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Renee Alarcon works as a director of children’s faith formation for Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas. A two-time graduate of CDU, she earned her BA degree in Theology in late 2021 and her AA degree in Liberal Arts in 2019.

Renee and her husband Mark, who is a cantor and youth choir leader, have attended Most Blessed Sacrament Church for 24 years and have three sons. Their youngest, 14-year-old Luke, was diagnosed with Chronic Leukemia a month before her AA graduation in Fall 2019 but was healthy enough to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend. “He is the real reason why I continued to work toward my degrees,” she says. “He has blood cancer that will never go into true remission and faces lifelong treatment; thankfully, the leukemia cells are undetected at this time, and he lives life to the fullest, never shedding a tear or complaining about his medical care.”

Renee was halfway to a nutrition and accounting degree in her 20s at a community college, “but that fizzled out fast when I started focusing more on building a family,” she says. However, she was easily able to transfer the credits toward her degree at CDU.

“The experience at the community college wasn’t successful for me because it always was missing something,” she says. “Now, 20 years later, I know it was my faith. Going to a school centered on the Catholic faith is what made the difference!”

“CDU works for me because of the compassion of the professors and the way the learning platform has been designed,” she says. “The level of commitment from the professors to make the experience interactive has increased with each term.”

Renee carefully researched which online experience would be best for her needs before selecting CDU. “There are so many details that CDU has thought of with the learning experience that others do not even consider,” she says. “The learning module videos from Dr. Brown and Dr. Nuar plus many other professors have been a real treat!” she adds.

Renee was a technology manager for a public elementary school before graduating with her AA degree. For a long time, she had volunteered in her parish as a wedding assistant, catechist, and youth choir leader. “I wanted more than the public sector could offer and really wanted something in my parish or at least my diocese. I knew that I wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps in Religious Education but wasn’t exactly sure what that would look like,” she says.

Renee’s mom had been a DRE for years when she was a child. “After she passed, I knew I wanted to possibly work as she did for the church. I began a search that led me to only a handful of choices for online learning that offered a truly Catholic experience,” she says.

“I found that CDU had the longest history of distance learning for what I was seeking,” Renee says. “To me, this meant that the university had the best resources to help its students learn while at home, across the country or the world, from the professors. Thankfully, I was right, and when it came to my BA, there was never a question about where I would attend.”

“After going to my graduation, I explored through a lot of prayer and discernment how to use my education to get into a parish and hopefully my parish,” she says. “Of course, 2020 changed all the world with the shutdowns, and I knew from my priest that our Children’s Director had retired and an opportunity was coming in 2021.” Renee had already taken many of her BA classes while in the AA program and was on track to complete the BA in December 2021.

With her AA degree completed, the BA degree imminent, and her volunteer experience, she was offered the position and began work in July 2021. “Seeking out the faith-based career with those not only of my same faith but my same parish helped me as the courses became harder,” she says. She was inspired to bring what she was learning into action through her work.

“My absolute favorite part of my work is that I am bringing families and children to the sacraments!” Renee says. However, this can sometimes be a challenge as well. “Not all of the families are willing to complete the requirements or the time needed to prepare for the sacraments; it takes a village to catechize children, but the same is said for also catechizing the parents/families of those children,” she adds.

Deacon Fernando Enrique Luces (MA in Theology, 2021) is a permanent deacon at St. Rita’s Church in Long Island City, New York. He works as a director of religious education at Our Lady of Light Parish in the St. Albans neighborhood of Queens. Permanent deacons cannot work at the same parish they serve in his diocese.

“My studies have helped me feel more confident with my theological knowledge in general and in facing the challenges I have found in my work as a DRE,” Deacon Luces says. “As a deacon, I have developed a profound spiritual insight that I apply in the Catechesis with the students.”

“The flexible time to study, the classmates of various cultures, and the excellent faculty and staff made it possible for me to achieve my goals,” he adds.

Deacon Luces most enjoys working in the house of the Lord. “It is a blessing for me, because I have the  opportunity to pray daily with God in the tabernacle and ask His advice to work out any difficulties I might have,” he says.

A big challenge in the Diocese of Brooklyn during the pandemic is following the diocesan protocol. All attending Church must wear a face mask, take their temperatures, disinfect their hands, and keep their social distance. At the end of the Mass, the whole Church is clean and disinfected.

Deacon Luces is grateful to his wife, Roxana, for helping him with his diaconate and her support as he completed his theological studies. He likes to read religious books and watch classical religious movies in his free time. “Being grateful for the blessings and gift of God is what is essential and illuminates my service as a DRE and a deacon,” he says.

Reflecting on his undergraduate education, he says it was secular and not as challenging as his theological education. “My educational experience at CDU is incomparable,” he says. “I experienced the presence of God through constant prayer in my studies, who guided me spiritually all along.”

New faculty member Brandon Harvey will teach ENG 111 Introduction to Literature in the Winter II term, which begins March 14th. Students who complete this 8-week course will become familiar with some of the most magnificent works of the great authors of the past and also become comfortable conversing about them to explore the ideas of today.

With the addition of this course, BA degree students can now complete all nine of their required English Language Arts credits at CDU.

ENG 111 is an initial survey of the importance of literature and some of the great works of Imaginative Literature. Professor Harvey will lead students through an examination of texts that provide examples of different literary forms and genres from various time periods to engage the Great Conversation of Western Civilization through such literature but also within the Catholic Tradition. Students will engage these masterpieces through both critical and reflective reading to develop and analyze key ideas.

Brandon Harvey has experience teaching children, teens, college students, and men in formation for the diaconate and has also served as headmaster of a Chesterton Academy. Besides teaching and speaking, he regularly works as a theological/editorial consultant for authors, publishers, screenwriters, producers, and occasionally actors.

Professor Harvey is in the process of completing a doctorate in the Great Books of Western Civilization at Harrison Middleton University in Tempe, Arizona, and has completed post-graduate studies at the Liturgical Institute, Mundelein, Illinois, and the International Marian Research Institute, Marian, Ohio. He earned his MA degree in Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.