Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near (Philippians 4:4-5).

As churches across the globe enter into the third week of Advent this Sunday, the tone within shifts as quiet expectancy momentarily gives way to exuberant joy.   Even as a kid, I welcomed “pink candle Sunday.”  Not just because the presiders wore rose vestments or we sang a catchy “Rejoice” round in children’s choir, but because Christmas, and the beloved chaos that accompanied it—was not far away, but quite near.

Despite my efforts to keep the season, my “grown-up” self can’t help approaching “pink candle Sunday" with a bit of an inward groan.   Christmas can’t be that close.  There is too much left to do:   Gift ideas to be had, travel plans to make, work to complete.    “The Lord is near?”  At times, the evidence seems scarce.  We are hurtling toward the darkest days of the year:  The sun sinks long before I leave the office. On December 18, Old St. Pat’s Church will host the Chicago Homeless Persons' Memorial, remembering those on the street who have lost their lives, often in the most brutal days of winter.  And in the faces and voices of friends and family, I see and hear the pain, struggle, and loss which darken and chill hearts during holidays boasted to be “merry and bright.”  To obey Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice” seems disrespectful, a sacrilege.

It takes the growing light of the Advent wreath to improve my dim vision, so I can see the radiant smiles of students turning in finals, as well as the glowing faces of two dear co-workers awaiting infants to be born yet this month and in January.  And this weekend, I will share dinner with friends brought together by CTU.  I recall also that next week, I will share prayer and fellowship with a faith community eager to celebrate Christmas, despite their shared challenges of mental illness.  This Sunday morning, as my parish community lights that pink candle, and the subdued church lights are slowly raised, I will remark at how well we could still see one another, even before the light was full.

The antiphon for December 21, the darkest night of the year, begins: O Oriens – O Rising Sun – O Morning Star.  It is at once holy madness and Divine sense:

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadow put to flight.

As the sun sets outside my office window tonight, I know the Light is coming.

Angela Paviglianiti, Director of Admissions | angelap@ctu.edu | 773.371.5445

This question was posed to me a couple of weeks ago by a CTU student. I stopped and thought to myself, “How do I answer this question?”  I wondered whether I would be able to articulate my feeling and thoughts in a way they would reveal my true self.  The truth to that question was, “of course.”

Some would think that this is a loaded question, but in reality it is a simple one. I walk with my spirituality every day by consciously treating my fellow man or woman the way that I want to be treated. It sounds so easy but it can be a struggle sometimes.  We are so busy with our everyday lives that we do not see each other; I mean really see each other. Think about this: we all have encounters daily that irritate us and sometimes we do not react in the Christian way. The thing is, we know better. We know how to love our neighbor but we don’t always display that. We look at TV and see the hardship of someone we don’t even know and we exude sympathy and empathy for them, but we cannot treat the people we stand next to every day with kindness and love.  

For me, walking in my spirituality is knowing that this thing we call life is a privilege and it should always be treated that way. It is my inner path, the place I feel the safest, and where my spiritual well-being lives. I am not saying we should all walk around like Pollyanna, but the truth is, would it be so bad?

 Stop and ask yourself: “How do I walk in my spirituality?” See what answer you give and then go deeper and ask yourself whether you live this spirituality every day, some days or never? There is no wrong or right answer; just something for all of us to ponder.

Valerie D. Holloway |  Enrollment Management- Assistant to the Director/ Enrollment Management Department-Administrative Assistant-773-371-5451 or admissionassist@ctu.edu.

“Gratitude and grace” – are words that seem to capture the essence of this time of the year. As we enter into Advent, we enter into a time when we “wait in joyful hope.”  Waiting with gratitude in our hearts, helps us to focus on our blessings with the hope of more to come.  Nancy Nickel started reflecting on gratitude in her blog and I’d like to continue by asking, “What are you grateful for?” 

I am grateful for family and friends, for loving between people, for my daughter and son-in-law as they care for their new daughter, for a son and his fiancé who will marry soon, for health, for a car that started and ran (check engine light went on this week), for the times people treat each other with respect, for hope that grows even in the midst of troubles, for a God who knows and loves us and who continually calls us into deeper relationship.

We at CTU are particularly thankful to God for our many blessings which include inspired, passionate students who are preparing to serve in a variety of ministries around the world, distinguished faculty, generous benefactors, a dedicated staff, and for another new scholarship fund that just became available for students.

Waiting seems to be a place somewhere between now and not quite now, a place where grace has an opportunity to catch us, to show up, to seep in, often in unexplainable, unexpected ways.  I don’t know about you, but I love to be surprised by moments of grace, like the little neighbor girl who blew me a kiss in the morning or the homeless person who offered me his apple. 

