Aims & Scope

Obsculta Mission and Vision

Mission:

“Obsculta:” “listen.” Thus begins St. Benedict’s famous Rule. This simple command and insight, that we “listen with the ear of our hearts,” serves as the foundation for the spiritual formation, intellectual growth, and ministerial action of the students at St. John’s School of Theology, a Catholic Benedictine institution. To listen in this fashion not only brings the connotations of obeying and understanding, but also the image of an openness to receiving the other as Christ. Listening is foundational to everything we strive to do.

Obsculta is a student edited journal, published annually from the School of Theology, featuring the works of students that are currently enrolled. Obsculta’s mission is to provide research, essays, and other artistic contributions of theology which are attentive to ministry, as well as ministerial work founded upon academic theology. Ministry and academic theology mutually inform one another, while also remaining fully themselves. Through an inclusive and Benedictine lens, we hope to amplify voices that have not historically been represented and be outward facing to ‘the other.’

Vision:

Our vision is to invite others into holistic, theologically informed and intentional conversation and to engage and empower others through scholarship. Through careful and contemplative listening, we hope to inspire meaningful dialogue in our vision to create a community of empathetic pastoral leadership, a space willing to welcome all guests as Christ (RB, 53.1).