Spring 2018

FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S DESK 

Dear Friends:
As we move from the joyous Easter season into Ordinary Time, so does the University, with the excitement of Commencement moving into the quietness of summer. This is a time for planning, rest and preparation for a new group of students who will be arriving in August. This past semester has been anything but ordinary. In January, Father Bob Beloin, the Chaplain of STM, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He has undergone treatment and will continue to do so, which has limited his ability to be physically present at STM.
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STM’S NEWLY COMMISSIONED ICONS:
REFLECTING THE CHAPEL'S PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

If you look behind you during Mass, you may notice the Prayer Alcove, a recessed wood-paneled space at the rear of the Chapel. And, if you are lucky, you may see the Jesus Christ the Teacher icon, glittering gold and red in either sun, or electric, light. Soon, and in honor of the Chapel's 80th Anniversary, this icon will be joined by more in the fall of 2018.
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CATHLETES: PRAYING & TRAINING FOR MILES TO COME

Every Wednesday night, a crew of student athletes—easily spotted on campus with our team backpacks—makes its way into the student lounge at STM. Often sore from the day’s workout, or the seemingly never-ending midterm season, we gather in community and prayer as Cathletes. Brought together by our shared faith and experiences as both Catholics and athletes, we congregate to take stock of our spiritual lives and to track our individual faith journeys, applying our collective penchant for training routines and athletic goal-setting to our lives as Catholics.
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THE PRIMACY OF THE HEART

One winter afternoon after picking up my sister from school, I popped into a bookstore without much of a plan. Seeking some type of a Lenten prayer companion, and after scanning the stacks a short while, my eyes focused on a copy of Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith, a collection of academic and spiritual writings by Henri Nouwen. One of the many beloved treasures of the Catholic community at Yale, Nouwen had a way of writing as if he was present in vulnerable conversation with you.
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A YEAR WITH ESTEEM:
A DEEPENED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH

As a graduating senior whose heart has been restless with questions all throughout my faith journey at Yale, I felt so blessed to be able to participate in the “Engaging Students to Enliven the Ecclesial Mission” (ESTEEM) program this year. Through ESTEEM, I’ve become acutely aware of the fact that we live in a time when the Church needs young people, and young people need the Church — though both sides may be reluctant to admit this reciprocity. It was inspiring to deepen our understanding of church and learn about various ways to get involved after we graduate over our Sunday discussions with church leaders.
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THE CHAPEL'S STATIONS OF THE CROSS:
CHRIST'S MERCY RENDERED IN COPPER & LEAD

Via Crucis: One of the oldest and most beloved of Christian devotions is the Way of the Cross, commemorating the journey of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha and his crucifixion and death. After the acceptance of Christianity by Constantine in 312 C.E., pilgrims freely traveled to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, stopping to pray and reverence the sites associated with his passion. The journal of Egeria, a fourth-century woman from Galicia, recounts the rituals of Holy Week including the veneration of relics, the offering of prayers, the reading of scripture and the singing of psalms at each stop along the Via Dolorosa.
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DONOR SPOTLIGHT: WILL EDWARDS '02

Will Edwards has a long history with STM. First as a student, and now more recently in a leadership role as a member of STM’s Board of Trustees. While an undergraduate, STM became his spiritual home. A place where he worshiped, studied, shared meals and made memories as he grew in his faith.
I recently had a chance to sit down with Will to ask him a few questions about his relationship with STM. How it began, how it’s evolved and the role STM alums play in supporting a thriving Catholic environment at Yale.
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WHAT IS THE FORCE?

Within all genres of media there exist genre-breaking titles which transcend their conventional themes. Star Wars is one such genre-breaking title with its use of metaphysical and spiritual elements. Set in a distant galaxy, the story of Star Wars revolves around the struggles of a galactic civilization which is caught in a constant stream of political turmoil and revolution. This narrative begins with the 1977 Star Wars film, A New Hope, in which we follow Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, on his mission to defeat the evil Galactic Empire and his journey to discover the Force, an energy field that connects all living things and can be called upon at will.
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FAITH AND FOSSILS:
THE THOMAS E. GOLDEN, JR. FELLOWSHIP IN FAITH & SCIENCE

On Sunday March 4th, Dr. Peter Dodson '74, Professor of Veterinary Gross Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Paleontology, gave a lecture as a part of the Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Fellowship in Faith & Science. Professor Dodson focused on the three pillars in his life—his fossils, his family and his faith, explaining their importance to his life, as well as how they intertwine, despite how different they may seem.
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THREE QUESTIONS: NUNO MONTEIRO, PH.D.

IC: What is your current research, what do you teach and what influenced you to become a professor?

NM: I just recently finished a large research project on nuclear proliferation that resulted in a book; and, I am now starting on a new book that focuses on contemporary wars and why we are now involved in a series of wars that don’t seem to end. Specifically, I am interested in how war has changed so that conflicts stretch on for long periods of time. I teach two classes and usually discuss topics that have to do with theories of international politics and questions of international security. In general, I am also very interested in philosophical questions on how we can “know” things about world politics.
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A REFLECTION ON NICARAGUA:
ENCOUNTERING GOD IN NEW & PROFOUND WAYS

Nicaragua, the western hemisphere’s second poorest country, is rich in love, faith and passion. For the fourth year in a row, undergraduate and graduate students from STM traveled to Trohilo, a rural community nestled in the sugar cane fields between Nicaragua’s coastline and volcanic range.

Trohilo has limited resources and is deeply affected by systemic injustices and a chronic kidney disease epidemic. As members of the STM community, we spent our days alongside Nicaraguan nursing students with the school children of this community, teaching lessons about human health and anatomy, botany, journalism and music.
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ENGAGING IN YOUR FAITH:
A DISCUSSION WITH ALLAN ESTERON

I sat down to talk with Allan Esteron, one of STM’s Assistant Chaplains, earlier this semester. Over the course of an hour, our conversation touched upon the importance of incorporating service into a Catholic life of faith as well as the work he has done to develop STM’s social justice programming.

SW: Allan, thank you so much for speaking with me today. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to ask my first question—What drew you to working in campus ministry?
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OPEN BOOK: POETRY AND THEOLOGY IN THE MODERNIST PERIOD

My recently published book, Poetry and Theology in the Modernist Period, takes as its subject the many and surprising points of contact between modernist poetry and Christian theology in the 1930s and 1940s. During these years, theology underwent profound changes – Karl Barth re-oriented the field towards revelation, while Jacques Maritain helped create a Thomism for the twentieth century – and these theological shifts informed the work of several of the period’s most essential poets. T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, David Jones: all were sensitive readers of modern theology, and all took on large-scale theological topics in their poetry. 
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