Lumen Christi Institute

God-Talk: The Heart of Judaism Reading Course
2025-04-28 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Gavin House, 1220 E 58th St., Chicago, IL, 60637
REGISTER HERE
Open to current students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Dinner will be provided.
David Novak, one of the most distinguished Jewish theologians in the world, offers a new interpretation of how the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition talk about God. What does the Torah say about God? How does the God of the Torah talk about Himself? And how does the God of the Torah talk about human beings? The book traces the history and theology of God-talk in Judaism, and how it remains relevant, now more than ever, and speaks directly to contemporary issues such as human rights.
In this reading course over dinner, Fr. Andrew Summerson (University of Toronto) will lead a group through Novak’s book at a leisurely pace. Syllabus forthcoming
SCHEDULE:
This group will meet weekly on Mondays (beginning April 7th) from 6:00pm – 7:30pm over dinner.
A copy of God-Talk: The Heart of Judaism will be provided to all participants. The reading may be picked up at Gavin House (1220 E 58th street) during business hours at the start of the fall quarter.

April 7th:

Chapter 1: “Introduction: Speaking on Strange Ground”

April 14th:

Chapter 2: “What is Jewish Theology?: Two Views of Jewish Theology?

April 21st:

Chapter 3: “The Inner Life of God: God’s Thoughts”

April 28th:

Chapter 4 and 5: “Seeing God: Desiring the Vision of God” and “Natural Law and Natural Theology: Two Approaches to Natural Law”

The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and Nations
2025-04-30 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-05-14 18:00 - 19:30
This event is sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute’s Nicklin Fellows Program, which supports and encourages University of Chicago undergraduate students to develop their intellectual maturity. Jordan Gabriel, who designed this program, is a 2023-2024 Nicklin Fellow. This program is for undergraduate students only.
REGISTER HERE
“Wherefore my destiny? Why do I possess such a thirst for eternity?” For Spanish existentialist philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno, awareness of these two fundamentally human questions is to possess a “tragic sense of life.” By understanding it, we find the answers to our lives, navigating the conflict between faith and reason, our longing for immortality, and the interplay of faith, hope, and love in the tragicomic nature of life itself.
SCHEDULE:
SESSION 1, April 2nd
Chapter I: “The Man of Flesh and Bone” (Pages 4-23) – This chapter sets the stage for Unamuno’s exploration of the human condition, focusing on the conflict between faith and reason.’
(Optional) Chapter 2: “The Point of Departure” (Pages 24-42) – This chapter delves deeper into Unamuno’s exploration of the human condition and sets a strong foundation for understanding his tragic sense of life.
SESSION II, April 16th
Chapter V: “The Hunger for Immortality” (Pages 43-64) – In this chapter, Unamuno discusses the human desire for immortality and the existential anguish that arises from our awareness of mortality.
(Optional) Chapter VII: “Love, Pain, Compassion, and Personality” (Pages 146-71) – This chapter further explores Unamuno’s existential themes, focusing on the interplay between love, suffering, and the development of personal identity.
SESSION III, April 30th
Chapter IX: “Faith, Hope, and Charity” (Pages 204-235) – This chapter explores Unamuno’s views on religion and the role of faith, hope, and love in the human experience.
SESSION IV, May 7th
Chapter XI: “Don Quixote in the Contemporary European Tragi-Comedy” (Pages 322-360) – Unamuno uses the figure of Don Quixote to illustrate his existentialist ideas and the tragicomic nature of life.
Viewing of While at War (Mientras dure la guerra)

On the Nature of Angels: Thomas Aquinas Reading Course
2025-05-01 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-05-15 18:00 - 19:30
REGISTER HERE
Open to current students and faculty. Food, beverages, and readings will be provided.
One of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s very last projects was a treatise On Angels. He did not finish it, but the part that he did carry out is exceptionally brilliant, even by his standards. It is a work of theology, but the title under which it came to circulate reflects how philosophical it also is: On Separate Substances. With a more historical approach than that of either Summa on the subject, it addresses such topics the immateriality of angels, their origin, their knowledge, and the distinctions among them, including the distinction between the good ones and the bad ones. Along the way, it offers some of Thomas’s most sophisticated discussions of the metaphysics of creation, hylomorphism, and participation. We will work through it at a leisurely pace.
SCHEDULE:
This group will meet bi-weekly on Thursdays (beginning April 3rd) from 6:00pm – 7:30pm over dinner.
The text can be accessed online HERE in a Latin and English side-by-side. Participants who prefer a bound copy of the English text can request one from dstrobach@lumenchristi.org.

