Shannon Lecture Series
A thought-provoking series for people seeking a learning community dedicated to exploring life's meaning and purpose. The series engages the religious, sociopolitical, and scientific issues of our time to identify the best of human values and stimulate thoughtful, creative responses for the enrichment of all peoples and stewardship of our earth.
Upcoming Events
Naz Weekend Keynote by Thomas Florek, S.J., D.Min.
"Vecinos Unidos / United Neighbors: Crossing Borders of Fear to Hope with a Courageous Heart"
Saturday, September 20, 2025 • 10–11 a.m. • Linehan Chapel
Get your ticket: Register for Naz Weekend & select this event »
About Fr. Thomas Florek
Growing up in a multi-cultural family in Wisconsin, Fr. Tom Florek values the diversity of our interconnected world. As a Vietnam “war” conscientious objector, he taught at Bruce Guadalupe Community School in Milwaukee, where he came to know the cultures, struggles, and hopes of Mexican immigrant families. A Fullbright scholarship for studies in Mexico deepened his appreciation of the rich history, culture and social reality of our southern neighbors. As the founding director of the ICLM lay formation institute serving Latin American immigrants to the Midwest, he participated in the 2007 II National CMFN Consulta at Creighton University. From 2013 to 2019 he taught U.S. Hispanic/Latino studies at the University of Detroit Mercy until he was invited in 2019 to join the Mexican Jesuit Human Rights’ CIAS team dedicated to the “Reconstruction of the Social Fabric” in conflicted zones around the country.
Returning to the U.S. in 2021, Fr. Tom was invited to join the Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network (CMFN) as its executive director. Members of CMFN, who are often invisible farmworkers serving the U.S. with their field and factory labor, have taught him the historical force of their contributions and the power of their integrated faith. It is his hope to promote the historical prophetic force of these migrant farm and factory workers by linking diocesan evangelization programs, regional & national networks of ecclesial and social services, and leadership formation, breathing new life into the community of migrant workers.
2025-26 theme: Cultivating the Habits of a Courageous Heart
"Give us the courage to seek paths of dialogue, to respond to conflict with gestures of fraternity, to open our hearts to others without fear of differences. Make us builders of bridges, able to overcome borders and ideologies, able to see others through the eyes of the heart, recognizing in every person an inviolable dignity."
— Pope Leo XIV "August Prayer Intention: Mutual Coexistence" July 2025
Pope Leo XIV begins his papacy with a clarion call: God's desire for humanity and all of creation is a future of peace and of respect for the dignity of all. He declares that God's desire will find its fulfillment in partnership with every people and culture without exception. This partnership asks something both simple and profound: to nurture a desire for this future in our hearts, with intention and trust.
Leo XIV's vision is timely and transformative. It summons us to cultivate the habits of a courageous heart so that we might respond to both the pain and the beauty of our interconnected world. Pope Francis offered three words - see-judge-act - to guide our process. Together, they are a "review of life," enabling us to recognize, understand, and respond to the realities of our world, always with a deep concern for the most vulnerable among us. Leo XIV presses forward, calling for dialogues that consciously share a view of the world in which justice, mercy, and integrity are honored and that courageously choose actions consistent with our human dignity.
We are grateful to Fr. Thomas Florek, S.J. for sharing what migrant farm and factory workers are teaching him about our theme. There will be opportunities for continued dialogue throughout the semester.
Information about the spring 2026 program will be forthcoming.