New Archbishop to preside at Thomas Aquinas College commencement
Santa Paula News
Published: May 04, 2011
On Saturday, May 14, 2011, the Most Reverend José H. Gomez will deliver the Commencement Address at Thomas Aquinas College; he will also serve as principal celebrant and homilist of the Baccalaureate Mass.
Archbishop Gomez was appointed coadjutor bishop of Los Angeles in the spring of 2010 and in February of this year succeeded Cardinal Roger Mahony as the Archbishop of Los Angeles. College president Dr. Michael F. McLean says, “We are grateful and deeply honored that His Excellency will be with us on this joyful day, so soon after assuming his many responsibilities as chief shepherd of this vast archdiocese.”
The day will begin with a Baccalaureate Mass in the school’s chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, at which Archbishop Gomez will preside and preach the homily. Later in the morning, commencement exercises will be held on the academic quadrangle. Archbishop Gomez will preside at this ceremony, as well, and will deliver the Commencement Address.
The College’s 82 seniors, having successfully completed a 4-year course of classical studies in mathematics, science, Latin, literature, history, philosophy and theology, will be awarded the degree of bachelor of arts in liberal arts. They will go on to a wide variety of pursuits - some to graduate schools for advanced degrees in philosophy, theology, and mathematics, others to law and medical schools, and still more to teaching positions in elementary and high schools. Says dean of the college, Dr. Brian Kelly, “Ours is a very difficult program of study, and we are so proud of these graduates for completing it well. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors to serve the Church and our country.”
During the commencement ceremony, by resolution of Thomas Aquinas College’s board of governors, Chairman R. James Wensley will award Archbishop Gomez the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion, established by the governors in 1975 as the college’s highest honor. According to the board’s resolution, the award will be made in recognition of Archbishop Gomez’ “cultivation of vocations to the priesthood, his promotion of authentic catechesis for all Catholics, and his leadership of Latino Catholics throughout our country.”
Also to be awarded the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion, though posthumously, is the late founder, tutor, and governor of the college, Mr. Marcus Berquist, who passed away in the fall of 2010. Mr. Berquist’s influence on the nature of the College, its curriculum, and its mission was of singular importance to the school. Says founding president, Dr. Ronald P. McArthur, “We could rely on him to keep us securely grounded in the study of Aristotle and St. Thomas, without which our college could never have achieved its purpose.” Receiving the award will be Mr. Berquist’s widow, Mrs. Laura Berquist.
A new member of the school’s Order of St. Albert will also be inducted during the commencement exercises. Induction into the Order, which was established in 1992, is a means for the college to recognize benefactors whose generosity has been exceptional. To be inducted this year is Miss Kathleen Burke of Orange County, a longtime, generous donor and member of the Legacy Society at the College.
Explains President McLean, “On this day when we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating seniors, it is fitting that we honor, too, this new member of the Order of St. Albert whose magnanimity contributes so greatly to our graduates’ success.”
The Baccalaureate Mass for seniors and their families will begin at 9:00 a.m. in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel. Commencement exercises will be held on the academic quadrangle at 11:00 a.m.
ABOUT ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ: The Most Rev. José H. Gomez was born in 1951 in Monterrey, Mexico, and was ordained a priest of the Opus Dei Prelature in 1978 at the Shrine of Torreciudad, Spain. He holds advanced degrees in accounting, philosophy, and theology.
From the time of his ordination until 2000, Archbishop Gomez served in parishes in a number of cities in Texas. He was ordained a bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver in 2001, serving as Rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception for two years and then as Moderator of the Curia. In 2005 he was appointed Archbishop of San Antonio, where he served until his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles in the spring of 2010. Archbishop Gomez succeeded Cardinal Roger Mahony as ordinary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles this past February.
Archbishop Gomez is an enthusiastic supporter of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors. Since 1991 he has also been involved with the National Association of Hispanic Priests, an organization which seeks to strengthen fraternity among the Hispanic priests in the United States. He now serves as its Episcopal Moderator.
In 2007 he established the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, the mission of which
is to work in communion with the bishops to promote the common good of Latinos in the United States and to provide a forum for members to strengthen their faith through prayers, education, and service. He is a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and a member of the Special Council for America of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.
His Episcopal motto is taken from a Scriptural passage of the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us go forth with confidence to the Throne of Grace” (Heb. 4:16).
ABOUT THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE: Ranked one of the Top 50 “Best Values” in the country for 2011 among all private institutions in the United States by The Princeton Review, Thomas Aquinas College is a four-year, Catholic liberal arts college with a fully-integrated curriculum composed exclusively of the Great Books, the seminal works in the major disciplines by the greatest thinkers of Western civilization. There are no textbooks, no lectures and no electives. Instead, under the guidance of faculty members and using only the Socratic method of dialogue in classes of no more than 20, students read and discuss the original works of authors such as Euclid, Dante, Galileo, Descartes, the American Founding Fathers, Adam Smith, Shakespeare, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Einstein, Aristotle, Plato, St. Augustine, and of course, St. Thomas Aquinas. Graduates consistently excel in the many world-class institutions at which they pursue graduate degrees in fields such as law, medicine, business, theology and education. They have distinguished themselves serving as lawyers, doctors, business owners, priests, military service men and women, educators, journalists and college presidents.
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