Confederacy of Dunces Graduate Reading Group
2025-05-01 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-05-08 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-05-15 20:00 - 21:00
REGISTER HERE
Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Drinks and Snacks will be provided.
Take a journey with us through the vibrant streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter as we read A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole’s masterpiece of humor and a character study of one of the giants of literature, Ignatius J. Reilly. In this group, we will explore the book’s cadre of distinctive characters and Toole’s synthesis of New Orleans’ contradictory gumbo of vice, race, and French Catholicism. We hope we’ll be able to balance the belly laughs with the thoughtful insights the book offers into the absurdity of the modern world, the struggle to live an authentic life, and whether a Medieval tome works better as a guide to living a good life or a doorstop.
SCHEDULE:
This group will meet weekly on Thursdays (beginning April 10th) from 8:00pm – 9:00pm over drinks and snacks.
A copy of the book will be provided to all participants. The reading may be picked up at Gavin House (1220 E 58th street) during business hours at the start of the fall quarter.

4/10: Chapter 1: pp. 1-27
4/15: Chapters 2-3: pp. 28-81
4/24: Chapters 4-6: pp. 82-151
5/1: Chapters 7-9: pp. 152-234
5/8: Chapters 10-11: pp. 235-302
5/15: Chapters 12-14: pp. 303-394

Latin Vulgate Reading Group
2025-05-02 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-09 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-16 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-05-23 10:30 - 11:30
REGISTER HERE
Open to current students and faculty at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Others interested in participating should contact Emily Barnum at ebarnum@uchicago.edu. Coffee, tea, and pastries will be provided.
St. Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible was used exclusively by the Western Church for centuries; its significance for the Roman Catholic tradition cannot be overstated. In this group, we will work through sections of the Vulgate in order to appreciate its beauty and practice our Latin. For the first session, no preparation is necessary; we will decide together which texts we will read. Please come with a desire to grow in Latin Bible knowledge with St. Jerome and friends!
SCHEDULE:
This group will meet every Friday (beginning January 24th) from 10:45am – 11:45am over coffee, tea, and pastries.

The Vice of Curiosity
2025-10-13 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-10-20 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-10-27 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-03 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-10 18:00 - 19:30
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
This project is made possible through the support of In Lumine Tuo: Expanding and Sustaining the Catholic Intellectual Tradition Nationwide (grant #63614) from the John Templeton Foundation and the generous support of our donors.
In our Information Age, we are constantly bombarded by a deluge of new knowledge, whether it be academic works, social media alerts, or 24/7 news blasts. In the academy in particular, we are taught from an early age that the ideal student is the one with insatiable curiosity – a never-ending appetite for knowledge in whatever guise it may come. And yet if we are honest, this ceaseless quest for total knowledge often leaves us more distracted and anxious than ever before. St. Augustine would have a surprising diagnosis for our age – we suffer from the vice of curiositas, a kind of malformed appetite for knowledge that prizes novelty and control over the intrinsically true, good, and beautiful.
In the Vice of Curiosity and Intellectual Appetite, esteemed theologian Paul J. Griffiths outlines an Augustinian critique of the modern academy’s ways of knowing, including the history of how modernity turned curiosity from vice into virtue, a theological criticism of patent law, and analysis of why plagiarism is not in fact theft. In this five week reading group, we will dive into the thought of both St. Augustine and Griffiths as we seek to understand what a properly catechized intellectual appetite looks like and how we can rightly desire knowledge as students.
Schedule:

