Fr. Dennis M. Gallagher, A.A., Provincial and Former Vice President for Mission at Assumption College, reflects on the enduring importance of liberal education in the Catholic tradition in his new book Liberal Education at the Crossroads.

These are challenging times for liberal education. For quite some time now, pre-professional education has been in the ascendancy in our colleges and universities. While it is not difficult to identify the reasons for this – the expense of higher education requires a “return on investment” in the form of employable skills; the humanities themselves have fallen captive, too often, to narrow, formalistic approaches – the waning of the great tradition of liberal learning is not to be celebrated. In this volume of short essays, arranged chronologically over a fifteen-year period, Fr. Dennis M. Gallagher, A.A., Provincial of the North American Province of the Assumptionists and formerly Vice President for Mission at Assumption College, makes a strong case for the present and enduring value of liberal education in the Catholic tradition. The essays cover a wide range of subjects – profiles of great teachers, education to citizenship, the place of athletics, the relation between study and prayer – all aimed at renewing our appreciation for an education that liberates students from the reigning opinions of the day and prepares them to live thoughtful and generous lives.

Check it out here.

Fr. Dennis' book is now available as an e-book through the kindle store.

We will strive to know Jesus as God, as man, and as the author of the supernatural gifts which unite us to the Father. Saint Augustine, our patriarch, will be our principal guide. Study his treatise on the Blessed Trinity - study the wonderful writings for which the Church has given him the title of "Doctor of Grace" - let these form the substance of our theology.
 

Emmanuel d'Alzon

Given by Bishop F. Eduardo Cervantes Merino

Ordinands: Rodel Cervantes Sapalo and Marciano López Solís

We gather today on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on which the Church celebrates her triumph in Christ by being raised in body and soul to heaven and exalted above the choirs of angels. We, disciples of Christ and still pilgrims on this earth, encouraged by this hope, gather together in this parish community for the priestly ordination of our brothers Rodel Cervantes Sapalo and Marciano López Solís. As we know well, these brothers are part of the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption, who we lovingly call the “Assumptionists.”

It is cause for profound joy that these brothers of ours will receive sacred orders in our Diocese of Orizaba on this feast that fills us with joy in God our savior. May this celebration encourage us to imitate the missionary drive of Mary by being a Church that brings the joy of the Gospel wherever we go, that communicates and brings those we encounter closer to the Lord Jesus, especially the poor, needy and marginalized. Adopting the attitude of the Blessed Virgin is important for every Christian, and in a particular way for the Augustinians of the Assumption.