O'Meara-isms
Nov. 28, 2001
I've been meaning to put up some of the wonderful and funny things Dr. O'Meara has said in class this semester. Most recent has been this gem: "And heaven knows, there's no end of negative categorical incarnations!" Mmmm, ahh...
His story about sitting in the Notre Dame bookstore before a football game. He watched hundreds of people walk by his latest book, Thomas Aquinas, Theologian, to purchase a book by Jerry Faust. His thought? "Now I know sin in a bookstore."
And another story about books: he wrote a book on the theological meanings of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Notre Dame campus. He affected surprise at its low sales: it's $5, contains pictures, diagrams, and text about the basilica, which is a popular tour with visitors. He says, "The problem is, I gave too much for too little. They're probably giving lectures in the economics department on that mistake now."
My all time favorite story of Dr. O'Meara's is the story of when he was a visiting professor at a Lutheran seminary in Europe. He was living in the Dominican monastery nearby and several of his students were living there also. They carpooled together to class every day. One day, Dr. O'Meara was running late, and when he got to where the student was supposed to pick him up, they'd already left. When he asked the student later why he left without the teacher of the class, the student replied, "Well, I didn't want to be late!" Ahh... the logic.