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About
Fidelity & ExcellenceThomas Aquinas College is unique among American colleges and universities, offering a faithfully Catholic education comprised entirely of the Great Books and classroom discussions.
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Truth MattersTruth, and nothing less, sets men free; and because truth is both natural and supernatural, the College’s curriculum aims at both natural and divine wisdom.
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Under the Light of FaithThe intellectual tradition and moral teachings of the Catholic Church infuse the whole life of Thomas Aquinas College, illuminating the curriculum and the community alike.
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Is TAC Right for You?Do you enjoy grappling with complex questions? Are you willing to engage in discussions about difficult concepts, with the truth as your ultimate goal?
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Mind, Body & SpiritThere is always something to do at TAC — something worthwhile, something fulfilling, and something geared toward ever-greater spiritual and intellectual growth.
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What Can You Do with a Liberal Education?Nothing speaks more to the versatility of the College’s academic program than the good that our alumni are doing throughout the Church and the world.
Rev. Michael Masteller (’13): Guided by Abraham’s Obedience to God’s Call
In the latest issue of Roman Echoes, alumnus priest Rev. Michael Masteller (’13) reflects on his first semester of advanced studies — and his shifting vocation — at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC).
“Like Abraham, I know that this new chapter will have its share of challenges and difficulties, but as I look back at my life and see how the Lord has never let me down but has always fulfilled my hopes.”
When the Most Rev. José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, asked him to pursue graduate studies at the PNAC in Rome, Fr. Masteller was unsure he was ready to return to the life of a student. Ordained in 2021, he had spent the last three years serving the Archdiocese as the pastor of St. Helen Catholic Church in South Gate, California. “For a parish priest, it is not easy to leave pastoral ministry and return to studies,” he writes. “I was asked to leave behind the life that had become familiar and dear to me and to begin a new chapter of my priesthood and a new way of serving the Church.”
As he contemplated this new calling, he returned to a passage from Genesis: “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you’” (Gen 12:1). Fr. Masteller was struck by God’s command for Abraham to leave behind everything he knows — and inspired by Abraham’s faithful obedience. “As great as God’s call is to Abraham, it does not paralyze him,” he writes. “Instead, with trusting faith, Abraham obeys and follows the Lord.”
During his first few weeks living at the Casa Santa Maria, the PNAC’s formation and residence for graduate students in Rome, Fr. Masteller continued to reflect on this passage, growing in trust and love of the Lord as he began the next leg of the journey to which God called him.
“Like Abraham, I know that this new chapter will have its share of challenges and difficulties, but as I look back at my life and see how the Lord has never let me down but has always fulfilled my hopes, this gives me the courage to set out once again and follow Him wherever He chooses to lead me,” the young priest observes. “To be sent with only God’s promise is to be able to reaffirm what I once gave him on the day of my ordination: ‘This is my life — do with me what you will.’”