Mary Ellen Sheehan to Discuss “Cosmic Consciousness and Christian Commitment: Some Mutual Challenges”

AUSTIN — Mary Ellen Sheehan, professor emerita of Theology, will discuss “Cosmic Consciousness and Christian Commitment: Some Mutual Challenges” as part of the Most Reverend Bishop John McCarthy Lecture Series. The lecture is at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7, in Jones Auditorium at the Robert and Pearle Ragsdale Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Sheehan’s lecture will explore the interplay of science and religion in the 21st Century. She will focus on some of the ways contemporary scientific cosmology and Christian theology challenge each other today. Her lecture will also look at how resources from Christian tradition can serve to heighten both the significance of scientific cosmology and the character of Christian commitment.

Sheehan is a member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters of Monroe, Mich. Since 1978, she has been a professor of theology in the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College of the Toronto School of Theology.

Sheehan teaches courses on the Sacraments, Theology of Ministry, History of the Teaching Ministry of the Church, Theology and Spiritual Direction, Contemporary Theology and God Images, and Praxis and Theological Method.

She has lectured and offered workshops in the United States, Canada and Central America on the theology of ministry, spirituality and lay ministry, ecclesiology as communion, and the ministry of women in the church. She also offers retreats relating to spiritual growth and development to contemporary issues in the church and society.

St. Edward’s created the lecture series to honor Bishop McCarthy, who led the Diocese of Austin from 1985 to 2001, and to underscore the university’s commitment to its Catholic roots and Holy Cross Heritage.

Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross, St. Edward's University has been named as one of America's Best Colleges for 2006 by U.S. News & World Report and was selected by The Princeton Review for inclusion in the guide Colleges with a Conscience. St. Edward's is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university of more than 4,900 students located in Austin, Texas.

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