One of our brothers defended successfully his masteral thesis at the University of Saint Joseph, Macao on October 29, 2013. A number of members of our community and some professors and students of the university postgraduate courses witnessed the afternoon academic exercise.
Brother Antonio Hyojun Lee, OP, presented and defended his masteral thesis before a tribunal of three USJ professors. The title of the thesis is: “The Effects of Mindfulness Practice in Daily Life.†The Panel of Examiners was composed of the following Professors: Harry Xia, Chair; Helena Ng, Examiner, and Andrew Found, Supervisor.
Bro. Antonio presented and defended his thesis very well. He was able to get a high Magna Cum Laude. The degree he obtained: Master of Counseling and Psychotherapy. In his well-structured work, Brother Antonio explores analyses and interprets through quantitative and qualitative research methods the effects of mindfulness practice (a Buddhist technique) in non-clinical population.
Our Priory rejoices with our brother and wishes him well in his future assignment and work. Congratulations and God bless you – always!
NOTA BENE: All the lectures will take place at 6:30 PM at the Seminary of Saint Joseph, the new quarters of the Faculty of Christian Studies
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Two temporarily professed brothers from our Center of Institutional Studies defended their respective thesis successfully in the afternoon of September 9, 2013, the first day of the new academic year. Brothers Mariano and Isaac crowned their philosophical and theological studies at the Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph with the presentation and successful defense of their thesis at the Seminary of Saint Joseph, Macau.
Brother Mariano Maung, OP, presented and defended his thesis before a tribunal of three professors. The title of the thesis is “Relationality in the Fourth Gospel.†The panel of interrogators was composed of the following: Fr. Joao Eleuterio, Dean of the Faculty of Christian Studies, President; Professor Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP, chief examiner, and Professor Arnold Monera, Supervisor. Brother Mariano obtained the highest qualification: Summa cum Laude.
Brother Isaac Saw Aye Sei, OP, also presented and defended his thesis entitled “The First Missionary Speeches of Peter and Paul in Acts: A Contrast.” The members of his tribunal were the following: Â Fr. Joao Eleuterio, President; Professor Fr. Franz Gassner, SVD, chief examiner, and Professor Arnold Monera, Supervisor. Brother Isaac obtained the highest degree, Summa cum laude.
The members of St. Dominic’s Priory and the professors and students of the Faculty of Christian Studies congratulate joyfully our brothers Mariano and Isaac. Congratulations and more power to you!
On September 9, 2013 the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) opened its new academic year 2013-2014. On this day, the USJ Faculty of Christian Studies organized a special program to welcome the new school year. Main numbers of the program: some remarks by the Dean of the Faculty, a sharing by a former student and a lecture by the Bishop; the program closed with the Holy Mass. The program proper was held at the hall of the Seminary of the Diocese, the Seminary of Saint Joseph, which is the place for our classes this year.
The morning program started with a prayer led by the eldest member of the teaching staff, Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP and continued with the opening remarks of Fr. Joao Eleuterio, our Faculty Dean, who gave us some important points regarding our Faculty and some relevant remarks on the document of the Vatican Theological Commission entitled Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles and Criteria. He ended his interesting and meaty intervention by telling us that we are part and parcel of the Church and committed to serve the Church.
In his interesting sharing, our former student, lay person Andrew Leong Chin Hei compared our Faculty and the Faculty of theology of the Belgian University and spoke of the positive points found in our school of theology pointing out the diversity of professors and their different theological approaches. He underlined the dedication of the students in Leuven and encouraged our own students to read, listen and dialogue. Andrew is now pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Leuven, Belgium.
Our dear Bishop Joseph Lai, DD, spoke of the situation and needs of the Diocese of Macau and encouraged professors and students to know the history of the Diocese which was founded in 1576, and also of the Seminary of Saint Joseph that was for many years the center of formation of hundreds of missionaries sent to different Asian countries. He stressed parochial work (there are six parishes and four quasi-parishes), educational undertakings (there are thirty one Catholic schools in Macau) and the social welfare program of the diocese. He invited the University of Saint Joseph to contribute in a special way to the Christian formation of the lay faithful in particular the teachers of religion.