Oct 13 – Week 1: Introduction (Optional Reading, Intellectual Appetite: 9-18 of Introduction)
Oct 20 – Week 2: The Vice of Curiosity, p. 1-21 (Optional: I.A. p. 19-22 & 75-91)
Oct 27 – Week 3: V.C., p. 22-41 (Optional: I.A. p. 139-162)
Nov 3 – Week 4: V.C., p. 41-59 (Optional: I.A. p. 163-186)
Nov 10 – Week 5: V.C., p. 60-79 (Optional: I.A. p. 125-138)

MacIntyre’s Dependent Rational Animals
2025-10-16 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-10-23 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-10-30 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-11-06 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-11-13 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-11-20 17:00 - 18:30
REGISTER BELOW
5:00-6:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
“What is ‘in your character’ (NOT ‘in your wallet’)?” Who is your guide to a happy, fulfilled life–Nietzsche or Aristotle? Given the ethical confusion, indeed meltdown, afflicting our society, who offers the most reliable “moral compass” to help us find our way?
This reading course will read and discuss Dependent Rational Animals by Alisdair MacIntyre. Drawing on Aristotle, MacIntyre describes our biologically rooted condition and the need to cultivate the virtues that take account of our shared human condition. Macintyre criticizes Aristotle’s ideal of the “great souled” man; he argues for the cultivation of virtues that acknowledge our inescapable dependence and inter-dependency.
A midlife convert from atheistic Marxism to Catholicism, MacIntyre is considered by many to be the most important moral philosopher of the past 50 years. He died in the spring of 2025, making a re-assessment of his life’s work all the more timely.
Copies of Dependent Rational Animals will be provided to all participants. Weekly meetings are held over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 40 pages.

SCHEDULE

Oct. 16 Introduction (readings available in class Google Folder)
Oct. 23 DRA, preface + chapters 1-4, pp. 1-41
Oct. 30 DRA, chapters 5-7, pp. 43-80.
Nov. 6 DRA, chapters 8-9, pp. 81-118.
Nov. 13 DRA, chapters 10-11, pp. 119-146
Nov. 20 DRA, chapter 12-13, pp. 147-166

The Silmarillion
2025-10-16 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-10-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-10-30 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-11-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-11-13 19:00 - 20:30
REGISTER BELOW
7:00 – 8:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
Peter Thiel wants to live forever, and he’s cited the works of JRR Tolkien as a justification: “why can’t we be elves?” But a careful reader of Tolkien’s works, especially the cosmological and mythic stories in The Silmarillion, knows that the answer to that question is very complicated. In this group, we will discuss what Tolkien has to say about death, mortality, and suffering, along with his rich worldbuilding and epic tales.
Schedule:

Oct 16 – Week One (52 pages): Ainulindalë (pages 13-23), Quenta Silmarillion chapters 1-8 (pages 35-77)
Oct 23 – Week Two (52 pages): QS chapters 9-16 (78-130)
Oct 30 – Week Three (56 pages): QS chapters 17-19 (131-187)
Nov 6 – Week Four (49 pages): QS chapters 20-22 (188-237)
Nov 13 – Week Five (45 pages): QS chapters 23-24 (238-257), Akallabêth (257-283)

Greek New Testament
2025-10-17 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-01-30 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-06 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-13 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-20 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-02-27 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-03-06 10:00 - 11:00
REGISTER BELOW
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Refreshments Provided
*Note: winter sessions have been shifted forward by one week
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” This dramatic opening salvo of the Letter to the Hebrews, summarizing salvation history, is one of the most famous and consequential one-liners in the New Testament. But who is this Son? How is he “appointed heir of all things”? What is the relationship between God’s message through him and His message through the prophets? In this reading group, we will examine, through careful study of the Koine Greek text, how the Letter to the Hebrews answers these questions and more, with an eye to the authorship, audience, and genre of this mysterious text. All levels of Greek proficiency are encouraged to join. Advance preparation is recommended but not required.
Schedule:

Oct. 17: Introduction; Hebrews 1.1-4: God’s Son
Oct. 24: Hebrews 1.5-14: The Son’s Superiority to the Angels
Oct. 31: Hebrews 2.1-9,:The Son’s Abasement
Nov. 7: Hebrews 2.10-18: The Son, the Pioneer of Our Salvation
Nov. 14: Hebrews 3: The Son and Moses
Nov. 21: Hebrews 4.1-13: God’s Promised Rest

