Spring 2019

FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S DESK 

Dear Friends:
As I proudly introduce the Spring 2019 issue of STM Magazine, I would like to take a moment to greet you as your new Chaplain. It’s been a great first few months, getting to know everyone while learning the names of the colleges, accurately applying Yale acronyms (YDS, YRM and YDN, to name just a few) and running through the streets of New Haven. I’ve been inspired by our students who bring freshness and authenticity to the practice of their Catholic faith amidst these challenging times facing our Church, our campus and our world.
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IN MEMORIAM: THE REV. ROBERT L. BELOIN FUND FOR FAITH IN ACTION

It is with tremendous joy and gratitude for the tenure and legacy of Reverend Robert L. Beloin, Yale University’s seventh Catholic Chaplain, that the members of the Saint Thomas More Board of Trustees announce the creation of the Rev. Robert L. Beloin Fund for Faith in Action.
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ENCOUNTERING GUATEMALA: ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK REFLECTION

As the plane carrying our Alternative Spring Break group made its descent into Guatemala City, tree-covered mountains cradling pure blue lakes bumped past our windows. Later in the week as we visited Guatemala City, Antigua and Xela, we moved through narrow streets filled with motorbikes and vibrantly-painted school buses.
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FATHER GERRY: A YEAR AT YALE

As Fr. Gerry prepares to leave his post as Interim Chaplain at STM, STM Magazine Editors Robin McShane and Sarah Woodford '10 M.Div. asked him to reflect on his past ten months in this role.

Editors: You came into a community that was grieving the loss of a beloved and respected leader. How did this emotional dynamic influence your work this year, if at all?
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FAITH IN THE REAL WORLD:
REMEMBERING THE FORGOTTEN

Standing at the foot of the Chapel’s altar, my sponsor’s (and fellow graduate student) hand on one shoulder, the bishop’s hand on my forehead, I took the confirmation name: St. Jeanne de Chantal. She is the patron saint of the forgotten. 

My confirmation day was my deceased grandfather’s one-hundredth birthday and his baby brother, a New Haven native, cried happy tears through the whole Mass.
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CALLED TO SERVE: INTEGRATING SERVICE INTO STM MINISTRIES

One chilly fall afternoon, a group of undergraduate men went to the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of Grace in Guilford, CT, where nuns live a life of prayer and communion. Attracted by the serenity of the place, these men retreated from the business of student life to spend their time in prayer and service. Armed with an ax and gloves, they chopped and stacked wood for the coming cold season—a great help to the nuns as they prepared for winter’s frigid temperatures.
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ESTEEM MENTORSHIP: CULTIVATING FUTURE CHURCH LEADERS

ESTEEM (Engaging Students to Enliven the Ecclesial Mission) is a program that prepares students for leadership in their future parish communities. As part of the program, each student participant is matched with a mentor from the STM community whose life pathway and professional experience align with the aspirations of the student. Throughout the student-mentor relationship, mentors provide guidance to students as they grow in their faith, face challenges and set life goals.
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THE RIGGS GARDEN: THE SPACE IN BETWEEN

In between the Chapel and the Golden Center is an outside sunken courtyard, accessible by steps from the Golden Center, or the lower door from the Chapel. There are two trees in the courtyard — and often flowers in the spring and summer. It is a special place, this space in between two sacred spaces.
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MEET FATHER RYAN: THE FUTURE OF STM

Father Ryan Lerner is a man in motion – serving as both the new Chaplain of STM and as the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Hartford don’t allow him to stand still, and even in his free time, Father Ryan runs, training for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington this Memorial Day weekend.
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THE JUDGE GUIDO CALABRESI FELLOWSHIP IN RELIGION & LAW: A SURVEY OF AMERICAN CATHOLICISM

As the snow fell on a winter night in New Haven, STM was packed to capacity for the Judge Guido Calabresi Fellowship in Religion & Law lecture, delivered by Professor Douglas W. Kmiec and entitled “Faith, Politics and Heresy.” Not only the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law, Kmiec also served Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush as Assistant and Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He is a retired United States Ambassador, nominated for foreign service to the Republic of Malta by President Barack Obama.
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THREE QUESTIONS: JASON SCHWARTZ, PH.D.

DS: What have you been working on recently?

JS: I try to better understand the ways in which the risks, benefits, safety, cost and effectiveness of medical products and technologies—pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical devices—are debated by medical experts and policy-makers when they assess how to regulate them.
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SOUNDING SACRED: AN AURAL SHOWCASE OF NEW HAVEN'S SACRED SPACES

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart!”

The opening line of Julian Revie’s '02 setting of “Psalm 138” burst forth from the ambo, the pulpit at the front right of STM’s Chapel.
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PRESENT AND PAST: SPIRITUALITY AND SELF-CARE

Millennial Instagram feeds are filled with the same insistent message of self-care, advocating for the simple pleasures and healthy habits we can bring into our lives in order to take better care of ourselves.
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