Comps

Last semester, I used this blog as a forum to describe by progress on my thesis. This semester, I have been unable to continue that habit, as yet, because I have been preparing for comprehensive exams. Dcn. Gregory and I both completed the written portion of these exams last week.

The comps are designed to give those pursuing the Master of Arts in Theology the opportunity to flex our theological muscles, so to speak. Three professors are selected to administer the exam. Each professor then submits two questions. During the three exam periods, which occur over the course of two days, the student must select a single question proposed by each of the examiners. The student is then given two hours to respond in writing to each question. The questions I was asked ranged from the history of the papacy during the patristic period of the Church to the various modes under which Catholics understand the Church according to the teachings of Vatican II. I used most of those two hours for each of the questions posed.

The exam was intense, but not exactly difficult. The questions required a certain depth for an adequate answer, but the exam is not designed to find out what I don't know. The examiners hope to allow one to demonstrate what I have learned in the last four years. That being said, it does not behoove one to enter the exam unprepared. I have spent most of the last six or seven weeks getting ready by reading books I hadn't finished yet, reviewing notes, and then reviewing them all again. It was most fortuitous that at the end of my exam, I entered into my spring break.

Anyway, this is all a long way around having to actually apologize for my laxity in posting here more often. I still have to finish the oral portion of my comps, but when they are completed, I should be able to focus more of my attention here again, where I will have stories to tell about late night emergency trips to the dentist, South Dakota blizzards, and who knows what else. But for now, a would appreciate just a few more prayers as I get ready for my oral exams at the beginning of next week.