies in the way its courses were run. The courses I took at DSPT always welcomed input from students, but never degenerated into "bull sessions" where all opinions were floated as "interesting" and left simply at that. I also have a new appreciation for the amount of writing that I had to do at DSPT, as I am seeing that other students in my doctoral program who were not assigned term papers in their master's program are at a disadvantage now. The Master of Arts in Theology degree that I earned at DSPT has turned out to be the ideal preparation for my current doctoral studies.
DSPT also prepared me for my doctoral studies in the way its courses were run. The courses I took at DSPT always welcomed input from students, but never degenerated into "bull sessions" where all opinions were floated as "interesting" and left simply at that. I also have a new appreciation for the amount of writing that I had to do at DSPT, as I am seeing that other students in my doctoral program who were not assigned term papers in their master's program are at a disadvantage now. The Master of Arts in Theology degree that I earned at DSPT has turned out to be the ideal preparation for my current doctoral studies.
January 2009: A Culture of Philanthropy
Breaking News: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and Planned Giving
Congress has authorized the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which extends the law that allows donors to make charitable gifts from their IRA accounts during tax years 2008 and 2009 without incurring income tax on the withdrawal. What is the secret to making a gift that will provide the greatest meaning to you? Plan carefully by looking at your goals, decide how much you can afford to give and take advantage of the tax laws so more of your money can go toward the work you choose to support. Investing in the DSPT is an investment in the future of our Church and of society.
Through planned giving—that is, by including a donation to a charitable organization like the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT) in your financial and estate planning—it is possible to affect how your contributions are used and by whom. With your gift, you choose how your money is used, rather than leaving it up to the government to spend your money. You can support the causes and needs that are important to you.
More and more people are taking advantage of the many options for planned giving. DSPT’s planned giving options, for example, include distributions from wills, charitable bequests, life insurance, charitable gift annuities, publicly traded stocks and charitable remainder trusts.
Keep in mind the following points when considering your financial and estate planning:
Congress has authorized the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which extends the law that allows donors to make charitable gifts from their IRA accounts during tax years 2008 and 2009 without incurring income tax on the withdrawal. What is the secret to making a gift that will provide the greatest meaning to you? Plan carefully by looking at your goals, decide how much you can afford to give and take advantage of the tax laws so more of your money can go toward the work you choose to support. Investing in the DSPT is an investment in the future of our Church and of society.
Through planned giving—that is, by including a donation to a charitable organization like the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT) in your financial and estate planning—it is possible to affect how your contributions are used and by whom. With your gift, you choose how your money is used, rather than leaving it up to the government to spend your money. You can support the causes and needs that are important to you.
More and more people are taking advantage of the many options for planned giving. DSPT’s planned giving options, for example, include distributions from wills, charitable bequests, life insurance, charitable gift annuities, publicly traded stocks and charitable remainder trusts.
Keep in mind the following points when considering your financial and estate planning:
- Leaving a bequest in your will provides a tax credit against estate taxes. Donations of as much as 100 percent of income in the year of death can be used for tax relief.
- A charitable gift annuity provides additional income in your lifetime while providing for DSPT’s future.
- Securities can be donated, providing relief against capital gains taxes.
- Donating a life insurance policy allows you to spend a little to give a lot. For example: a woman who is 38 years old and is in the 40 percent tax bracket buys a $50,000 life insurance policy designating a charity as owner and beneficiary. She pays $53.30 per month and in 10 years the policy is paid up. Because of her tax bracket, her out-of pocket cost for a $50,000 gift is merely $3,838 over 10 years.
Over the next few years, the financial needs of DSPT will continue to grow, and private donations will become even more crucial to our ability to complete our mission in the world. Please consider planned giving as an option that benefits your needs as well as those of the school.
To learn more about planned giving at DSPT, please call (510) 883-2085 or email advancement@dspt.edu. Thank you for your continued support.
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