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This morning, students on the California High School Great Books Program awoke keen for the program’s penultimate day of classes. After yesterday’s first view of Boethius, they were excited to continue to delve into the rich text.

The day began with early Mass for some, and a hearty breakfast of burritos, potatoes, and cereal. Then, many students made their way to St. Patrick’s Coffee Shop, where prefects had prepared matcha and cold brew as a morning treat before class. Programmers spent the hour before class chatting over refreshing beverages, challenging each other in Jenga, ping-pong, and pool, and reviewing the day’s material of Boethius, Fabre, and Thomas Aquinas. Then it was off to the morning’s discussion of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, Books III and IV. 

As students delved deeper into Boethius, they discussed how these books followed upon the first two. They laid out Lady Philosophy’s proof that true happiness is found only in God — not in the fleeting, material things of Earth —  as He is the Supreme Good. Lady Philosophy also explains the problem of evil and how God could allow bad people to prosper at the expense of the good. She concludes that evildoers do, indeed, suffer as a result of their wickedness, and living a vicious life — even if it appears to carry prosperity with it — truly is a great punishment. 

“The readings are really interesting,” said Tony L. “Tomorrow, we’re going to continue to talk about the allowance of evil in the world, and I’m really looking forward to it.” 

After class concluded, many students headed to the bookstore to pick up packages or browse the merchandise, while others attended midmorning mass, with many students getting enrolled in the Brown Scapular for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

Then it was time for a tasty lunch of Philly cheesesteaks and fries. Today two more programmers celebrated birthdays: Carolina R. and Maddie G! The birthday girls were greeted at lunch with cakes and candles, and the entire group serenaded them and wished them happy birthday. 

With lunch and birthday celebrations over, students headed off to their final class of the day: readings from Jean-Henri Fabre and Thomas Aquinas. There, they received their first taste of St. Thomas’s writings in their discussion of the Summa Theologiae, Question 2, Article 3, which asks whether God exists. In this article, St. Thomas presents rational proofs of God’s existence, disagreeing with Pascal’s argument that one cannot know God by human reason alone. St. Thomas argues from the intelligible order of Creation and from the fact that even irrational beings act toward an end in a seemingly rational manner. 

St. Thomas Aquinas’s article flows directly into Jean-Henri Fabre’s The Bees, which shows how even tiny insects like bees, lacking reason, work intelligently to construct their hives. Students discussed Aquinas’s proof for God and the objections to his argument in light of Fabre’s observations, considering the assertion that an intelligent creator can be known from human reason alone. 

With the final class finished, students changed for the day’s activities: water polo and a slip-and-slide! Come back to the Summer Program Blog tomorrow morning to hear about students’ messy, but happy, adventure!

More photos from the High School Summer Program

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