Lesson Nine Update

If you are looking for notes from our last lesson, I didn't think that there were enough to bother posting them. The study guide and discussions closely followed the questions in our LifeChange book.

Our next meeting is February 12, and we will be discussing Lesson 10. I will get the new study guide posted ASAP. Check back next week.

Lesson Nine: Marriage

If you don't take the time to read all the notations and background information on this chapter, I can guarantee that you're not going to like this lesson. Right from the get-go, Paul makes some statements that can be easily misunderstood, and the deep satisfaction that he expresses for his own religious and celibate life can come across the wrong way. So, before you get all out of joint over his writings in this chapter, give Paul the benefit of the doubt and remember that he is addressing specific questions posed by the members of the Corinthian Church--and that we can still glean some good Catholic teachings about marriage from his words.

Don't forget to bring a picture from your own wedding day to our meeting. It doesn't have to be a formal picture--just a shot of the happy couple on your big day.

Hope to see you all on January 29!

Study Guide: Lesson Nine

Lesson Eight Update

What is Father's line? The Frozen Chosen. That was our group today. Man it is cold today! We heated things up with our discussion about sexual immorality. Now, don't you wish you could have been there?

We also talked a lot about the moral authority of the Church. That moral authority exists whether we believe it or not and whether we follow it or not, because that authority comes from God. In an essay about this very topic, Fr. Romanus Cessario wrote, "Judgment is a corollary of freedom. If I recognize the reality of my human freedom, then it follows that I should accept personal accountability for my actions. The Church urges us to act on the basis of a moral conscience. She wants us to acknowledge that our actions lead to consequences, to states of being that either conform or not to a standard of moral truth that is accessible to every human creature."

That's the reality of Church authority--not that common perception of the Church as a man-made institution run by grey headed men who are out of touch and out to spoil our good times.

Here are my notes for this week's lesson. Since we are going to be talking about marriage in our next lesson, I thought it would be fun if we brought a wedding picture to the meeting, so see if you can dig one up in the next two weeks.

Stay warm!

Lesson Eight Notes

Lesson Eight: More Moral Laxity

Happy New Year!

Preparing this lesson's study guide took me a little longer than I had planned. Finding enough quiet time to string together a few coherent thoughts has not been easy with all the commotion of the holidays. I hope it will make some sense.

Our next meeting will be on January 15th.
See you then!

Study Guide for Lesson Eight.