Jan. 30: Hebrews 4.14–5.14

Feb. 6: Hebrews 6.1–20

Feb. 13: Hebrews 7.1–22

Feb. 20: Hebrews 7.23–8.13

Feb. 27: Hebrews 9.1–14

March. 6: Hebrews 9.15–28

Mythmaking and the Epic Tradition in Tolkien's Silmarillion
2026-01-15 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-01-22 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-01-29 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-02-05 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-02-12 19:30 - 21:00
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Weekly on Thursdays: Jan. 15, Jan. 22, Jan. 29, Feb. 5, Feb 12
*Note: Start Date has Been Moved Back a Week from Jan. 8 to Jan. 15
7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org).
There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and historical philosophies of Tolkien himself, The Silmarillion is a story of morality, greed, bliss, and tragedy. We invite you to join us in a discussion of The Silmarillion’s most dramatic tales, from the creation of the world to the forging of the One Ring.
Copies of The Silmarillion will be provided to all participants. Weekly meetings are held over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 30 pages.
Schedule:

Jan. 15: Ainulindalë and Valaquenta (p. 15-32)
Jan. 22: The story of Fëanor and the Silmarils (p. 63-90, 106-107)
Jan. 29: The story of Beren and Lúthien (p. 162-187)
Feb. 5: The story of Túrin Turambar and Nienor Níniel (p. 198-226)
Feb. 12: Akallabêth

Series Description:
Graduate Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation (or prior knowledge of Tolkien!) is necessary.

Hemingway’s Short Stories
2026-01-19 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-01-26 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-02 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-09 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-16 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-23 17:30 - 19:00
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Weekly on Mondays: Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23
5:30 – 7:00 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago students. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
In this reading group we will read a selection of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories that will illuminate his ingenious writing style through his lesser-known works. We will be reading from the Finca Vigia Complete Short Stories collection, which features many previously unfinished works. Discussions will revolve around themes of masculinity, femininity, life, and love, all of which are saturated in his works writ large. Some of the texts that will be discussed include the Nick Adams stories, Men Without Women, and the First Forty-Nine. This will be an exciting way to get to know Hemingway’s writings or dive deeper into his work, while engaging with peers and discussing ideas that are just as relevant today as they were when he wrote them.
Schedule:

Jan. 26: Deeper Dive into Hemingway’s Writing. Readings will include stories where the immediate meaning of the story is not explicitly stated and requires some deeper analysis. Readings will include Hills Like White Elephants and The Sea Change. These are both readings where there is a meaning that must be arrived to through subtle hints in the stories themselves (though there are varying degrees of subtlety). Discussion will center on getting at what these stories are conveying.

Hills Like White Elephants (4 Pages)
The Sea Change (4 Pages)
Wine of Wyoming (13 Pages)
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place (4 Pages)

Feb. 2: Nick Adams Stories Pt. I. This week will focus on the first part of the Nick Adams stories, some of Hemingway’s most famous, and enjoyable, short stories. I’ve divided the collection into two weeks for the sake of doing justice to the collection while remaining under 30 pages. These stories express much about a man’s experience of life and is semi-autobiographical. This week will focus on Nick’s youth in Michigan, his adolescence, and his time at war. Discussion will focus on what Hemingway is conveying through his stories of youth and masculinity, particularly regarding how Nick conceives himself and how he views his father.

Indian Camp (6 Pages)
The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife (6 Pages)
The Battler (10 Pages)
The Killers (8 Pages)

Feb. 9: Nick Adams Stories Pt. II. As we continue to read the stories, we will turn to Nick’s adulthood and marriage. This will bring together ideas of masculinity, maturity, life, and fatherhood.

