Hello All,
It was wonderful to see you on Friday for our first session! A sincere welcome to our new members! And welcome back to those who’ve been in previous Ascension Press studies!
Below is a summary of the points discussed Friday as well as instructions for accessing on line lectures. Please either access the lectures ASAP (you only have to do it once) or print/flag this email. I will also bring printed copies of this email to our sessions but I would kindly ask that you do not email me in the future asking for this information-you know how difficult and time-consuming it can be searching for old emails-I am trying to prevent any of us from having to do so. Thank you!
Schedule: We meet every Friday from 9-10:30am in the Fireside Cafe for 11 additional sessions before the end of 2021 and 12 sessions beginning in January 2022. We will skip November 26 (Thanksgiving weekend), so our final session in 2021 will be Friday December 3.
Meeting format: Beginning at 9am sharp, watch lecture by Jeff Cavins (usually 50 min). Outlines of his talk notes are in each chapter.
Group discussion following lecture with dismissal at 10:30 sharp.
Preparation: Each chapter of the study guide is self-explanatory. For 9/17, you will prepare Session 1: Finding the Story in Scripture. Read the narrative information (pp 7-9 in the new books). On p. 9, you are asked to read paragraphs 50-141 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). If you do not own a Catechism, copies are available for $10 in the St Jerome parish office. The entire Catechism is also available on line at the Vatican website:
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM but I strongly suggest you own a Catechism. Finally, prepare answers to the discussion questions. Responses to questions appear after the questions. I read them every time!
In future lessons, we will read from the Bible and the CCC. You will want to have a Catholic Bible for this study. The Revised Standard Version-Second Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE) is used in the this study. I strongly suggest this version, specifically the Great Adventure Bible available from Ascension Press which is coordinated with The Bible Timeline study. Many of us have owned it for several years and have found it to greatly enhance our study. Please order on your own from Ascension Press:
https://ascensionpress.com/collections/the-great-adventure-bible. The newer paperback version is $20 cheaper and is exactly the same as the leather-bound version.
I suggest beginning your preparation early in the week-it is a lot of intense reading and takes time to absorb! I try to do 15-30 min per day-it is overwhelming to do it the night before! If you have not had time to prepare, please attend anyway! You will gain from viewing the lecture and hearing the discussion.
Discussion: Our discussion focuses around the questions in each chapter. Please do not take it personally if I redirect if we get off-track. In addition, if we do not understand a particular scripture reference, we will not guess at what it might mean. The Catholic Church has answers to each of these questions-we use reliable Catholic websites to find the answers. We finish at 10:30am sharp.
Coffee: Ann Sarnowski, one of our group for many years, generously prepares coffee for our group-thank you Ann! Please donate $ to the basket to cover costs!!!
ACCESS ON LINE LECTURES: I have tried both 1 and 2, they work!
1. If you purchased a new study guide:
Log onto this website:
2. If you are using an older book:
Use:
Password: Christians77*
You will see The Bible Timeline logo and can just click on it to get started.
Finally, what about COVID procedures, safety, etc? I covered this in our Friday meeting as well.
Many of you know that my husband, Frank, and I are physicians of many years. As an MD, I consider myself responsible provide safe procedures for all in the group. The Archdiocese currently has no COVID restrictions on masks, social distancing, etc. However, I am making these statements/guidelines below as an MD of nearly 40 years:
1. I am willing to facilitate this group in the Fireside Cafe without mandatory masking and/or social distancing for one reason alone-the highly effective COVID vaccines that became available early in 2021 which are a game-changer. As a physician, I recommend the vaccine.
2. For those who are vaccinated, the likelihood of getting COVID, even the new delta variant, is very low. Risk of illness/hospitalization is almost zero. My medical opinion, informed by countless studies, is that we are safe without precautions. I am well aware of the risks of the vaccine and the connection of the various vaccines to aborted fetal cells. Of course, you are welcome to wear a mask if desired, but no one will be asked to do so. For unvaccinated adults in our group, you are at higher risk, by your choice, but not from those who are vaccinated. Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation is being circulated, on both sides of the political aisle, and sadly from many orthodox Catholic sources. As an MD, I have 39 years experience discerning fact from fiction, critically reading medical studies, etc. A very good resource, which I am happy to provide if you individually request, is the Catholic Medical Association, an orthodox, nonpolitical cutting-edge organization to which Frank and I have belonged for many years.
I think that’s about it! I am so happy you have decided to participate in this study-I think you will find it to be very inspiring and it will deepen your relationship with God and will tremendously enhance your Catholic faith.
God bless,
Krishna Smith