We can choose to be “grace-makers” in this time of waiting.  We can ask, “How do I make this time a time of mystery and surprise, a time of dreams and hopes, a time of generosity and kindness, a time of real grace?”  As we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the grace-maker of God, we are invited to follow his example and be a healing presence where it is needed and to be generous of heart.

We look forward to hearing how you discover grace this Advent.

Kathy Van Duser, Director of Recruitment | kvanduser@ctu.edu | 773-371-5450

Hmmm….my week to write the blog. Thanksgiving approaches. I know – I’ll write about gratitude!

An obvious choice, a worthy topic. But as I think about all that I’m grateful for in life, which includes my life at CTU, my thanks cannot be spoken in a breezy, “ain’t life perfect” kind of way. It’s more complex than that. Can you relate?

My gratitude, for example, ranges from simple appreciation for such things as reasonable traffic on Lake Shore Drive to a deeper and more seasoned thanks for the health and well-being of my loved ones, for adversity weathered, for the giving and receiving of love.  That gratitude comes with a capital “G.”

Shortly after I started my new job at CTU seven months ago, two valued employees in Marketing and Communications needed to pursue new callings. Talk about a learning curve that I didn’t expect!  I was overwhelmed and a little scared, but thank God, I received such care and understanding from the CTU community and my colleagues in Enrollment Management. Today, I have the good fortune to have two new colleagues, Karla Meier and Ronit Bezalel, who are enormously creative and talented. I am so grateful and excited about what we’ll accomplish together.

Learning that President Donald Senior would be retiring in June set me thinking again about the nature of gratitude.  One of the reasons that I came to CTU was because of my great admiration for Fr. Senior.  Soon, Fr. Don won’t inhabit the office down the hall, or walk by each morning with a warm “Hi Nancy!” on his way to responsibilities more numerous than I can imagine.

And yet, what I have learned from him by example is that to face new challenges is to embrace new life, new excitement, and the possibility of new gratitude born of victories and, yes, even losses, great and small. To feel gratitude is to engage life in all its phases.  We at CTU have so much to be grateful for, so much to give, and so much to look forward to as the future unfolds.

I think Fr. Don will forgive me if I “lift” the ending of his recent Scripture reflection: “Some well-intentioned Christians spend time trying to calculate the end of the world; others think it is best to ignore a world that is doomed for destruction and prefer to live in anxiety and fear of the doom to come... Instead, we should continue to be fully alive and alert, ready for the moments of grace that may come our way unexpectedly. “

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. May you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving, too, filled with life and cherished moments of grace!

Nancy Nickel, Director of Marketing and Communications, nnickel@ctu.edu

This weekend, I had the privilege to represent CTU at the National Call to Action Conference in Louisville, KY.  Each year, this conference gathers some 1500 participants from across the country committed to promoting justice in the church and beyond.  In many ways, the demographic of conference attendees resembles that of CTU with its mix of multi-generations, religious and lay persons, professional ministers, volunteers, and seekers.  I thought, What an ideal place to “spread the word” about CTU!

After a short time on the exhibit floor, I soon learned that CTU was already at work among many of the conference attendees—and for them, needed no introduction.  Countless times, I was greeted like an old friend by alumni I had never met.  I had to begin to use my notebook to record the messages I promised to deliver from old friends to members of the CTU community.  Harrietta Halloway, our receptionist (and listening ear), was mentioned with reverence on more than one occasion.  There were also students who studied elsewhere but had been inspired by visiting faculty, such as Fr. Don Senior.   One gentleman had returned from our Holy Land trip last month and was still glowing.   Several expressed gratitude for the ministry CTU members perform in their “free time,” such as Mark Schramm and Steve Bevans, who preside at the St. Giles Family Mass.    An author in the booth across from me spoke admirably about his long time written correspondence with the late Barbara Bowe, treasured to this day. 

I entered into the weekend prepared to do outreach and educate others on the opportunities of a CTU education. I was humbled each time someone approached me and gave witness to the impact of CTU on his or her life and ministry because I was not prepared to likewise receive.  “Thank you for being here,” people said to me, again and again.  My “No, thank you,” felt insignificant in return.

But I say it again.

Thank you.  Thank you for enriching CTU by your presence.  And thank you for carrying CTU with you as you enrich our church—and the world.

