Summer Course Whines

Over the years our parish Bible Study has grown from the few parishioners who joined us that first year to well over 100 participants today. To accommodate everyone, we've had to offer these weekly sessions at three different times. Preparing and facilitating these sessions, when combined with my other ministries, takes a toll. Every summer, then, I take a three-month break from leading our Bible Study just so I can rest a bit and regroup internally in body, mind, and spirit. 

This hiatus actually works out pretty well since a significant number of parishioners are seasonal residents here in Florida. When I first began this Bible Study 17 or 18 years ago, many of these snowbirds (as the great Anne Murray would call them) suggested I stop for the summer so they wouldn't miss anything -- a suggestion I readily accepted. But to appease those who live here year-round I decided to conduct a course on some aspect of our faith each summer. These courses vary in length from three to five sessions, conducted weekly.

This year's course, scheduled for the five Wednesdays of August, is on "World Religions". It will actually focus on four non-Christian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. I intend to pack a lot into those five 90-minute sessions and hope I haven't taken on too much. My intent is to help participants better understand the ' beliefs and practices of these religions. I will approach this study from a Catholic perspective by examining the teaching of the Church as it relates to non-Christian religions. We'll emphasize those areas where Catholic Christianity and non-Christian religions converge and diverge. But the primary aim is to enrich and deepen our own faith, thus aiding us in our call to evangelization.

The trouble is, I really have to develop the course from the ground up. In the past I've addressed the subject in brief talks and reflections, but conducted a course on other religions only once. This was many years ago and with a entirely different focus. As I've now discovered, preparing the course means a lot of work, something which seems to defeat the purpose of our summer hiatus. Anyway, I'm making progress, so that's good. 

If I sound like I'm whining, I suppose I am. But I truly love all our Bible Study participants, and they're worth it. The course will be open to anyone who wants to attend, so it will be interesting to see how many decide to take part.

I've added a page, devoted entirely to this course, on our Bible Study website, so handout materials and PowerPoint presentations will be available online. 

If anyone wants to "attend" the course remotely, you'll have to do so by using each session's PowerPoint presentation and referring to the other documents provided. Right now there is no intention of live-streaming the course, but I suppose that could change. 

Here's the link: Course (catholic-scripture.com)