Today I took my seventh of ten exams this semester at the "Angelicum," the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas. I am stupefied that I have actually taken so many courses and that I am surviving the long haul through the exam period. This semester will get me over the half-way marker for the baccalaureate degree in theology.
One course I especially loved this semester is a Scripture class that explores the history of the formation of the written texts. The course brought me to my knees in amazement that we have been given the Word of God through such a feeble human process. Just as God's revelation of Himself through Christ in the Incarnation is such a mystery, similarly, God's revelation of Himself through the written word is another such mystery. The teacher is a very holy and contemplative man, and a delight with whom to be in class.
A second highlight is a seminar on Theology and Holiness, which was very thought-provoking regarding the role of prayer and one's personal relationship with God as one does theology. The teacher is a young Louisianan priest who seemed to me the Angelicum's version of Robin Williams in the Dead Poet's Society. He had everyone captivated and thinking in new ways.
Another favorite is a class on Creation, which was one of the best classes I've ever taken anywhere. The teacher is a voracious mind with a tremendous appetite for all things philosophy, theology and science, and is not afraid to say anything if he thinks it is true. :) I spent hours and hours reading, thinking and talking about the topics he so thoughtfully presented in class.
If one can have four favorites, another favorite is the Theology of Grace. The professor is from Oxford and is on the International Theological Commission (which used to be chaired by Ratzinger). He presented lectures that were so jam-packed with the theology of grace that I typed till my fingers were numb trying to keep up. I read several books in tandem to the course, including Journet's The Meaning of Grace, O'Callahan's Children of God in the World, and a study and analysis of Aquinas's treatment of grace in the Summa. I also surveyed (I believe) every single mention of grace in the Bible. It may be the course for which I have had to work the hardest since I've been here. His "easy exam" (that's what he said it would be) took me days and days of reading, writing and memorizing just to barely pass (I don't actually know what grade I got; he just said, "Well done, now," with a heavy British inflection).
Did I mention how much I loved my Christian Archaeology class? We went on trips through Rome and visited ancient sites and excavations. I wrote a paper on house-churches in Rome in the Early Church. I loved it!
I've also been working my way through some of the books and articles by Thomas Joseph White. He writes quite a bit on my main interest, which is kenosis, or self-emptying. If I could go all the way at the Angelicum and write a doctoral thesis, I would want to focus on the theme of self-emptying a) in God (whether it does or does not exist in the Trinity, and I would say it does not), b) in Christ, c) in the life of Christians. To me, the vocation of motherhood is so sacred because it is a vocation that invites a self-emptying that I believe is a reflection of that of Christ. The key Scripture passage that is my focus is Philippians 2:6-9 which reads: ". . . Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross." This might be my favorite passage in the Holy Scripture.. First, it instantly brings me to adoration and worship of God every time I hear it. Second, the self-emptying of Christ can be imitated and might be a key to the fullness of the Christian life. All vocations, from the loftiest to the most mundane can be the occasion for self-donation, self-emptying. But some, I think, are especially well suited to it, and motherhood is one of them. That seems a theme worth exploring.
Will I be able to go "all the way" here? I have no idea. It is in God's hands. I will be teaching Philosophy at the University of Dallas this summer, and who knows what my teaching will look like in years to come. But if I can keep studying theology, that would be a dream come true.
