New England
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July 29, 2021
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Two students laughing over orange soda and chicken

 

A blanket of clouds and a cool breeze greeted students this morning as they arose after a full evening Wednesday. Many made their way to Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel for morning Mass, and a quick breakfast followed. Then it was time to settle down in the classroom with Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. For an hour and a half, tutors led attendees in the philosopher’s exposition of Abraham at the beginning of Genesis. 

“The reading focuses on what it means for Abraham to be a father in faith, and what that faith is,” explains prefect Helen Blain (’20). The selection makes one think especially about the sacrifice of Isaac and the radical nature of God’s request. “Since God requests Abraham to give up the temporal for the sake of the eternal,” Helen continues, “it’s looking at how faith relates to the temporal and the eternal.”

Many then attended the midday Mass, before feasting on a lunch of blueberry chicken and potatoes in Gould Commons. Conversation carried over from the morning spent on Kierkegaard, and the dining hall was filled with laughter and good cheer. 

Lunch in Gould Commons
  • Three students pose at their table over lunch
  • Two students in lunch-table discussion
  • Jonahs Chavez, prefect, seated with a student
  • A student smiles for the camera
  • Two students seated at one of the tables
  • Another pair of students seated at a table, smiling for the camera
  • Meg Murphy, prefect, smiles for a photo with a student
  • Three students with their lunches at a table
  • Four students lean over, looking at something or someone out of frame
  • Three students, utensils in hand, pose for the camera at the lunch table
  • Two students with a staff member at a table
  • Directory of Admissions Jon Daly eats while chatting with a student
  • Another two students at a table

At the afternoon class, student’s contemplated Pascal’s famous “Wager.” They discussed the distinction between the finite and the infinite, the difference between pleasure and true happiness, the existence of objective truth and morality, and whether we are capable of recognizing them. They also considered the rationality of faith and in some of  the ways that one can come to believe in God’s existence. 

Tonight features a special presentation by California Tutor Dr. John Nieto on art and beauty, a choir practice, and many other activities. For updates and photos, be sure to check back tomorrow morning!