Father Aquinas Connects Virtue to the Christian Life

By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles 

LAKE CHARLES –– Dominican Priest Father Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P., traveled to his home state of Louisiana to talk about the “Life of Virtue” at the 13th annual Veritas Conference in the Diocese of Lake Charles on Saturday, September 21. The event was hosted by the Office of Religious Education. 

A native of Carencro in the Diocese of Lafayette, Father Aquinas is a friar of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph. He holds the distinction of being the first Vice President of Mission and Ministry for Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he also serves as University Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry. 

“It is great that we have opportunities like this,” Father Aquinas told nearly 300 attendees –– many of them catechists –– in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Family Life Community Center. “It is important to step out of our usual routines and schedules, even if only for a day, to be together to talk about God and the things of God, and to reflect on his good providence for our lives.” 

The conference opened with Mass celebrated by His Excellency, The Most Reverend Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church. 

In remarks ahead of his keynote, Father Aquinas said it was a beautiful sign of God’s providence that he and Bishop Provost would cross paths many years later with the missions they both share. 

“When I entered St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington in the mid-1990s, Bishop Provost was rector at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette. For us who were young seminarians and later young priests, Bishop Provost was always a model for us,” said the friar preacher. “We always looked forward to when we might spend some time with him at the Cathedral or later at Our Lady of Fatima before his being appointed bishop for the Diocese of Lake Charles.” 

Virtues help in race to Heaven 

Father Aquinas’ talk “looked under the hood” of the human person discussing, by virtue, how all three parts of the soul –– intellect, will, and appetite (desires) –– work together so that we can run well the race toward Heaven. 

“Christian life is not simply running from sin the whole of our lives. Yes, that is part of it, but we run from sin in order to run to the Lord,” said Father Aquinas. “That running to the Lord is where the virtues come in.”  

“Running so as to win is where Faith, Hope, and Charity (Theological Virtues); Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude (Cardinal Virtues); the Fruits of the Holy Spirt; the Beatitudes and the Sacraments come into play as integral parts of the life of grace,” he continued. The friar also discussed the Intellectual Virtues of Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom. 

Father Aquinas touched on the Virtue of Religion, which he said draws everything together –– all of the graces, all of the gifts, and all of the virtues –– in a united way that is ordered to God.  

“I have something that has been given to me that I didn’t merit. I didn’t ask for it, but I am glad I have it –– my life, my existence,” he said. “What do I owe to the One who gave it to me? Religion is that natural virtue and aspect of justice that renders to God the debt that we owe him.

Prayer and sacrifice, noted Father Aquinas, are the two principal acts of religion that help reckon our debt to God. 

Conference reaction 

Hearing religion described as virtue of justice is something that clicked for Angie Dupuis, a catechist for first graders at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Sulphur. It was her first time attending Veritas.

“It is justice that we need to serve the Lord because it is just. He has given us everything. We need to give him all of us, our soul and our body,” she remarked. “Without him, we would not be here.” 

Dupuis said she was interested in attending the conference simply because of the theme on virtue. “I always need to be learning more about the Catholic faith so I can pass on knowledge to my students,” she said. 

Sister Maria Howell, RSM, a catechist at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Lake Charles, attended a morning breakout session by Father Jeff Starkovich, Pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Ragley, and an afternoon session by Ann Vincent, a parishioner of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. 

Talking with Teens about Difficult Moral Topics was the topic of the morning breakout. “I took notes and would like to hear more of Father Starkovich’s talks on related topics because I teach eighth graders. How do I reach them so that I can help them with their relationship with Christ?” said Sister Maria. 

“Ann was fabulous! What struck me in her talk is that it is God’s Will be done. We cannot get enough being reminded of that,” she said. “Mama Mia, what a beautiful testimony!”  

Vincent’s session was called Lord, Can You Write That Down?, sharing personal experiences that helped her to trust God with every aspect of her life. “I appreciated her reiterating in her talk that it is God who we need to trust, not ourselves,” Sister Maria emphasized. 

This was Brittany Foreman’s second year attending Veritas. She is the Parish Catechetical Leader at St. Henry Catholic Church in Lake Charles. Foreman said she was drawn to Vincent’s talk by the title alone. 

“I always want to know the answer from God to questions I have. Instead of just listening and waiting patiently, I want him to hit me in the face with what it is I need to know,” said Foreman. 

“I enjoy Eucharistic Adoration but admit that I don’t go as often as I should. It is easy to feel like you are alone, especially during times of trouble, like when I was diagnosed with cancer last year,” she said. “It was inspiring to hear that we are never alone and that we should be more grateful for everything that God has given us.”  

Other breakout sessions presented were:  

• Creation, Law, Conscience, and Freedom by Father Edward Richard, M.S.
• A Doctor of Divine Love: Saint Francis de Sales by Canon Jean-Marie Moreau
• Intimacy with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration by Deacon Brian Soileau
• Embracing the Sacred: Understanding the Virtue of Religion by Justin Sittig

There were also two breakout sessions presented in Spanish by Father D.B. Thompson and Father Levi Thompson.