Angela Paviglianiti, Director of Admissions | angelap@ctu.edu | 773.371.5445

    Reading week has come and gone. I am hoping that your time away was spent catching up on reading that you had for your classes and or taking some well deserved time off to reflect. Many of you have 2, 3 4, and even 5 classes.  I have one class—one, that is all. So clearly I really have no reason to have lost my mind a few weeks ago. Here is a funny story that some of you might be able to relate to. But if you can’t no worries I could not either, I am just hoping you have a good laugh.

I first met Melissa last year when she came to CTU for a visit with her friend. I gave them a tour, and they both went to sit in on a class taught by Professor Laurie Brink. Now Melissa is a new student here at CTU, and also working with our Enrollment Management department. Melissa is working with me and in her role as our department assistant, Melissa is awesome, funny, intelligent and most of all a great worker. Melissa sometimes helps me with filing. On this particular day she came to me and said that she could not find files for a few people.  I looked at one of the documents and said to her, “Oh, I know where this person’s file is,” and then I got to the final few and I said “Oh, Melissa Carnall, She decided not to come.” This is where it became clear that I was not dealing with a full deck of cards. To those of you who are paying close attention I was talking to Mellissa Carnall! I looked at her and saw a grin on her face. I saw this and I said “Oh, you know her?” The grin now became a full smile-- then I proceeded to say, “Oh, she is a friend of yours?” Melissa just looked at me.  This time her brow was furrowed and she was laughing. I looked at her and we both just fell over laughing. She thought I was playing but I was serious, very serious. We both repeated the story and again just kept laughing at the sheer disbelief that all of that had taken place. We were both bent over in a belly crunch screeching laugh. We then decided to take this comic show on the road, and headed to find Angela. I knew that Angela would see my plight and know that I was not crazy. We told Angela the story and she too laughed. We realized that I had a momentary brain lapse.  Angela quickly put it all into prospective and said, “Valerie, you just have too much on your mind!” I appreciate Angela and her words but even today, I’m not so sure! While we take our studies seriously at CTU, moments like this remind us not to take ourselves too seriously!

Valerie D. Holloway | Enrollment Management- Assistant to the Director

CTU is a unique learning community. While some places boast of being a big university with thousands of students, CTU takes pride not in size or numbers, but how we serve - together. 

At the heart of this community is lay and religious learning together. Should-to-shoulder. Heart-to-heart. Issue-by-issue. Mission and vision. Theology and ministry. While individual charisms, callings, and vocations vary, the building up of God's reign in the here-and-now is a constant goal.

It's more than this, too. At CTU it is not only that lay and religious are learning side-by-side, but that they are crafting, dialogically and collaboratively, future church - together.

The issues, values, dreams and hopes of the laity are put in dialog with, inform, speak to those preparing for ordination. Similarly, those living in a religious community bring their perspective, wisdom and experience to the conversation. All gifts are brought forth and treasured.

As a community, as diverse church, we wrestle with making meaning of it all - together.

It gets real at times, too. Making meaning of God's grace and our limitedness - the big questions of life and faith - is not easy, to be sure. Creative tensions, stern conversations, spirited dialog, respectful disagreements happen. If we weren't taking seriously the charge to live the Gospel daily there would be no need for investment.

The product of our yearning - together - makes this community, our faith, and church that much stronger.

• Lay and Religious
• Full and Part-time Students
• Ministers and Scholars
• Campus and Online Learners
• Young Adults and Career Changers
• Domestic and International Students

There's more diversity at CTU than this, too; I'm sure of it. We're all in this together.

Shoulder-to-shoulder.

Ryan Hoffmann, Senior Director of Enrollment Management | rhoffmann@ctu.edu | 773.371.5523

The Israel Study and Travel group just returned to CTU this week.   For our students, it was a time of study and exploration of biblical and historical sites in Greece, Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Jordan.

Seven years ago, I had the opportunity to go on a CTU trip to Israel and Jordan.  There is nothing quite like being in the land, walking the paths, hearing the sounds, smelling the scents of flowers and spices, feeling the intense heat of the sun, or relaxing in the cool of the evening.  One night we were doing just that, relaxing at the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  Typical of new-found friends, we were laughing and joking when one of us remarked, “I wonder if this was what it was like for Jesus and his friends?”  Immediately, the group fell silent, and the silence continued for 30 minutes or so.  The reverie was broken by the coo of a dove.  Then one of us wondered what it would take for peace to prevail on this planet instead of the chaos we often face.  We began to reflect on deeper questions.  The trip was life-changing for me as it was for many others. 

