Introduction
To start the new year, I attended the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology Priest Conference at the Paséa hotel in Huntington Beach, CA. Held January 5-9, 2026, over two hundred priests attended, including five of us priests from the Diocese of Fargo. This conference was nourishing for the mind, soul, and body during this time of year.
The St. Paul Center
Scott Hahn has become one of the clearest and most insightful voices in Biblical scholarship in the 21st Century. Known for his journey from a Presbyterian to Catholicism, he is a leader in promoting Biblical literacy and the Catholic faith through his extensive writings, lectures, and his ministry called the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
Founded in 2001 to help people discover the deep Biblical roots of the Catholic faith, the St. Paul Center today has an impressive team of scholars, publishes excellent books under the Emmaus Road imprint, hosts numerous online resources, leads various pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Europe, visits parishes for missions, and coordinates annual conferences for varied audiences including priests, deacons, and seminarians. Their extensive publishing was evident at this conference, with a large conference room at the hotel dedicated to showcasing numerous volumes, from some of the best theologians from all over the country. It was amazing to see how alive the Catholic intellectual life is with all these great works and authors, many just published within the past five to ten years.
The Priest Conferences began in 2006 with a retreat for priests at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA. Expanding to a larger annual conference format in 2017, the priest conferences now happen three times annually in California, Texas, and West Virginia. Over 4,000 priests have attended a St. Paul Center Conference since 2017. Tim Busch, a major Catholic philanthropist, and founder of the Napa Institute, collaborates closely with the St. Paul Center in supporting the annual Priest Conference schedule, bringing support staff, connections to hotels, and setting up beautiful liturgy for all involved. The Busch Family operates The Pacific Hospitality Group, a hotel and resort investment and management company, which owns and oversees the Pasea hotel that hosted the conference. Each day there was ample time for prayer with common Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, Eucharistic adoration, and even a Eucharistic procession one day. It made it more of a retreat than a conference.
The Psalms
The theme of the 2026 Priest Conferences is digging deeper into the Psalms. This is a very timely topic, because the psalms are extensively used in our own daily prayer as Catholics, both in the celebration of Mass, and even more in the Liturgy of the Hours. For the first time in over fifty years, a new translation and publication of the Liturgy of the Hours is being released in the United States in 2027. Printed copies will be available from Word on Fire and Ascension Press in January 2027, and required for actual use by Ash Wednesday 2027. This historic publication of a fresh translation of the Psalms called the Abby Psalms and Canticles translation from Conception Abby of Benedictine monks in Missouri. Along with freshly translated Patristic hymns, and other elements of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and more, this all gives priests, religious, and the whole church a chance to turn its gaze to the importance of the Psalms. Four speakers shared significant insights and inspiration related to the Psalms.
Dr. Scott Hahn, the accomplished theologian, sought after speaker, and teacher of many of the Church’s greatest theologians of the day, himself was present for the entire conference and gave a couple of talks focused on King David and how David’s Kingdom affects the authorship and themes within many of the Psalms. I also was pleased to be seated next to him on the flight from Denver to Santa Ana, when we talked about many areas of interest, including the football games the day before. Back to his conferences, while Moses gave God’s chosen people an experience of law and worship in the Passover and silence of Mt. Siani, the Davidic covenant centuries later brings about all kinds of development for the people of Israel, and becomes a pattern of the Church to come. David loves to sing God’s praises in Zion, a name for the sacred place of worship, ultimately in the temple in Jerusalem. The Psalms can be seen as a Davidic echo of what Moses started in law and worship.
David’s Kingdom becomes a prefiguring of Jesus’ constant reference to the Kingdom of God. In this kingdom theme, many false dichotomies are avoided. The sprit and letter of the law are not opposed to each other, but the spirit goes beyond the letter. In David’s and God’s Kingdom, the distinction between a slave and son is not defined by an opposition of obedience and freedom, but is understood as a distinction of freedom and love. Love inspires more than the law requires, and a son will always out-serve a slave. These are important categories lived out in the life of Jesus as beloved son, and in our own Christian lives as sons and daughters of the Father. Following God’s plan and will leads to greater freedom, not less. While this reaches its fullness in Jesus, King David’s experience brings some important categories of sonship to the prayer of the psalms.
