Lesson Seventeen: Personal Words and Review

Whoo-hoo! We've done it. We're on our last lesson of Paul's letter. I won't lie, part of that "whoo-hoo" is because I'm glad to be done for awhile. A rest is always welcome by the time May rolls around. But a big part of that "whoo-hoo" is because I think we can all feel a real sense of accomplishment in getting through a year of challenging and complicated theology with a better knowledge of our faith. I've learned a lot this year, and I hope all of you have as well.

By way of review, the LC authors' recommend reading the entire letter through in one sitting, and I would recommend that as well. We get such a microscopic image of the entire piece during the course of the year that we can forget how it all fits together.

Enjoy your review, and we will see you all on May 7. Don't forget, we are meeting in the Library that day--comfy chairs! The book order came in this week, and I will bring them to our meeting. By ordering them together, we were able to discount the price of each book to $7.50. Good deal!

Study Guide for Lesson Seventeen: Personal Words and Review

Lesson Fifteen & Sixteen Update

What am I doing inside? It's so beautiful out today. Well, I'll be quick.

Good discussion today.
Fun to have everyone back.
Here's my notes:
Lesson Fifteen & Sixteen Notes

See you next time.

Lessons Fifteen & Sixteen: Resurrection 1&2

Although we will cover two lessons this time, these two lessons cover just one chapter of scripture, so I don't think it should be much more work than usual. The subject matter is interesting and something we don't often discuss. Sure, we think about heaven, but do we really spend much time thinking about how the fulfillment of God's kingdom will come about? This is a good Easter message.

See you on the 23rd.

Study Guide: Lessons 15&16 Resurrection 1&2

Lesson Fourteen Update

We had a good discussion today on our concluding lesson on spiritual gifts. Chapter 13 is one of my favorite passages of scripture, so that was easy. Chapter 14 took a little more effort, but I think we learned a lot about two of the more mystical gifts--prophecy and speaking in tongues. I made quite a few personal notes about what the Church has to say about these two gifts. They might help make things a little clearer--especially if you weren't able to be with us today.

Lesson Fourteen Notes

We also selected the book for our summer read. We decided on The Way of a Pilgrim. Please email me by mid-week after Easter if you were not at our meeting today but would still like me to order you a copy. You can find the links to the books we'll be using to the right of this post.

Lesson Fourteen: Spiritual Gifts 2

These two lessons on spiritual gifts are some of the best of the year. I started working on this lesson yesterday, and couldn't put it down. Just to warn you, I had to do a lot of research so that I could better understand exactly what Paul was saying--so, of course, I'm going to share my discoveries with everyone at our next meeting. We'll have to stay on course in order to cover everything. (Hold me to that!)

If you scroll down on this page, I have included links to Amazon with descriptions of some of the books that I thought we might want to consider reading over the summer. Click on the book cover, and check out each of the titles. We're going to make a selection at our next meeting. I'll have to place the order soon. We aren't too many weeks away from wrapping up another year.

Study Guide for Lesson Fourteen: Spiritual Gifts 2

Lesson Thirteen Update

No notes this week, but I do have a few things for you. If you weren't able to make it today, we spent quite a bit of time trying to define pride and humility. This evening I did some searching on the Internet and found an article on this subject that I think everyone will enjoy. It is written from the perspective of a Catholic mom. Let me know what you think of it. Maybe we can talk about it the next time that we get together.

Cultivating Humility

If that doesn't do it for you, maybe you'll like this:

Litany of Humility

I also thought that I would make a list of the suggested books that we could consider for our summer read. If you click on the picture of each book, it should take you to Amazon. You can read the descriptions and reviews on that site to help you decide. We'll make a decision soon.

1. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden (Fiction)
I'm reading this novel right now, and enjoying it very much. It's interesting getting an inside view into a convent. It's a light read with well developed characters whose stories unfold slowly. Definitely a Catholic chick novel.

2. Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (Fiction)










3. Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles by Raymond Arroyo (Nonfiction)










4. The Way of a Pilgrim by Helen Bacovcin (Nonfiction)










5. Silence by Shusaku Endo (Fiction)

Lesson Thirteen: Spiritual Gifts I

Sorry that this is so late, but it's the best I could do this time. We did have a really great vacation. Lent in Sin City. Las Vegas did have their first stretch of 80 degree weather for the year while we were in town. What are the odds of that? And then it cooled back down the day after we left. Spring break hasn't always been so kind to us when we stay in the 48 contiguous.

Oh yeah, the Bible. Well, better late than never, I say. This lesson and the next one are all about spiritual gifts. We learn about their origin and their purpose. We also learn that we all have them--yes, it's true. And we learn that every spiritual gift is important in the total health of the living body of Christ, the Church. I think that you will enjoy these lessons as much as I have.

We are quickly winding up our 2008-09 study of Paul's letter, and so we need to come to an agreement about which book we would like to read over the summer. I will be happy to place a book order for the group, but we should try an do it soon to ensure delivery by the time we wrap things up. Remind me to discuss this at our meeting this week.

See you all on Thursday.

Study Guide: Lesson Thirteen Spiritual Gifts I