Conscience and Conversion at the Spiritual Life Center

If my blogging lately has been pretty light, I have an excuse: I've been working on three presentations for next month. One is on the depiction of conscience in a Pre-Raphaelite painting; another on St. Thomas More and Conscience, and third on Blessed John Henry Newman and Conscience. More information, including registration, here:

The Spiritual Life Center will host a three-day Symposium on Conversion and Conscience July 13-15 for adult faith formation, prayer, celebration, and intellectual exchange. The theme is “Conversion and Conscience: Freedom, Will, and Truth in the Human Quest for Meaning.”

The faculty for the 2017 symposium consists of Dr. James Madden, professor of philosophy at Benedictine College; Fr. Thomas Hoisington, priest in residence at St. Mary’s Parish in Garden Plain; Fr. Joshua Lollar, priest at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Lawrence; and Stephanie Mann, local author of “Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation.”

The symposium begins with a keynote banquet Thursday evening, July 13, and continues all day Friday and Saturday with a schedule consisting of morning prayer, Mass, and lectures in four pillar content areas.

The symposium will discuss how the life of Christ provides us with a model for obedience. In the person of Jesus, human will was perfectly aligned with divine will. But with lives filled with distraction and cross-pressures, and minds filled with confusion and doubt, how are we to follow in his example? How can we overcome the dissenting voices around us, and the sinful impulses within us, which tempt us to follow the example of the world, rather than the example of our Lord?

Utilizing Christological, philosophical, and historical perspectives, the symposium will provide insights into ways our forebears have pursued authentic human liberty by focusing on the transcendent, even in the midst of persecution.

The painting chosen for the program is the Call of St. Matthew by Caravaggio. Whom to you think Jesus is pointing to when He gestures to the future St. Matthew? The man with the beard or the young man counting coins? Do you think that Caravaggio wanted us to wonder?

At the Spiritual Life Center this July

I'll be one of the presenters at the Spiritual Life Center's Summer Symposium 2017, Thursday, July 13 through Saturday, July 15:

"Conversion and Conscience: Freedom, Will, and Truth in the Human Quest for Meaning"

The Summer Symposium is an opportunity for presenters and participants to gather for prayer, celebration, and intellectual exchange. The symposium begins with a keynote banquet, and continues with two full days consisting of morning prayer, Holy Mass, and lectures in four pillar content areas (Doctrine, Spirituality, Literature, and Catholic Living).

This year’s theme is "Conversion and Conscience: Freedom, Will, and Truth in the Human Quest for Meaning" and will feature lectures by Dr James Madden, professor of philosophy at Benedictine College, Fr. Thomas Hoisington, priest in residence at St. Mary's Parish in Garden Plain, Fr. Joshua Lollar, priest at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Lawrence, and Stephanie Mann, local author of "Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation."

The life of Christ provides us with a model for obedience: In the person of Jesus, human will was perfectly aligned with divine will. But, with lives filled with distraction and cross-pressures, and minds filled with confusion and doubt, how are we to follow in his example? How can we overcome the dissenting voices around us, and the sinful impulses within us, which tempt us to follow the example of the world, rather than the example of our Lord? Utilizing Christological, philosophical, and historical perspectives, this symposium will provide insights into ways our forebears have pursued authentic human liberty by focusing on the transcendent, even in the midst of persecution.

I'll be talking about "St. Thomas More: Conscience and Martyrdom" and "Blessed John Henry Newman: Conscience and Conversion", on Saturday. At the Thursday evening keynote banquet, I'll give a brief talk on the Pre-Raphaelite painting, "The Awakening Conscience" by William Holman Hunt. More info to come soon.