By Peter Rao ’24
On October 24, 2023, Thomas More College received a visit from Dr. Joe Wurtz, Dean of Students and Executive Director of the Gregorian Fellows Leadership Program at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS. Dr. Wurtz addressed the students in a lecture entitled “A Call for Heroic Virtue,” in which he discussed the challenges inherent in human formation and discernment, as well as solutions to those difficulties.
Dr. Wurtz emphasized three major lessons: the importance of repetition and training, the aggregation of marginal gain, and perseverance in the face of disappointment. “You don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training,” began Dr. Wurtz, citing the famous Navy Seal quote. The resolve one needs to overcome human obstacles in daily life lies in the preparation—“in training the natural instincts.” Dr. Wurtz used the example of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, in which the efforts of British civilian captains in private vessels saved thousands of lives. Had the captains not maintained their boats and continued their training, the mission would have failed. In short, preparation breeds success, which is especially true in day-to-day life.
“You have to be intentional. If you commit to getting one percent better every day and intentionally focus on your human formation, your intellectual formation, and your spiritual formation, the progress will compound for you.”
–Dr. Joe Wurtz
Training and repetition are essential features in the concept of the aggregation of marginal gain, which Dr. Wurtz described as “making small adjustments over time for a collective achievement. Can you get one percent better every day? Because that will compound over time for exponential growth.” Dr. Wurtz emphasized the need for intentionality in smaller steps. “You can’t just float in the sea,” he explained, “because that will still take you somewhere. You have to be intentional. If you commit to getting one percent better every day and intentionally focus on your human formation, your intellectual formation, and your spiritual formation, the progress will compound for you. It won’t be linear.”
For these smaller steps to take effect, one must persevere through the plateau of latent potential—the time lag between input and output. “There’s going to be a valley of disappointment that you have to work through,” Dr. Wurtz explained. “There’s no way out but through. We are humans working out our salvation, and it takes time and perseverance. We must do difficult things and expect resistance.” This is notably the case during the discernment of one’s vocation. We must “live out our vocation to the fullest, which means investing in the gifts and talents God has given us. God gives you those gifts not just for yourself but for others . . . He has given those gifts so that you can give them back and enrich your community. If you reject that gift, then you reject your vocation, and then you reject God.”
“Boats weren’t made to stay in port, they were made to put out into the deep. So get your ship together and do as the Savior commands.”
–Dr. Joe Wurtz
Dr. Wurtz concluded with the question of why one must accept the call to heroic virtue. “Here at Thomas More College,” he explained, “you’re committed to restoring Catholic culture in New England and beyond. You seek to discern how a Christian can live well with freedom and how to bring hope to a secularized society. You’re a cohort that will bring your dynamic faith into the modern world. Boats weren’t made to stay in port, they were made to put out into the deep. So get your ship together and do as the Savior commands.”
