Fall 2006 Newsletter - Regis College

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Letter to Alumni Dear Alums, was overwhelmed and truly touched I by your response to the last issue of the Newsletter and to our invitation to join us for the first-ever Alumni Event. Check the article on p. 4 to see just how successful it was. It is also exciting and inspiring to know that you actually do read the Newsletter, and that it doesn’t just get thrown into the nearest recycle bin without being opened. I have so much news from so many former alumni that I can’t run it all in this issue (actually that happened in the last Newsletter too, and we had to leave out at least three pages of information). It has been great fun to prepare this issue. It is wonderful when you have so much information that you don’t know how to fit it all in. It is inspiring to read about the many ministries in which you are involved. I am sure you too will find it encouraging to read these stories, and we hope you will consider being “In the Spotlight” in future issues. This Newsletter, after all, is for you and about you, and it can’t function without you. Do you know that of the 14 alumni listed in the Where Are They section, we were able to track down nine of them, and I have managed to contact all nine, an amazing response. This issue, of course, features both the diaconal and presbyteral ordinations, but it also focuses on the two special events held at Regis this spring—the dinner to honour our many generous benefactors and donors, held April 29 th , and the alumni two-day event held May 12-13. It also spotlights many of our alumni, both lay and religious, as well as short items about numerous others. Some of you will note that the Calendar of Events for 2006-2007 is a separate insert with the newsletter. As you can see, it is smaller in size and, we think, easier to read and handle. For those of you living outside Ontario, we have carried a shortened version of the fall schedule on p 16. There are many exciting events scheduled for the coming academic year, not the least of which is Monty Williams, S.J.’s movie series, Finding God in the Dark beginning in September, which focuses this year on the Beatitudes: The Path of Liberation. The theme of our Lenten lecture series in the Spring of 2007 is media and spirituality and features lectures from Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star, Nadia Delicata a Regis ThD student, Lloyd Baugh, S.J., Professor of Theology and Film Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and Sarah Crawford, Vice- President, Public Affairs, at CHUM. We hope in the coming year to concentrate on improving the alumni section of the website. We also are beginning to plan the next alumni event. We would appreciate any suggestions you might have. You can reach me at h.gamester@utoronto.ca or through regis.development@utoronto.ca. I look forward to hearing from you. Blessings, Heather Gamester PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH Are you moving Changing your e-mail address Starting a new job Starting a family, or adding to one Name:_______________________________________ Graduating Year & Program: ___________________________ Home Address:___________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Home Phone: ( )____________________________ E-mail:_ ___________________________________________ Business Address:_ ________________________________________________________________________________ Business Phone: ( )__________________________ E-mail:_ ___________________________________________ News and Views:_________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ We encourage you to include a photo of yourself and/or family to be included with your information in the alumni news section of our newsletter. Information can also be submitted online at www.regiscollege.ca/alumni or by emailing h.gamester@utoronto.ca. WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU By Mail, return to: Regis College, 15 St. Mary Street, Toronto M4Y 2R5, ON, Canada, Attn: Alumni Relations Co-ordinator. Regis Newsletter
Captain Monique Roumy, (M.Div./S.T.B., 1998), Instructor, Canadian Forces Chaplain School. There’s no life like it! In the Spotlight I thought I had pretty much heard it all. After seven years of following the troops on the dusty plains of the Matawa, or through the marshlands of Gagetown, or on the streets of Kabul listening attentively to their concerns, worries and fears, I really did believe I was a relatively well experienced army chaplain. Until the night while asleep on my bunk in Meaford, someone yelled down the hall: “PADRE ROUMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Used to not sleeping too soundly while on weekend exercises, I bolted out of the room wearing my nightgown and flip-flops, frantically looking up and down the hall. At one end near the exit door were two of my Master Corporals with big smiles on their faces. I approached them asking if they were the ones calling me. The spokesperson of the two said yes and then proceeded to ask: “Padre, we need your help in answering this question...If you put a lobster in boiling water, will it suffer” Given I was still groggy from sleep I don’t fully recall the first minutes of the conversation, but I think I uttered something about Master Corporals and boiling water and what would be done to said Master Corporals for needlessly waking up the chaplain. However I do remember the rest of the conversation, which lasted almost two hours and included two Sergeants who joined in the heated debate. On that fateful night in Meaford, I was asked one of the weirdest questions ever. Yet from that question came one of the most engaging discussions of my career. Imagine in the middle of the night four soldiers and their chaplain near an exit door, talking together on a wide range of subjects starting from which creatures are sentient, and ending with the mother of ethical dilemmas which all soldiers face: obeying the order to kill. All of this to say that the ministry of the military chaplain does not deal with “normal” situations under “normal” conditions. I’ve stood by the troops in their hour of need in different parts of Canada and in Afghanistan, and many times not in the comfort and safety of my office. As I have learned over the years, sometimes the “hour” and the “need” have a different significance for our men and women in uniform. On the outskirts of Kabul, I went on exercise with one of the sub-units assigned to me. At first glance the area we went to looked uninhabited; no living thing could ever survive in such desolation. The moment we stepped out of our vehicles we realized how wrong we were. Millions and millions of flies swarmed us. It did not take long before we were covered with them, almost like we wore clothing made of flies. A number of hours passed and the heat worsened and the flies multiplied, attracted by human flesh; we almost reached the breaking point. I knew I had to do something but my options were very limited. So what is a Padre to do I pulled out a bag of candy from my backpack. I went around the site making sure everyone got his or her ration of candy. At the sentry there was a Corporal standing guard, barely distinguishable under his cloak of flies. He turned to me with a very sad look on his face, and with an even sadder voice said: “Padre, can I have a candy” I gave him one, which he promptly put into his mouth before the flies could get to it. I then placed another on a cement post close by in order to lure the flies away from the Corporal, which worked much to his relief. To describe seven years of service as an army chaplain, I would definitely Cptn Roumy with children from the Hazara tribe in Afghanistan. need to write a few more articles. I experienced some weird and wonderful situations, some sad and tragic. I’ve met fantastic individuals who are not only colleagues but also close friends. I’ve seen incredible places I never thought I would visit. I’ve shared other people’s pain and happiness. I love the work I do, both the expected and the surprises. Corny as it may sound, I still remember the recruiting commercials from long, long ago which sum up what I think of my ministry: “There’s no life like it!” B Boyd Blundell (M.A., 1998) Ethics and Hermeneutics in Post- Katrina New Orleans B o y d B l u n d e l l , has certainly had an “interesting” year. An a s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r of religious studies at Loyola University in New Orleans, he was just starting his tenure-track position in ethics when Hurricane Katrina paid a visit. He evacuated to a friend’s house in Houston (Jeremy Wilkins; M.Div 1997) with his wife Laura and their two young children the Saturday before Katrina hit. They spent most of their autumn in Philadelphia, Hamilton, and Boston, Fall 2006
Page 1 and 2: NEWSLETTER Fall 2006 Volume 4 Numbe
Page 3 and 4: IN Appreciation…. T o express our
Page 5: Office of Systemic Justice - A Mand
Page 9 and 10: that fall, his life has been filled
Page 11 and 12: schools. Good luck to Fr. McGuckian
Page 13 and 14: Retreat House based on his book, Fi
Page 15 and 16: Dean’s Corner Professor Cathleen

Fall 2006 Newsletter - Regis College

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