We didn’t have to be history buffs as the professors on the trip laid out the history of the places we visited. They read Bible passages and other writings as we journeyed through the land.  It was remarkable how similar the land looked as compared to the Biblical descriptions.   We were given special tours of archaeological digs and plenty of time for prayer and reflection. 

Having had a taste of the land that is home to many religions, where people passionately live their beliefs, I must admit, I long to return.   

At CTU, we have a unique opportunity in the January Term.  The course, Abraham’s Children, is being offered as a graduate, theological traveling seminar which is designed to introduce some of the basic elements of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith traditions through the lens and dynamic of interreligious relations and understanding.  It is open to participants from any faith or philosophical background.  The course will feature visits to some of the holiest sites of the three traditions and provides an experiential setting which highlights the relevance of history and theology to important contemporary global realities; participants are afforded the opportunity to build interreligious relationships with faculty and colleagues of all three faiths.  The course is being co-taught by Prof. Rabbi David Sandmel, Prof. Scott C. Alexander, Prof. Inamul Haq, and Prof. John Pawlikowski, O.S.M. 

You may have questions about this trip or other travel opportunities at CTU, or you may want to begin to dream about what it would be like to go on such a trip.  If you want to learn a bit more about this opportunity and check out the itinerary, please go to http://www.ctu.edu/abrahams_children.  You can also contact me for more information on any of our travel programs.

Kathy Van Duser, Director of Recruitment | kvanduser@ctu.edu | 773.371.5450

Full disclosure: I stumbled into the marketing and communications assistant role at Catholic Theological Union by accident. And I couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

After receiving a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern, yet realizing the last thing I wanted to become was a full-time reporter, I applied to a wide variety of jobs from office manager at a boutique investment firm to community engagement officer at Chicago Public Schools.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, a hiring manager forwarded my resume to CTU.

I’ll admit, I was hesitant at first to throw my hat into the ring at a Catholic institution, because I was born and raised a practicing Buddhist! Especially in the field of communications, I thought, maybe they want someone with more intimate… or, really, any knowledge of Catholicism!

Ryan Hoffman quickly put my doubts to rest during my first interview. “What really matters to us is to have a diverse community of people who share an interest in asking the big questions," he said. "What or who is God? What is our purpose in life? How can we live the most meaningful life?”

WOW! My life has always been based on the big questions, albeit not in a Catholic context, so the idea of gaining valuable professional experience within an interfaith setting was intriguing.

I reflected on a dialogue between Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, a practicing Catholic and past president of the Club of Rome, and a Buddhist peace advocate, Daisaku Ikeda, about the need for interreligious understanding in the 21^st century and beyond.

“For me, it has always been most important not only to be tolerant towards other beliefs and cultures, but also, and even more important, to respect everyone who acts honestly and consistently in line with their background and aims,” Díez-Hochleitner said. “I try to learn from others to enrich my spirit and intellect, while contributing somehow to their well-being, advancement and happiness.”

The aim to create a global society, respectful of differences, is what I experience every day at CTU. I am surrounded by people who share my desire for peace and understanding in the world, just through a different lens of faith. At CTU, I am daily learning from others to enrich my spirit and intellect, as Díez-Hochleitner said, and I truly hope to be contributing to CTU’s well-being, advancement, and happiness, as well. 

Welcome to “To the Point!” On behalf of all those in marketing, recruitment and admissions at CTU I’m thrilled you’ve found our blog online.

Let me get To the Point. CTU is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood, literally feet from magnificent Lake Michigan on Chicago’s south shore. One area in particular – The Point – is known by locals for its breathtaking and serene views of Chicago across the blue waters of Lake Michigan. It’s a place for gathering with friends, taking a contemplative walk, meeting others in the community, sitting outside and having lunch. For CTU students it’s a place to pray and reflect, alone or in community. The Point is, in essence, a place for sharing, exploring, dialoguing, and more. We welcome you to the virtual Point.    

To the Point will serve as a hub for CTU news, reflections, announcements,  and stories of what we’re about. Faculty, staff, and students will take turns sharing with our wider audience the vision of this place, the ways in which we serve, the ministries and charisms that embody this community, and the rest of the myriad ways we invite you, those “out there,” to join us as partners in mission. It may involve tips on how to get started as a student and what degree program to pursue, ways to volunteer with one of our programs and make a difference, opportunities to attend a lecture or liturgy, and much more. So please, bookmark To the Point and check back often.

From the Point, thank you for visiting. If there is anything we can do for you please don’t hesitate to be in touch.

Ryan Hoffmann, Senior Director of Enrollment Management | rhoffmann@ctu.edu | 773-371-5523