Dear friends in Christ,
Greetings on the feast of Saints Philip and James.
Sunday I have the final class on Abraham (which I’ll repeat on Monday also). This is a chance to grasp something of the overall significance of the Abraham story, from his first call to the end when, surprisingly, he marries again and sires seven sons, all when he is over 140 years old. Abraham learned much, and we can learn from him. Even if you haven’t attended any of the classes, this class still could be worth your time. Sunday at 10am, and Monday at 12:40pm; Sunday on the 5th floor, Monday on the 2nd.
Tuesday is the final session of the Rector’s Christian doctrine class; the session is on ” ‘Lord, Teach Us to Pray’: Prayer and Spirituality in the Christian Tradition.” The class is in Andrew Hall from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Father Turner and I would like those who are to be confirmed or received to plan to stay on an extra half hour (i.e., to 8 p.m.), in order to go through some of the details of the confirmation rite.
I’m happy to be able to announce two new classes.
Starting Sunday, May 10, and running for about six weeks, Father Daniels will join me in The Mystery of Reading Scripture. For the first week, we’ll start with the question of “husk”: Is the text of the Bible merely a “husk” that contains the true “meaning”? If so, can we then extract the meaning and put it into words of our own preference? As a dialogue partner for this class, we will be referring to Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart, a book that is now available in our bookstore. But you won’t need to be reading the book to enjoy the class, which will be on the 5th floor at the usual 10 o’clock time. (I will be repeating this class also on most Mondays, including May 11, at 12:40.)
And then, starting Monday, June 1, a tragic season at Saint Thomas. The monthly “Good Books & Good Talk” seminars will take up five tragedies by Mr. Shakespeare. The first one is “Romeo and Juliet.” The seminar will start at 6:15pm, and anyone who reads the play is welcome to the conversation.
Peace,
Father Austin
