Advent 2016: A Message from President Michael F. McLean

Dear Friend,

This fall, the community of Thomas Aquinas College rejoiced along with the Church at the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta. In his homily on the occasion of her beatification in 2003, Pope Saint John Paul II exhorted his listeners to “praise the Lord for this diminutive woman in love with God, a humble Gospel messenger and a tireless benefactor of humanity. In her we honor one of the most important figures of our time. Let us welcome her message and follow her example.”

In 1982, the College was privileged to welcome Mother Teresa’s message in an especially personal way: she served as our Commencement Speaker. She urged our graduates to show the love of Christ to everyone they would encounter. And in speaking about the great gift of their education, she reminded them:

“You have received not to keep, but to share.”

This reminder strikes me as particularly important for the times in which we live. There are many voices in our culture that want us merely to “keep” what we have received — to keep it confined within our own walls, not bring it out to share with the world.

But the season of Advent reminds us of what we have received and of our responsibility toward this great gift. Not only has God Himself come among us, but He came as one of us, in all of our weakness (save sin). As Our Lady and St. Joseph had to carry the infant Jesus, so now He asks us to carry Him to others.

The alumni of Thomas Aquinas College take this responsibility to heart, and they fulfill it in many different ways, whether as teachers, in the religious life, through business or medicine or military service, or by nurturing their own growing families. Of the Class of 1982, for example, to whom Mother Teresa’s words were most immediately addressed:

• Rev. Mark Bachmann, O.S.B., is the subprior and one of the founders of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, Oklahoma.
• Dr. Jean Rioux is a professor and the chair of the Philosophy Department at Benedictine College.
• Sr. Mary Colette Ziegler, P.C.C. is a solemnly-professed Poor Clare nun.
• Roberto Orellana is Assistant Counsel for the County of Ventura, California.

And several graduates have faithfully pursued a vocation particularly close to Mother Teresa’s heart, as mothers undertaking the education of their children.

These alumni, like all of our graduates, were formed by a program ordered to truth — above all, to the one great Truth: the Word Made Flesh. We invite our students to discover the Word in all of their classes, from the order of mathematics to the principles of philosophy, and then to bring those insights to the study of theology. Through immersion in the great books, through constant discussion, and through much prayer, they contemplate and come to love truth and its Author. As Jean Rioux says, “If you come to the College with any spark of faith at all, it’s fanned into flames. That’s certainly what happened to me.”

After such formation, our alumni are eager to share the truth they have found. Truth is not a Sunday activity to them, but a part of their being, whatever they do and wherever they are.

And they are not just willing, but able. Four years of classroom discussions — thinking deeply about serious questions, articulating complex positions, carefully weighing objections — make them practiced and persuasive advocates.

This is the work of Thomas Aquinas College: to share the truth with our students and to teach them how to share the truth with others.

Our ability to keep doing this work rests on our Annual Fund. Because we offer need-based financial aid for any student who requires it, we must raise over $5 million each year to cover the difference between our operating expenses and what families are able to pay.

Over the years, we have been blessed with many generous benefactors who have helped us to meet this need. Like our graduates, these benefactors believe that they have “received not to keep, but to share.”

I ask you now to prayerfully consider an end-of-year gift to Thomas Aquinas College. As we near the end of our first semester, we are still a long way from meeting this year’s Annual Fund need of $5.4 million. Anything that you are able to share with our students will benefit them now, and in the future will benefit everyone with whom they share the fruits of their education.

In her Commencement Address, Mother Teresa made clear to our graduates what it was that she wanted them to share: “the joy of the presence of Jesus.” By God’s grace, may this season of Advent renew that joy in all of our hearts.

I invite you to join us on Christmas for Midnight Mass in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. If you are unable to attend, please know that you will still be united with us through prayer.

Sincerely,

Michael F. McLean, Ph.D.
President

P.S. Securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds which have been owned for at least a year and whose values have appreciated can be particularly attractive and practical as charitable gifts. When such gifts are made directly to the College, donors may take substantial tax deductions … and capital gains taxes do not apply! Questions? Please email Tom Susanka, Director of Gift Planning, or call him at 805-421-5928.