It is significant that campus ministry, especially in the U.S., is entrusted to the care of St. John Henry Newman, one of the great theological minds of the modern era. St. Al's started as the Newman Club, and then became the Newman House before it was erected as a ca-nonical parish. St. John Henry Newman is known for his erudition, agile mind, and deep study of Christian truth.
More recently, St. John Paul the Great wrote a very impactful document on priestly forma-tion titled, "Pastores Dabo Vobis," which means "Shepherds I will give you." In it he out-lines four pillars of priestly formation: intellectual, spiritual, human, and pastoral. These four pillars are actually really helpful in thinking about any kind of Christian formation, including campus ministry.
We aspire to form our students into virtuous men and women (human), we want them to grow in prayer and friendship with the Lord (spiritual), we want to form their minds in the Truth (intellectual), and we seek to prepare them for their vocations, and to live the Chris-tian life in practical ways (pastoral).
At St. Al's, there are a number of ways we seek to provide intellectual formation: talks at Friday Night Fireside Fellowship, our parish library (dedicated to St. John Henry Newman), abundant literature at the Church entrances, our FOCUS Bible Studies, and Sr. Jacqueline's Bible Classes. Recently, there has been an organic movement to explore philosophical topics in light of the faith led by students and Michigan Tech philosophy professor, Dr. Michael Bowler.
The group digs deeper into Catholic philosophy and has studied Etienne Gilson's Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy and also John Newman's Grammar of Assent. This fall semester they are reading Joseph Ratzinger's Introduction to Christianity.
Dr. Bowler says few Catholics have an opportunity to delve into the Catholic intellectual tradition. “This is very unfortunate because one thing that distinguishes Catholicism is the wealth, depth, and breadth of its intellectual, philosophical, and theo-logical tradition. American society and culture is becoming increasingly secular and in some cases aggressively atheistic. Our young adults need an understanding of their Catholic intellectual tradition to meet the challenge this represents.”
Patrick McFall, a mathematics graduate student at Michigan Tech, first met Dr. Bowler in fall 2016 during a Philosophy of Religion class. “I vividly remember he asked the class ‘Can God do evil?’ and I answered his question with ‘A perfect Being doing something imperfect is as meaningless as a circular square’. This was the beginning of a journey of many discussions between us, and Dr. Bowler has always been very good at explaining difficult ideas.”
McFall says the philosophy group helps students to grapple with difficult questions in faith and reason, see how great Christian thinkers in the past have answered them, and then discuss.
“I have made friends at these discussions, and now when I run into them on campus or at church we sometimes continue these discussions from where we left off,” he says.
“I have found philosophy and theology to be the most interesting content to put my mind to work on. We can 'seek and find the Truth' but also through humility let the 'Truth find us lost sheep.' I pray for a long life of learning and the humility to open my heart to be found.”
Dr. Bowler says he enjoys having philosophical and theological discussions with St. Al's students.
“I feel called to mentor college students into the richness and wealth of the Catholic philosophical, theological, and intellectual tradition. Mentoring St. Al's students is one of the best ways I can give back a little bit of what I have been given. I feel it is one of the more important things that I could do with my life.”