Big Two-Hearted River Pt I (10 Pages)
Now I Lay Me (7 Pages)
Fathers and Sons (10 Pages)

Feb. 16: Men Without Women Pt. I. Readings from this week will seek to synthesize what we’ve discussed so far. Bringing together the themes Hemingway often discusses with his writing style. Men Without Women is a collection of short stories that discuss how men act without women. Discussion will revolve, again, on ideas of masculinity and the “natural” state of man.

In Another Country (5 Pages)
The Undefeated (25 Pages)

Feb. 23: Men Without Women Pt. II. This week will conclude this collection, and we will finish up our discussion of the themes present in them. I would also like to add The Last Good Country, however, it is 41 pages long. I think I may add it as optional reading and discuss it if time allows. This is a personal favorite of his short stories, but not a necessary addition. There is not enough substance in the text to devote an entire week to the text, though it is a fun read.

A Banal Story (2 Pages)
Today is Friday (3 Pages)
An Alpine Idyll (5 Pages)
A Pursuit Race (4 Pages)
Ten Indians (5 Pages)
My Old Man (12 Pages)

Series Description:
Graduate Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any graduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation (or prior knowledge of Tolkien!) is necessary.

An Ordinary Life Well Lived: Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead
2026-04-01 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-08 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-22 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-29 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-05-06 18:00 - 19:30
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 – 7:30 | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago graduate students. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
Description:
“Love is holy because it is like grace–the worthiness of its object is never really what matters.” – Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead tells the story of Congregationalist minister John Ames, who, with the knowledge that the end of his life is near, decides to pen a testament to his seven-year old son, something for his son to keep close as he grows up without his father. Ames’ reflections are wide-ranging and probing: on faith and doubt, on fathers and sons, on forgiveness, and on return of an old friend’s prodigal child who threatens to disturb the peace Ames has made with his life. We’ll meet each week to discuss the novel and what Ames’ testament might teach us about love, grace, parenthood, and what it means to live well. In a world that prizes speed, spectacle, and novelty for its own sake, Gilead urges the opposite: attention, slowness, and fidelity to an ordinary life well lived. This, Marilynne Robinson says, “is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it.” Join us each week as we do just that.
Schedule:

Week 1 (Wed. April 1)

Pg. 1–41

Week 2 (Wed. April 8)

Pg. 42–81

Week 3 (Wed. April 15)

Pg. 82–120

Week 4 (Wed. April 22)

Pg. 121–162

Week 5 (Wed. April 29)

Pg 162–206

Week 6 (Wed. May 6)

206–end.

Series Description:
Graduate Student Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any graduate student interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.

The Master and Margarita
2026-04-02 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-09 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-04-30 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-05-07 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-05-14 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-05-21 19:00 - 20:30
REGISTER BELOW
Meets Weekly on Thursdays: April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 21
7:00 – 8:30 (the time has changed) | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the texts. You may pick up your copy any time during business hours from Gavin House. Please reach out to William Hurley for any questions (whurley@lumenchristi.org).
A city whose citizens refused to believe in the existence of Jesus, God or Satan. A certain Satan who arrived in this city—Moscow—with his retinue, on a hot spring day. A nameless writer pilloried by his novel on Pontius Pilate and his fiery lover who was willing to do anything to save him, including going to literal hell. A mental facility. A talking black cat who cheated in chess and loved kerosene. The cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the knight Pontius Pilate.
A culmination of religious and political satire, warm humor, and surreal imagination, Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece was at the same time ardent and deeply philosophical.
Our weekly dinnertime reading group will freely discuss the text in an enriching and inclusive communal setting. In our final session on Week 9, Professor Caryl Emerson from Princeton University will join us to answer questions and wrap up important themes of the book.
For each week, there will be 30-40 pages of required reading, and 10-20 pages of optional reading. Our conversation will focus on the required readings. At the end of each session, I will briefly go over the plot in the optional chapters so that we are on the same page. With that said, Bulgakov should be a light and delightful read, and I encourage everyone to do the optional chapters too. The questions and fragmented bullet points, as seen below, are guidelines that may prompt conversation but we definitely don’t have to adhere to them. Note that although they are generalized and willfully opaque, they still contain mild spoilers.
Copies of The Master and Margarita will be provided to all participants. Weekly meetings are held over dinner. Weekly reading assignments are kept at or below 30 pages.
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.
Schedule:

