Available Workshops

These workshops are designed to give a more in-depth presentation on a particular topic. They are available to the parishes. Please call Sister Diane Smith, CSJ at 546-7629 to schedule any of the following workshops in your parish. You are encouraged to open the workshop to neighboring parishes. The parish will be put in contact with the presenter. Together, a schedule of dates, times and place will be arranged.

Spirit of Vatican II (16 hours)

The purpose of this six week enrichment course is to present an overview of the Second Vatican Council in its historical context. It will address what this Council calls us to do and be. How it has shaped the Church for the new millennium will be examined. The documents will be briefly presented with an overview of the common threads found in each.

Scripture 101 (12 hours)

This enrichment course is designed for the average Catholic who would like to become friends with the bible but just does not know where to begin. This will be a very basic and easily understood presentation. It will present an overview of how Catholics interpret and use the Bible.

Rediscovering Church (16 hours)

This course will help the participants understand the roots of the American Catholic Church recognizing issues and problems that have faced every generation of Catholics. The history of the Church will be developed from its scriptural origins and traced down through the centuries, bringing us to the new millennium. The changeless aspects of the church will be examined. The participants will come to celebrate the gift of the Catholic Church.

The Gospel of John (16 hours)

The Gospel of John inspires awe from the opening verses of chapter one. John’s Jesus is majestic, noble and divine. This Gospel is highly literary and symbolic. This enrichment course will provide an opportunity for the participant to reflect on and pray the gospel during each of the five sessions.

Apocalypse Now: The Victorious Christ (16 hours)

The Book of Revelation is the most misunderstood book in the Bible. These sessions will help the participant to read the Book of revelation in the context of its time and ours, in its history and ours. An explanation of the Book of Revelation will be presented from current Catholic scholarship. Each class will include lecture, art and music, which will enhance the understanding of this Book.

The Book of Revelation addresses serious questions about how Christians are to live in a larger, often hostile society. This Book also gives us hope that the Victorious Christ does overcome evil. An understanding of this book will assist us for living in the new millennium.

A Pastoral Plan for Adult Formation
This workshop will give an overview of the content of Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us and the challenges that the Bishops of the United States present to anyone working with adults. This will be an opportunity for participants to expand their understanding of the many ways adult formation happens and how it is on going for all adults in the church. We will explore the many ways in which this is already happening in the parish and how to implement the strategies that give priority to adult formation at the parish level.

Forming Adult Disciples
We are all called by our Baptism to be Disciples of Christ. Whenever disciples proclaim the Good News either by word or action there is transformation. Formation as disciples is a life long process. This workshop will address the way people in the pews can be formed for discipleship so that they may be instruments of transformation both in the Church and in society. This workshop will build on the Adult Pastoral, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, which was issued by the Bishop of the United States Catholic Conference.

Who am I? (12 hours)

Want to Know Yourself a Little Bit Better? Saint Thomas Aquinas writes that we each receive the experience of God in the manner in which we can best grasp and comprehend it. God’s grace intersects and is intercepted by the condition of our human nature. This processing is influenced by mechanisms within our varied and individual persons. “…Recapture ad modem recipients…” Come learn more about your social/emotional, cognitive/behavioral predispositions. Such self-awareness may assist in personal growth/development and perhaps help serve in recognition of the presence of God in your life. This course will feature lecture, discussion, film and the taking of a number of self-report inventories. We intend to address areas like your interests, needs, values, temperament, personality, aptitudes, and learning style.

Psychology of Religion (6 hours – three two hour sessions)

This course is an introduction to various theories, historical figures, and schools of thought in the quest for meaning. Engage in an opportunity to learn, grow and develop as an individual interested in the spiritual. This course will address religious experience, why people believe and the effect of the act of believing on the person of the believer. Is there a relationship between prayer and personality type and preferred practice or way of being religious?

Winter Tune-up (6 hours – three two hour sessions)

The three sessions include a presentation on Thomas Merton :the Monk and the Mountain; Work and Leisure: the Spirituality of Sports which will address getting your life in balance; and John Muir and Francis of Assisi which about two men who demonstrate how to discover god in our lives.

Last Update January 15, 2004