1. Tuesday, October 24, 2017, 7:00 p.m.: Cole DeSantis, “Why Study Theology? Theology, the Academy, and Evangelization”

 
Theology is the academic study of religion. Is this area of study simply reserved for the clergy, or for those members of the Catholic faithful who are called to be scholars and intellectuals? Or do the implications of what theologians teach and study impact the lives of everyday Catholics? In this lecture, Cole DeSantis, the founder of the new journal of theology  Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth") and an M.A. candidate from Providence College, explains how the ideas expressed and analyzed by academic theologians is deeply and intimately related to the Church's larger mission of evangelization and the journey of each individual Catholic towards salvation. 
 
 

2. Tuesday, November 7, 2017, 7:00 p.m.: Shawn Fowler, “Viewing the Invisible: The Role of Spiritual Sight according to the Macarian Homilist”

 
In the first chapter of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prays that his readers might have the eyes of their hearts enlightened. From this and other Biblical passages, it is clear that God has given his people some sort of spiritual sight. Although Scripture affirms the existence of such a faculty, further instruction on its nature, purpose, and function is scarce within the canon. Fortunately, a few centuries later an influential yet enigmatic monk known to posterity as "Macarius" would compose dozens of homilies on the spiritual life, many of which contain brief treatments of the subject in question. In this presentation, we will explore the homilist's teaching on the eyes of the heart, ranging from their utilization in discernment to their role in mystical contemplation.
 
 

3. Tuesday, November 14, 2017, 7:00 p.m.: Chuka Okoye, “Jesus as the Truth in John 14:6”

 
The four Gospels portray Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Word made Flesh. They do so by narrating the activities of Jesus Christ – His miracles and especially His revelation of Himself as the Son of God. In John’s Gospel – the last of the four gospels – the culmination of this descriptive narrative is found when chapter 14, verse 6, where Jesus says of Himself, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” This self-description given by Jesus forms the core of St. John’s narrative. We will be discussing the full import of this self-description in order to clarify what our view of Christ should be in the context of reading John's Gospel.
 
 

4. Tuesday, November 21, 2017, 7:00 p.m.: Christina Corvese, “The Holy Spirit: A Guide For Interreligious Dialogue.”

 
Now more than ever, Catholics are called to promote not mere tolerance but mutual respect and understanding among diverse religions in accordance with the teachings of Vatican II. This lecture will explore how Catholics can engage with people of different faiths through (1) understanding how the Holy Spirit uniquely operates within adherents of various belief systems and (2) how Catholics can invoke the Holy Spirit in order to humbly communicate with others, as well as how such invocation is distinct from evangelization.