Epiphany – October 9, 2024

Fr. Rodrigue Constantine invites us to venerate the True Cross of Christ.

Constantin was appointed pastor of St. Rafka Church by Bishop Elias Zaidan on July 1, 2020. He grew up in Beirut, Lebanon in a family of six and joined the seminary at age 18. Upon completing his S.T.B. in theology at the Pontifical School of Theology at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in 2001, he joined the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon under Bishop Robert Shaheen. He was ordained a priest on July 20, 2003, and his first assignment was as the administrator, then pastor, of Holy Family Maronite Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 2003 to 2014. During his pastorate, Holy Family Church relocated from downtown St. Paul to a larger church and land in the suburban Mendota Heights, MN. In parallel with his priestly ministry, Abouna Rodrigue completed a Master’s degree in Theology at the St. Paul Seminary (2010) and a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis (2012). In 2014, he was granted a temporary student leave to pursue doctoral studies in theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. In 2020, he earned a Ph.D. in moral theology. His dissertation, Passions, Virtue, and Moral Growth in John of Apamea’s Dialogues on the Soul, is the first academic exploration of the fifth century Syriac work Dialogues on the Soul from the perspective of moral theology. Based on the Dialogues, Abouna Rodrigue argues in his dissertation for the importance of attending to one’s emotions in the process of moral and spiritual growth. Abouna Rodrigue’s academic interests include virtue ethics, the dialogue between psychology and theology, and Syriac patristics. He has taught several undergraduate courses at CUA including introductory courses to theology and moral theology and Social Ethics. Alongside his pastoral ministry at St. Rafka, Abouna Rodrigue teaches various ethics courses at Madonna University and pastoral counseling at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, among other places.

Visit St. Rafka here: St. Rafka

Dr. Andre Villeneuve invites us to a class to master contemporary apologetics.

Dr. André Villeneuve is a Catholic biblical scholar and Assistant Professor in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA. He previously taught theology and Sacred Scripture at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2013, writing his dissertation on the topic of nuptial symbolism in the New Testament and ancient Jewish writings.

André completed a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology (S.T.B.) at the Salesian Pontifical University in Jerusalem (2014), and a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture (S.S.L.) with the Pontifical Biblical Commission in Rome (2019). In 2009, he spent a semester at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome as recipient of the Brenninkmeijer-Werhahn Fellowship offered by the Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies. He previously obtained an M.A. in Theology and Catechetics from Franciscan University of Steubenville (2005), an M.A. in Jazz Saxophone from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria (1998), and a B. Com. in Management Science from the University of Ottawa (1992).

Born in Ottawa, Canada, André grew up in a Catholic family but became agnostic in his early twenties. While studying jazz in Austria, he volunteered with a Christian humanitarian organization assisting war refugees in Croatia and Bosnia. This experience led to a dramatic conversion to Christ through an evangelical church. After moving to Jerusalem to pursue biblical studies, André worked for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and became involved with the Messianic Jewish movement, serving as a worship leader in a Messianic community in Tel Aviv. His study of Scripture, Judaism and early Christianity led him back into the Catholic Church in 2002. He worked for the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as a catechist, and later for the Catholic Episcopal Commission for Pilgrimages and the Franciscan Media Center in Jerusalem.