February's Meeting: Sacra Musica

For February's meeting we're going to mix things up a bit. Instead of meeting at our usual locale, we're meeting at St. Peter's on Assembly Street.

Mark Husey, the Director of Music and Liturgy, has graciously agreed to talk with us about the Music of the Church. From ancient hymns to classical works by the greats and the songs we hear today Mark will share with us from his vast repertoire of musical knowledge. We'll hear not only about the music of our Catholic tradition and it's role and place in our liturgy, but of protestant hymnody as well and how they've influenced each other and moved hearts and souls towards God.

Who knows maybe we'll even get to go into the choir loft and hear Mark play.

So join us at 6:30pm on Wednesday February 24th at St. Peter's, located at 1529 Assembly Street.

Oh, and some intersting links: St Peter's Catholic Church, and the Choir Ministry's YouTube Page.

-Matt

Janaury 2010 Meeting

Hi All,

We will meet at DeLaney's Pub in Five Points on Wednesday, January 20 at 6 PM.

Join us as we discuss Pope Benedict XVI's latest Encylical, Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth"). This encyclical continues to develop the Catholic Church's teachings regarding the basic rights of the human person in light of current world events.

Please see the US Bishop's site primer on previous encyclicals at the USCCB Media Blog.

Christ's Peace,

Zach

November Meeting

Hi All,

Join us for our discussion, "East Meets West." We have invited Fr. Mark Mancuso from St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Russian Orthodox Church to come and speak about Eastern Orthodoxy. This will be an open discussion exploring some of the similarities and differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches.

We will meet on Wednesday, November 11 in the back room at DeLaney's in Five Points from 6 to 8 PM.

Christ's Peace,

Zach

October Meeting

Hi All,

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 7 at 6 PM at DeLaney's in Five Points. Please note the change of venue for our meeting! We will be in the back room at DeLaney's.

For this month we will discuss the ordained priesthood and how different priests have lived this out. We have tried to invite a group of priests, of different ages and from different backgrounds, to discuss their experience of being a priest. This should be a good meeting and a chance to talk with priest more candidly than perhaps you have in the past.

Come and join us!

Christ's Peace,

Zach

Vocation of Marriage

Hi All!

Our September meeting will be next Wednesday, September 16 at 6 PM at Jake's Bar and Grille in Five Points.

This month we will discuss a topic that is very pertinent to many in our group: the Sacrament of Marriage.

We have invited several couples to discuss the meaning of marriage as a vocation and it's sacramental implications for all of us. This will of course be light-hearted, but information filled meeting and should be beneficial to us all; whether married or single.

Come prepared to discuss!

Christ's Peace,

Zach

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Hi All,

Our next meeting will be all about Mary!

Mary receives a great deal of, often misguided, criticism, but what is the basis of such insidious remarks by those who feel that we as Catholics place to great an emphasis on Mary? Why is Mary important when discussing Christ, salvation or grace?

So, come join us for a lively discussion on August 12 at 6 PM at Jake's Bar and Grill on Devine St.

Christ's Peace,

Zach

Apologetics Follow-Up

Hi All,

Here are the much anticipated links as mentioned at the ColaYACs meeting last night. This list is not exhaustive and can certainly be expanded!

One caveat, the majority of links will be to Amazon for the sake of consistency (the links are not an endorsement for Amazon, you can certainly go to your own favorite book store to find these books; and don't forget St. Francis Catholic Shop on St. Andrews Road).

Apologetics:

The Beginning Apologetics series was put out nearly twenty years ago, but is still very good in helping to provide a firm grasp of the Catholic faith (the titles can be ordered separately or all together).

Where Is That in the Bible? is also a great little guide for cross referencing Catholic belief with Scripture. Please understand that this is a small book, so I strongly suggest using this with the aid of a Bible.

The Truth of Catholicism is more of a general read, but George Weigel does an excellent job of explaining some of the thornier issues that people have about Catholicism.

Catholic Answers is an excellent online source for Catholic apologetics.

Bible links:

The Catholic Study Bible. I recommend this edition because it has room to take notes, has a decent commentary on Scripture and it is the same translation that we use at Mass (the New American Bible).

The NAB is also available here.

The Jerusalem Bible. This translation is from a 1966 French translation. It is also considered more poetic. As an aside, there is also a The New Jerusalem Bible, but I do not recommend this version because it tries to use inclusive language at the expense of confusing language.

The Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition. This is the standard academic version that most mainline Christian theologians use.

Bible Study Aids/Guides:

Understanding the Scriptures: A Complete Course on Bible Study. This is a great book for background information on the Bible.

More in depth "study guides" are the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible series put out by Ignatius Press (the link is only for the study guide on Acts; there are many other New Testament titles!). Although this series lacks specific books about the Old Testament.

Catechism:

Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is something that every Catholic because it is "a sure and certain standard for the teaching of the faith" (John Paul II). I recommend this specific version because it contains excellent footnotes, a glossary, index, Biblical cross references and church council cross references. The hard cover version is also easier to use because it's more durable and will stay open when you lay it on a desk.

The Catechism is also available online here.

The Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church is not a substitute for the larger full version of the Catechism, but is a convenient and concise little guide similar to the Baltimore Catechism that our parents used.

Thank you all for an excellent meeting! Please don't forget to email me or post some meeting topic suggestions on our blog or on facebook.

Christ's Peace,

Zach