The program of the inauguration of a new academic year closed with the Eucharistic celebration in the elegant Chapel of the Seminary. The holy Mass was presided by our Bishop. The clerical teaching staff of the Faculty of Christian Studies concelebrated with our pastor. For the first time in its history, the students of the Faculty attending the Mass were about forty five, a record for the Faculty which re-started theological studies in the year 2006.
University of St. Joseph (USJ), Macao – May 09, 2013. Fr. Fausto Gomez, O.P. just finished today the last talk of his four-talk series. Organized weekly on Thursday evenings within the USJ’s academe, at the Speaker’s Hall, this academic activity is an effective way that helps the intellectual correctly respond to the Church’s present invitation for the Year of Faith.
Beginning on April 18 with the first talk on virtues, Fr. Fausto discussed their relevance in today’s society and, quoting the Vatican II’s Gaudium et Spes, he exhorted the audience to treat virtues “in the light of divine revelation†(GS. 44). A week after, in the second talk, Fr. Fausto went to a specific topic of virtue, concerning human life directly – Bioethics, when he reminded the audience that we are but servants of life and our duty is to promote it, “from the moment of conception until [natural] death†(CCC. 2319). He then arrived on the third talk at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is the compass of Catholic ethics and values; he emphasized on the option for the poor this time. The fourth talk was about Peace and Peacemaking. Again, “in the light of divine revelation,†Fr. Fausto saw that all kinds of human peace could only be possible on firm ground of our peaceful relationship with God, with our self and with our neighbors. For Christians, Jesus – the proclaimed “prince of peace†(Isaiah 9:5) – is the perfect model of a peacemaker (cf. Ephesians 2:14-17; Matthew 5:9).
Ending the series of talks, Fr. Fausto, citing Dr. Robert Muller’s “Decide to Network,†recapped that we are all interconnected and that we need to love in order to live happily.
Use every letter you write
Every conversation you have
Every meeting you attend
To express your fundamental beliefs and dreams
Affirm to others the VISION of the world you want
Network through thought Network through action
Network through love Network through spirit
You are the CENTRE of a network
You are the CENTRE of the world
You are a free and immensely powerful source of life and goodness
AFFIRM IT – SPREAD IT – RADIATE IT
Think day and night about it
And you will see a miracle happen:
THE GREATNESS OF YOUR OWN LIFE
In a world of big powers, media and monopolies…
But of six billion individuals
NETWORKING IS THE NEW FREEDOM
THE NEW DEMOCRACY
A NEW FORM OF HAPPINESS.
Joining in with him offering all of the dedication and hard work in the past four weeks to Our Mother the whole audience stood up singing Salve Regina.
Seven members of our Province of Our Lady of the Rosary are teaching this school year of 2012-2013 at the Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), Macau. Four of them are visiting professors and are lecturing in the second semester of the academic year. The other three are regular members of the Faculty’s teaching staff.
Three visiting professors lectured in February-March, 2013. Fr. Javier Gonzalez, OP, from our St. Joseph House in Kowloon Tong, taught Canon Law. Fr. Felicisimo Martinez, OP, from our Convent of the Most Holy Rosary in Madrid, explained Christology, and Bro. Edmond Eh Kim, OP, also from the community in Kowloon, lectured on Phenomenology. The three brothers lived at our St. Dominic’s Priory during their teaching sting. With their meaningful presence, our community reached the magic number of 32 members: 9 priests and 23 brothers. The fourth visiting professors, Fr. Ambrose Mong, OP, also from the community of Kowloon Tong will handle Theological Anthropology in May-June and will also enrich us then with his equally meaningful presence (as it already was the previous academic year of 2011-2012).
The three Dominicans that are members of our St. Dominic’s Priory and members of the regular teaching staff of the USJ Faculty of Christian Studies are: Frs. Jose Luis de Miguel, Jarvis Sy and Fausto Gomez.
The Faculty of Christian Studies of the University of Saint Joseph is affiliated to the Pontifical Catholic University of Portugal. All our Dominican students take their theological studies at this Faculty. The means of instruction at USJ is English.
