This spring, Father Gregory Havill is offering a course in Fundamental Theology to the novices of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word in West Greenwich, Rhode Island. The presence of the order is a fairly recent addition to the Diocese of Providence, and their novitiate was joyfully welcomed to the diocese by Bishop Thomas Tobin in October of last year. In March 2019, Bishop Tobin had posted about the service to the diocese offered by the order: “The community, based in Mexico, is committed to evangelization and catechesis, especially among the Latino community.” The sisters have since expanded their ministry to serve the wider diocesan community as well, notes Sr. Elizabeth Castro, HMSP (from the Spanish name of the order, “Hermanas Misioneras, Servidoras de la Palabra”), a member of the community here who also serves as the Director of the Office of Religious for the diocese. The Order was founded by an Italian priest, Father Luigi Butera, who still lives in Mexico City, receiving pontifical approval in 2008 from Pope Benedict XVI. Starting in Mexico City in 1983, the Order remains “dedicated to a very simple charism,” Sr. Elizabeth states: “We want to evangelize to the laity so that we can evangelize with the laity...” (RICatholic)
 

Sr. Elizabeth learned of Fr. Gregory’s availability to offer the course from Br. Sixtus Roslevich and invited him to offer instruction to the novices. While retired from teaching in the School, Fr. Gregory was very ready to offer this course to this new community in the diocese, also happy to strengthen our monastic community’s contact within the diocese, realizing more fully the Christian apostleship we share. The seven-week course meets twice per week for about one hour, with the second meeting on Zoom. Fr. Gregory travels weekly out to West Greenwich to the convent to meet with the five novices, and notes that he has already added a couple of other participants as well. Sr. Elizabeth has expressed her appreciation for Fr. Gregory's work: "The novices say it has been a blessing to have Fr. Gregory as a professor," sharing that "they are very grateful for his generous time in teaching this important class."

Assembly line for the course binders

A one-year novitiate is the basic canonical requirement for institutes in the Latin rite, incorporating various dimensions essential in the formation of the novices. This includes some instruction in theology, which Fr. Gregory is able to offer to the Servants of the Word novices. Fr. Gregory’s course, “Foundations of Theology,” is thus designed to address the intellectual growth of the novices and to help foster their formation, developing not only theology, but faith. A guiding theme for the project is for the novices to grow “from disciples to apostles”, “from pre-resurrection followers to post-resurrection missionaries" of Christ. He hopes to offer the novices “not just talks, but something to build on,” with readings they can return to, “golden readings” from the Christian tradition. The outline of the course follows in part the fourfold structure of the catechism, addressing the creed, the sacraments, Christian Love, and Christian prayer. This is supplemented by units on the Incarnation, the Trinity and the Paschal Mystery, topics that many theologians may prefer not to attempt because of their unique challenges, but which Fr. Gregory therefore wants to make sure to address for the novices. 

Father Gregory notes some of his favorite sources: “They’ll get a fair amount of Pope Benedict XVI; there is some Romano Guardini. Kenneth Baker’s three volumes on the Fundamentals of Catholicism is engaging and dependable.” Some of Bishop Robert Barron’s reflections, such as his treatment of the Trinity, are also presented. The course is fundamentally rooted in scripture and the catechism. Indeed, Fr. Gregory starts them off with some basics from the Baltimore Catechism, such as its call “to know, love, and serve” God. Fr. Gregory relates this to the Iraneaus’ teaching from the second century: “to know him as Father, to love him with his whole heart, and to follow his Word unfailingly” (Against Heresies). “This is not ‘nouvelle theologie’ we are doing here,” he notes. Fr. Gregory’s distinctive method, which he also employed while teaching students at the Abbey, includes having the students construct their own binders. The process not only expresses the openness and expansiveness of reading and learning, as the binders incorporate material from the course as well as the student’s own additions, but also includes the critical production of an index. Fr. Gregory derives this element from his own experience of having accumulated binders packed with notes, but nearly impossible to utilize in an accessible way. Students thus produce an index for their own notebooks, enabling them not only to highlight important themes, but to preserve their work for future reference. The endeavor makes their learning portable and connected to a life project, thus being well-suited to the novitiate. 

Photo from Bishop Thomas Tobin, Twitter (October 28, 2020), in a post announcing that the Sisters would be situating their novitiate in Rhode Island.