Student Government Association 2025-26. Sitting, from left: Secretary–Nicholas Broussard; Vice President and 4th Theology Rep.–Dcn. Blake Thompson; President–Dcn. Stephen Parker; Treasurer–Trent Barton. Standing, from left: 1st Theology Rep.: Amos Stinson; Hispanic Affairs Chair–Jake Nadeau; 3rd Theology Rep.–Thach Nguyen; Social Justice Chair and Basselin Rep.–Cameron Huhlein; Prayer and Worship Chair–Peter Nguyen; Community Life Chair–Lane Tschirhart; Pre-Theology Rep.–Carl Baumann; 2nd Theology Rep.–Xavier Polisetty.
“Theological College is more committed than ever before to creating an environment in which men can hear and respond to the voice of Christ and surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit. Through rigorous study, intense prayer, addressing the challenges of human growth, and intense pastoral encounters, we believe the men of Theological College will be the effective presence of Christ in whatever circumstances they face.” (Rector Bud Stevens)
September was an exciting month of introductions and reunions, getting acclimated and reacclimated, and investing in the realities of a new semester of formation – spiritual, human, pastoral, and academic.
This month of welcome began with a faculty-hosted dinner for the seven resident priests, most of whom live in the Providence Hall Priests Residence and who voluntarily participate in the life of the house. The following week, a convivial meal with the faculty was also offered for new seminarians and those returning from pastoral year. A few days later, the new seminarians and faculty were treated to a pilgrimage of holy “Sulpician sites” in Baltimore, such as the historic Seminary Chapel at St. Mary’s on Paca St., where the nation’s first seminary was founded by the Sulpicians in the late 1700s, and the chapel and residence of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Seminarians have been or soon will be welcomed at 14 local parishes, four campuses, two hospitals, and one prison for weekend ministry assignments. This year’s Rector’s Conferences will provide much inspiration for students beginning these ministerial adventures, and for their scholastic challenges and invitations to the house dynamic that lie ahead. With spiritual formation at the core of TC’s program, Rector Bud Stevens will focus his conferences on the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For the September conference, the rector opened the floor to first theologian Sam McPeak (Richmond) to present his M.A. thesis: “Ecce Sacerdos Magnus: The Sacrifice of Catholic Priests in Vietnam and the Formation that Defined Their Combat Ministry.”
Seminarian initiatives also hit the ground running. A new game room kitchen, compliments of five Knights of Columbus councils in Texas, was installed and dedicated for seminarian use, just as the Student Government Association was fully elected (see photo, above). The SGA’s first event was the Fall House Party on September 26, with the playful theme, “Star Wars: A Jubilee Year of New Hope,” followed by a viewing of Spaceballs in the third-floor lounge. But the Fall House Party always strikes a serious note as well, with its charitable collection. This year, the house generously contributed over $4,000 to Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors (N3) Food Pantry, originally based in Prosper, Texas, which suffered devastating fire damage last January. The pantry provided essential service to the largest-growing area in the state, and its reconstruction in Celina is a cause very dear to several TC seminarians who hail from the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Catholic University campus life offers myriad opportunities for recreation and growth. Intramural basketball and soccer competitions began immediately, with our high-energy seminarians posing staunch competition in the intramural and pick-up sphere of sportsmanship. TC men who joined in the efforts of the CUA Cardinals for Life Club have been meeting on Saturday mornings at the Planned Parenthood clinic to pray a chaplet, and some joined the Cardinals for the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Day of Service with the Sisters of Life. Other seminarians, including candidates for the Archdiocese of the Military, served or attended the Memorial Mass for Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno in the Crypt Church of the National Shrine, with Archbishop Timothy Broglio presiding. Time permitting, numerous CUA-sponsored lectures can also offer enrichment, such as the recent presentation some attended entitled, “Literature for its own sake: Tolkien and the contemplation of creation,” by renowned Oxford scholar, Dr. Giuseppe Pezzini.
Fr. Bud is integrally involved with campus life as well, as he is a professor of eschatology and ecclesiology there and contributes to the School of Theology and Religious Studies frequent faculty meetings. He usually concelebrates at all major campus Masses, which in September included the opening Mass for the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, the Class of 2029 convocation Mass, and the School of Theology and Religious Studies Student Association Mass. In addition, he enjoys participating in the Cardinals for Life initiatives.
The atmosphere of welcome in September was broadened by so many TC visitors and Mass celebrants. These included Archbishop Shelton Fabre (Louisville) and Bishop Michael Olson (Fort Worth). On Labor Day, ADW’s Auxiliary Bishop Evilio Menjivar-Ayala concelebrated Mass in the TC chapel with our rector and a Basselin graduate of the class of 1981, Fr. Sinclair Oubre, for the Catholic Labor Network (CLN). Fr. Oubre is the founder of CLN and appreciated that his alma mater hosted this important event. Other alumni visitors seen in the chapel and hallways were Washington’s Fr. Dylan Prentice (’24) and Fr. Stephen Wong (’24) and Rockville Centre’s Fr. Matt Browne (’19). Our men on the path of formation are inspired by the support and witness of visiting TC graduates – and we look forward to receiving many more for Alumni Day on October 8th!
