Comprehensive Exam Insights - Trying to Tie it All Together

For the past six months, I have been undergoing intense preparation for something that determines some important things.  I have completed now four years of graduate school, and at this point my coursework is all finished and now the only thing left is what is called a comprehensive exam.  If you have never taken one of these, it is essentially an intense essay test in which you have to recall what you have learned from every course you have taken over a four-year program, and it can be a bit intimidating.  As you have seen from previous blog posts from last year, I have incorporated into my writing my studies for each of these questions on my upcoming exam, and as I do so, it is kind of helping me have some recall.  Being I am in what is called the Catechetics and Evangelization program at Franciscan University of Steubenville, my coursework is very multi-disciplinary too - it entails theology, Biblical studies, catechetical pedagogy, philosophy, and ecclesiology, and in many cases I am finding these fields overlap somewhat as one tends to build upon the other.  Although the sheer volume of all the stuff I had to learn is somewhat intimidating, it also is interesting, and the insights I have gained have also helped to shape me as well.  In essence, I probably have gained a great deal of valuable discipleship as well as academic credit from my coursework, as it has been spiritually enriching.

Of course, as one goes over pages and pages of copious exam notes, it does get frustrating and spirituality can often easily elude you if you are not careful.  Repetition, of course, is the key to effective study, and one method I have employed in my own preparation for this large and very important exam is copying over and over the review notes.  For some, the notes are concise, systematic, and I find my retention level of that information is quite good.  But for others, you start to have unsanctimonious thoughts about the instructor who crafted the question, such as "What on earth does this prof expect of me??  I can never grasp all of that!!"   One course in particular had almost seven pages of notes, and if you will recall the 1985 cult classic Real Genius, in which a young Val Kilmer starred as a super-intelligent whiz kid at a tech school where the final project was a sinister weaponized laser that the professor was exploiting his students to build, there is a scene in which a group of these students are pulling an "all-nighter" in preparation for their finals, and one of them finally cracks and runs off screaming "Arggghhhh! Arggghhhh!" Below is the scene from the movie in reference:

Although I haven't expressed it outwardly that dramatically yet, I understand what that bloke from the movie feels, believe me!    So, what does one do to handle that stress?   Good question.

I am not going to proport to have answers to this, as people deal with situations like this in different ways, but I can tell you what I have done to cope with it.  God doesn't desire for us to be stressed out about things, and as one of the points in my Pedagogy of God I question notes points out in regard to Fr. Josef Jungmann's seminal text on catechetical renewal from 1936, The Good News and Our Proclamation of the Faith, memorization is important but should never be rigid and slavish - it must be gradual, flexible, and also takes in mind the need of the person who is undertaking it.  There also must be an organic unity there between what is learned, and an important question I have asked myself in regard to this is how does the content in this course reflect and build upon other content in other courses?   Finding a common ground is often helpful, and in many of these courses that I have taken, there is a body of fundamental ideas which one gleans from the coursework as a whole.  The downside to that, however, is that it is also easy to get one's wires crossed, and a fact in one course could be indirectly stated in another.  For instance, certain themes in all these courses - the dignity of personhood, the centrality of the Eucharist in sacramental life, the importance of memorization in the learning process, and the role of the Magisterium in addressing both old and modern heresies are some recurring themes.  Also, the Deposit of Faith, as well as the importance of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, are also emphasized repeatedly, as is the Christocentricity of Christian doctrine - whether it is Msgr. Eugene Kevane's Christocentric pedagogical model, or the illustration of the hub and spokes of a wheel that Fr. Jungmann used in his text, it all goes back to one thing - Christ is at the center, and everything we believe radiates from the person of Christ.  Almost all of this is pretty much imprinted on my memory now, and it does come in handy for sure.  At the core of studying though, the spiritual principle I find I need to recall is one of the first verses of Scripture I memorized as a new Christian over 32 years ago - "Study to show yourself approved..." (II Timothy 2:15).  I am also finding that my academic vocation rests a lot on the early discipleship I received as a new Christian all those years ago as well, as another verse comes to mind which was the first verse I had ever learned - "Thy Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." (Psalm 119:11).  When I am teaching my 6th-grade CCD course, I also have required my students in the class to memorize that verse as well - it is the only memory verse I assigned them, and for a good reason.  If we develop the conviction to study God's Word and make it part of us, it will also kindle the hunger and desire to study it, and then we can also fulfill II Timothy 2:15 as well.  Thanks be to God for a godly Baptist pastor (the late Rev. Olen Phillips, who also led me to Christ and baptized me) who taught me that many years ago.  It is a principle I still employ today, and hope to pass onto others.  It applies on so many levels too, as it not only means that we take seriously our own personal spiritual lives, but also in the Academy too, in particular if one is studying for Christian vocations either lay or ordained. 