Other big-picture themes Dr. Hahn shares here on transition from Sinai to Zion are the relationship of law and kingdom, silence to song, tent to temple, and the unconditional promise in God’s Kingdom.
Dr. Jeff Morrow was a lively and engaging presenter, giving us all a taste of what it would be like to sit in his theology classroom at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. His first talk was on the seven penitential psalms, looking especially at Psalm 51, and David as repentant king. Drawing on an insightful comparison between the very different ways kings Henry II and Henry VIII of England received correction. Sharing the lessons of beginning again in the life of David, he aptly explored the dynamics of David and Abner, David and Bathsheba, and David and Absolom. These all form David’s prayer of Psalm 51, where in opposition to the blame shift of Adam in Genesis 2, David is a model penitent, receiving correction and renewal from God well.
“Psalms – The Prayer of a Warrior” was Morrow’s second big theme, looking at the consistent theme of God being a rock and refuge. Commenting on multiple stories of David in 1st and 2nd Samuel, we were edified to consider David’s strength as a result of him putting his trust in God. He also gave lots of connections to St. Augustine’s great work “De doctrina Christiana” and the psalms, and scripture in general. His ability to field and answer many questions was also a delightful exchange.
Dr. John Bergsma was definitely a crowd favorite, receiving enthusiastic ovations from the clergy whenever he was at the podium. Giving talks on “The Psalms as a Sacrifice of Praise”, “The Psalms as Spiritual Therapy”, and “The Psalms as the Story of God’s Kingdom”, Bergsma offers relatable categories, bringing the old to life in the present. He employed his unique stick-figure drawings to both amusement and pedagogy, and was not afraid to use the wisdom of scripture to cut through the fog of contemporary crises, debates, and confusions. His longer treatment of the category of the Hebrew todah sacrifice shed much light on this central topic within the psalms. His recently published book Psalm Basics for Catholics: Seeing Salvation History in a New Way, is a great summary of much of Bergsma’s recent thought on the Psalms.
Dr. Matthew Thomas , who serves as the Chair of Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA was present to give some breakout sessions during the afternoons, and was called forth to lead a main session when Dr. Hahn fell ill. Dr. Thomas is a rising voice in Catholic theology, publishing an important work in 2018 based on his doctoral dissertation at Oxford titled, Paul’s ‘Works of the Law’ in the Perspective of Second Century Reception, looking at controversial passages in the letters of St. Paul that deal with salvation, grace, and works in light of the Patristic writers of the early church.
His reflections on the Psalms as sacred song, giving multiple layers of interpretation as the psalms were sung by a cantor and the entire conference, really helped us experience the original intent of the Psalms not just to be studies, but ultimately sung as a prayer from the heart. I felt so fortunate to be at a parish that has such a flourishing sacred music program at our parish, where we regularly sing the Psalms. This was not the norm at many parishes of my brothers around the country. We are blessed to experience the Psalms so richly here at Sts. Anne and Joachim.
Huntington Beach
The coastal environment of Southern California offered many opportunities to get out into the beauty of nature many afternoons. With the Paséa hotel being right on the beach in Huntington Beach, CA, it was possible to get some exercise outdoors every day. Some afternoons were spent on local bike paths or group walks with brother priests. Five priests from the Diocese of Fargo often ate meals together. I was able to revisit a bike route I had traveled years before with my great uncle Jim Murphy, who lived in Huntington Beach for a number of years. My favorite outdoor experience was a long hike through both the canyon trails, cliffs and beaches at Chrystal Cove State Park. It was a gift to spend some quality time in nature during these days.
Conclusion
I encourage everyone to become familiar with the St. Paul Center, but most of all the treasures of the Bible. What a gift to have to many talented and articulate Catholic scripture scholars among us today to aid in reading sacred scripture from the heart of the Church.
I am grateful for the many donors that made this conference possible. It made it easy to attend this conference. We became aware of how much the Busch Family and Napa Institute in California assists with these events. Tim Busch’s own son Garrett was the manager of the Paséa Hotel when were there. One evening, Tim addressed all the priests and gave his son a hard time about the thermostat, it was a reminder how personal this event was to them, and a nice moment of humor between father and son. There are also many national donors of the St. Paul Center that support their excellent work. There was even a local Diocese of Fargo benefactor that made it possible for a number of our own priests in Eastern North Dakota to take part in this inspiring and educational event. So many thanks to all of them, it was a gift to attend.
