Last Thursday, Saint Mary’s College held an annual symposium on St. Thomas Aquinas, in which visiting professor from John Carroll University, Edward P. Hahnenberg, Ph.D, presented “Career, Calling and the Meaning of Life: Lessons from a Medieval Beggar.” The symposium was focused on the understanding of one’s vocation and purpose upon examination of St. Thomas Aquinas’ life and philosophy with its implication to present day.
Joyce McMahon Hank, a 1952 alumna of Saint Mary’s College, gifted the College with funds to establish a second endowed chair in 1997. This chair is currently held by Anita Houck, professor of Religious Studies and Theology. Establishment of the endowed chair has allowed Houck to direct funds to the continuation of the annual symposium on St. Thomas Aquinas, which in recent years has invited scholars such as Cardinal Peter Turkson, John O’Callaghan and Jean Porter.
Hahnenberg is the Breen Chair in Catholic Theology, chair of the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at John Carroll University and author or co-editor of seven books. The professor is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelors in philosophy and theology, a masters in systematic theology and a doctorate in systematic theology. In the opening introduction, Houck noted this relationship between the community and lecturer.
Hahnenberg opened the lecture with a cartoon referencing Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day” which introduced thematic questions of the lecture including, as Hahnenberg said, “What is it that you are going to do with your life?”
The lecture sought to explore questions by introducing the audience to Aquinas’ background. In particular, Hahnenberg contextualized Aquinas' motivations within his time period.
Hahnenberg followed Aquinas’ schooling and highlighted a certain philosopher from antiquity whose thoughts would influence Aquinas’ understanding of the Christian God and vocation. This philosopher was Aristotle.
“What Aristotle does for Aquinas is he provides categories and language for Aquinas’ own, reflecting on the Christian tradition,” Hahnenberg said.
The professor then taught Aristotle’s four causes which included the material, efficient, formal and final, all of which the Greco-Roman philosopher deciphered to analyze reality. According to Hahnenberg, Aquinas expanded on the idea of the four causes as they apply to the “us,” or humanity, and the role of the Christian God.
By the logic of Aquinas, in reference to the world, Hahnenberg stated that, “All of these are secondary causes, and if you've got secondary causes, that implies that there must be a primary cause."
The professor applied the idea to examples of the understanding of the world and God.
“Secondary causes for Aquinas are everything that we think of when we think of the material of the world,... [ie.] God's creation. All of that is at the level of secondary. That's distinct from God, who is the primary cause,” Hahnenberg said.
Furthermore, pressing the idea of the Christian God belonging to a “framework bigger than God” questions the logical existence of God, which Hahnenberg retorted with Aquinas’ logic that thinking properly of God is instead, “God as the kind of originating source that brings everything into existence, and at every moment sustains it in existence.” Hahnenberg encouraged interpreting it as “Almost like God is the framework.”
The professor also discussed the implications of God as the ultimate source of continued existence.
“God is present in every molecule and every moment, sustaining everything in existence. If God is love, sufficient condition claims that that is the power of love, [and] God's love sustaining [our] existence. God always loves us. God loves everything and everyone, even those in hell,” Hahnenberg said.
Relating the lecture back to vocation, Hahnenberg defined the usage of the word “vocation” in the symposium’s context.
“I'm using it in a broad and inclusive sense of God's call for all of us. It's not just about states of life, but it's about learning to respond and see your life as one of meaning and purpose towards many different things,” Hahnenberg said.
In respect to the usage of the word “vocation” in the lecture, Hahnenberg explored the idea of vocation of the person. In doing so, the professor called on Thomas Merton. Hahnenberg discussed Merton’s life and essay, “Seeds of Contemplation,” which the professor mentioned he attempts to include in every class he teaches.
The professor recalled the opening line to the essay, which read “A tree gives glory to God first of all by being a tree.”
After acknowledging the line, Hahnenberg talked about the diversity of God’s creation and the purpose each individual has by God, continuing to relate back to Merton’s essay.
Hahnenberg then addressed the turn of humanity away from proper vocation.
“The paradox is that nothing exists outside the radius of God's love and will. So when we sin, we're trying to exist where nothing can exist. We're striving for this kind of illusion to be where nothing can be. In that space, the best we can do is wrap ourselves in money, possessions, experiences, reputation and all these kinds of things,” Hahnenberg said. “It's about kind of clearing away the illusion, the false self, and really coming to see yourself clearly.”
Hahnenberg closed with a final reflection on the question, “What does it mean to be Catholic?”
“I kind of think that if the question were, what does it mean to be me and me, this is pretty much the same, right? Spend time right with yourself, with God, with prayer, with community. Spend time among those who are in need. Spend time just growing into a greater sense of who you are, then you'll start to see who you are, right, and every good decision will forefront,” Hahnenberg said.
The lecture was followed by a Q&A and reception where attendees reflected on the event. According to student Grace Hovanec, she attended the event out of encouragement from their courses.
“I was drawn to [the symposium]," Hovanec said. "There’s always more you can learn about [Thomas Aquinas], and I definitely did.”