Another aspect of this preparation from the spiritual angle is the necessity of prayer.  Like many of my classmates in this program I am in, as well as perhaps untold numbers of students in other universities throughout time and distance, prayer begins to become very important, particularly as the "day of reckoning" approaches.  The closer the date of the exam, it seems, the more we pray!  What is so neat about Franciscan is that the university is led by godly, passionately Catholic folks who really emphasize the power of prayer and faith, and believe me, that helps a lot!  We also have a very solid support base among ourselves as classmates too, as my colleagues who are also preparing for this same exam have the same anxieties and the same study challenges - being we are all online and non-traditional students, many of us do have families, work, and other responsibilities, so studying is a sacrificial labor of love for us.  We all pray for each other, and it's encouraging to see our classmates taking that personal interest in each other to pray mutually for our success at this endeavor.  It has also led to another dimension as far as prayer, and it has helped me to learn the intrinsic value of how the Church transcends time and space and encompasses all of her people.

Having converted to the Catholic faith back some 18 years ago from a Protestant background, one of the most difficult things to understand was how the Church taught about the Communion of Saints.  Many Protestants have an unfortunate Enlightenment-influenced understanding of this in that they acknowledge people do go to heaven (they even sing the praises of many great Catholic saints in that regard) but they leave it there - to them, the Communion of Saints means that once a person dies, they are totally detached from this life and this world and are now enjoying heavenly glory in a blissfully aloof state.  Many also equate the idea of intercession of the Saints with idolatry, which it is not, but it is a struggle for the convert, even one who has been in the Church for many years as I have been.  Over the years, I have come to understand better what the Communion of Saints is all about, and as I have done so it has been very comforting to know that our brethren who transcend time and space actually can pray with us, especially when oftentimes we don't really trust living people to pray for us and have difficulty asking them.  Far from being idolatry, we are just asking departed brothers and sisters to pray with us and agree for our needs, just as if you ask someone in your church to pray for you.  Fortunately, we are not really required to understand how this happens, as it is what is called a "mystery of faith," and it also transcends the natural world as it is in God's economy rather than ours.  I say all of that to say this - in recent months as many of us prepare for our comp exams and are facing challenges doing so, there is actually one Saint who dealt with a similar issue, and that is what I want to deal with in detail now.

St. Joseph of Cupertino

St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was an Italian Franciscan Friar who was noted to have a deep spirituality that manifested itself by his levitation during the Mass.  He also struggled at an early age with what some today would call a learning disability, but overcame those obstacles by giving complete trust to God, and as a result he was shown divine favor when he took his exams.  Over the years, people who were impacted by St. Joseph were led to compose a prayer for his intercession in regard to studying, and through that prayer St. Joseph has become a dear friend in recent months to me, believe me!  Here is that prayer, courtesy of one of my classmates that posted it on our group Facebook page:

It is important to rely on God for everything in our lives, as without Him true existence is not possible.  Knowing that, it is also a demonstration of His divine love that He even takes interest in pursuits such as studying for academic examinations, and praying together as well as asking the entire Body of Christ through the ages to agree in that prayer for us is comforting, and it also provides much-needed encouragement during those times when studying can get tedious, distracting, and frustrating.  Again, Christocentricity is still key - Christ is the ultimate source of such grace, and thankfully He grants it when we humbly ask it.  And, with the help of others praying with us, we should draw strength as well. 

In addition to self-encouragement, I am hoping that those reading this may also be encouraged by it.  You may not be necessarily taking the same comprehensive examination I am, but some of you may be students in other universities, and some of you may even be high school students with that algebra exam looming, or even a sixth-grader with a spelling quiz coming up this Friday.  God doesn't respect persons on that one, thank goodness, and He will encourage and help each of us if we take the initiative to ask.  God be with each of you who have similar challenges, and may you continue to pray for me as well.