April 2

Book One, Ch. 1-3 (p. 3-41)
Optional: Ch. 4-6 (p. 42-67)

April 9

Book One, Ch. 7-9 (p. 68-94)
Optional: Ch. 10 (p. 95-104)

April 16

Book One, Ch. 11-13 (p. 105-139)
Optional: Ch. 14 (p. 140-147)

April 23

Book One, Ch. 15-16 (p. 148-170)
Book One, Ch. 18 (p. 183-201)
Optional: Ch. 17 (p. 171-182)

April 30

Book Two, Ch. 19-22 (p. 205-246)

May 7

Book Two, Ch. 23-24 (p. 247-282)
Optional: Ch. 25 (p. 283-292)

May 14

Book Two, Ch. 26-27 (p. 293-326)
Optional: Ch. 28 (p. 327-337)

May 21

Book Two, Ch. 29-30 (p. 338-353)
Book Two, Ch. 32-Epilogue (p. 363-373)
Optional: Ch. 31 (p. 354-356)

Series Description:
Undergraduate Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.

The Cloud of Unknowing
2026-04-06 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-13 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-20 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-27 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-05-04 18:00 - 19:30
REGISTER BELOW
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Provided
This event is designated for University of Chicago undergraduate students. Students will receive a copy of the text. You may pick up your copy any time during business hours from Gavin House. Other students interested in attending should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org.
Description:
The Cloud of Unknowing, a gem of English mysticism, is both a guide and a warning to the spiritual seeker. Written anonymously in the 14th century, the Cloud troubles the relation between man and God, making spirituality an antidote to the secular world and despair the path towards glimpses of enlightenment. Through the Cloud and the writings of contemporary thinkers and mystics, we will explore the spiritual lives of medieval laity and differing conceptions of the contemplative life.
Schedule:

April 6th: Introduction, What is Spiritual Life?

Exhortation, Chs. 1-6

April 13th: The Contemplative Life

Chs. 7-24

April 20th: The Work of the Soul

Chs. 25-46

April 27th: Perfection of the Soul

Chs. 46-60

May 4th: Conclusion, Practical Considerations

Chs. 61-75, Book of Privy Counseling

Optional Readings: Group Folder
Series Description:
Undergraduate Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts a number of student-led reading groups at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any undergraduate interested in a shared reading of a great text is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.

Greek New Testament (Spring)
2026-04-09 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-04-17 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-04-24 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-05-01 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-05-08 10:00 - 11:00, 2026-05-15 10:00 - 11:00
REGISTER BELOW
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | Refreshments Provided
This event is designated for current University of Chicago graduate and undergraduate students. University of Chicago faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. Others interested in auditing should contact William Hurley at whurley@lumenchristi.org. Students will receive a copy of the texts.
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” This dramatic opening salvo of the Letter to the Hebrews, summarizing salvation history, is one of the most famous and consequential one-liners in the New Testament. But who is this Son? How is he “appointed heir of all things”? What is the relationship between God’s message through him and His message through the prophets? In this reading group, we will examine, through careful study of the Koine Greek text, how the Letter to the Hebrews answers these questions and more, with an eye to the authorship, audience, and genre of this mysterious text. All levels of Greek proficiency are encouraged to join. Advance preparation is recommended but not required.
Schedule:

April 9*: Hebrews 10.1–18 (Christ’s Sacrifice)

April 17: Hebrews 10.19–39 (Exhortation to Persevere)

April 24: Hebrews 11.1–22 (Examples of Faith Part I)

May 1: Hebrews 11.23–40 (Examples of Faith Part 2)

May 8: Hebrews 12

May 15: Hebrews 13

*The first session takes place at the normal time but on Thursday.
Series Description:
Language Reading Group
Each quarter, the Lumen Christi Institute hosts at least one classical language reading group at Gavin House (1220 E 58th St.). The reading groups are usually held over a shared meal and all participants are provided a copy of the text. Any student interested in working on his or her classical languages is welcome to join. No religious affiliation is necessary.
