Starting January 2023
EVERY MONTH on the 2nd Thursday
6 pm - 8 pm
in the PAC
There will be a potluck, fellowship, a guest speaker, and Q & A
Bring your questions, bring what you have discovered, and bring a friend!
Hello! We had a great meeting on March 9th! We want to thank Roger Bjork for presenting his talk and facilitating our question-and-answer time. It was great. Roger offered several resources that can assist us while reading the Bible. We are going to list these below as well as Pope Benedict XVI 9 Steps To a Holier You Every Day. (Be sure to scroll all the way down for some encouragement and ideas for reading the Bible during Holy Week.)
1. Twice a day, have brief contact with God Not necessarily a prayer, but a thought, a heartfelt gesture, a word of praise or gratitude at the beginning and end of the day. 2. Every morning, thank the Lord for the gift of faith “I adore you, my God, and I love you with all my heart. I thank you for having created me and made me a Christian.” 3. Every day, find an opportunity to rejoice The joy of living, the joy of seeing nature’s beauty, the joy of a job well done, the joy of helping others, the joy of sincere and pure love. There are happy times in family life, shared friendship, the discovery of our talents, our successes, the compliments we receive from others, the ability to express ourselves and to know that we are understood, and the feeling of being of help to others. 4. Every Sunday, encounter Christ in the Eucharist “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Jn 6:51). 5. Every day, take note of a sign from God The purpose is to become aware of and keep a record of how attentive God is to each of his creatures and how much he loves us. 6. Contemplating works of art The via pulchritudinis, the “way of beauty,” is one of the ways that can lead to God and help us encounter him. 7. Enjoying up the humorous moments of life “A writer once said that angels can fly because they do not take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we did not think we were so important.” 8. Invoke the angels & saints more often “All the angels & saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me, and to carry me.” 9. Take time for silence Despite the busyness of life, take regular times of silence - a reliable path to meeting God, a space to let joy, concerns, and suffering speak. An essential time to discern what is important from what is useless or incidental. |
The readings over the last month have been challenging for many of us. As Fr. Mike Schmitz says (and I am paraphrasing), the day you pick up your Bible is one more step and one more day in this journey so no matter where you are I am praying for you. A suggestion I received, and I think it is a great one, is to take a break from the Old Testament during Holy Week and jump to day 99 which begins the Gospel of John. If you begin it on April 2nd you will complete it by Easter Vigil. CLICK HERE for the workbook pages for Conquest & Judges and the Royal Kingdom periods. Our next meeting is April 13th. We hope to see you then. |