Evening Prayer I / Matins in vigil for the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

We're praying Vespers and Matins in vigil for the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. This Vespers and Matins in Vigil service is open to the greater Catholic community of Columbia as a gift from YACs -- St. John the Baptist is the Patron Saint of our diocese as well as an important figure in our salvation history.

I hope you all can attend and join us at St. Peter's Catholic Church Wednesday June 23 at 7pm (we start promptly at 7pm, please arrive before then) as we pray the universal prayer of the church. Children are welcome.

You can preview the liturgical aid here - though keep in mind it's formatted for booklet printing.

Next meeting, April 21

Christos anesti! Alithos anesti!

Christ is risen! Truly, he is risen!

We hope everyone had a blessed and holy Easter, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord with friends, family, and good cheer. This month we decided in honor of Easter, not to hold our regular meeting. But we're still meeting. Back in March we decided to try something new. In addition to our regular meetings we'd also hold Vespers.

We've had two occasions to pray Vespers together, that first meeting in March, and then last during Holy Week. This week the opportunity will be upon us again as we gather Wednesday night at St. Thomas More Chapel on the campus of USC. (see the Facebook event). This week we'll be praying in honor of St. Anselm who's feast is Wednesday. Prayers begin promptly at 7pm, so get there a little early. After prayers (which don't take more than 10-20 minutes) as a group we'll go have dinner at a restaurant, location to be determined that night.

See you all there!!!

next meeting: March 10

Hey folks YACs is doing something new starting in March. In addition to our regular meeting at Delaney's on March 24th (we'll have a post about that coming up soon!) we're meeting on Wednesday March 10th at St. Thomas More Chapel near USC to pray Vespers.

Vespers, also known as Evensong or Evening Prayer is one of the Liturgical Hours. These prayers traditionally sung by religious (monks, nuns, priests in community) are a part of our rich Catholic patrimony. Since the Second Vatican Council the Church has encouraged the laity to participate as a community in these prayers of the church. And that is what we plan to do!

So join us March 10 and experience the richness of our Catholic Spirituality.

For more information on the Liturgy of the Hours check out these links:

Laudis Canticum - Encyclical by Pope Paul VI

General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours

Wikipedia

Advent party

UPDATE: You can RSVP through this Wednesday December 10, 2008 for the party Saturday December 13.

Join us for our Advent party, on December 13 at Chris and Elizabeth’s house in West Columbia. This will be a night of fine food, drinking and fellowship! We ask that couples or individuals bring a side dish and beverages. The main course will be provided. Please RSVP to colayacs@gmail.com by December 6 10. Directions will be mailed once we receive your RSVP.

Hope to see you all there!!!

October 8 Meeting: Catholic GOTV

G.O.T.V. - it's an acronym in political parlance that means Get out the vote. For Catholics Christians voting is more than a right granted under the U.S. Constitution or a privilege given by the state, it's a moral obligation. As such we are bound to make sure we're informed on the issues that we face individually, as a community and nation when we step into the booth.

How do we make sure we're "well informed" and what exactly does that mean? Well it means making decisions based on your Conscience (CCC#1778) by employing the virtue of Prudence (CCC#1806).

The Church for her part does not dictate for whom or how one is to vote, but does seek to assist her members in forming consciences and right judgement in light of the teachings of Christ as they have been traditioned through the Church. We are people of both faith and reason and as such "are called to bring truth to political life and to practice Christ’s commandment to love one another (Jn13:34)."

For their part the Bishops, in their capacity and authority as teachers, have released a document called The Challenge of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. In it the Bishops say:

A consistent ethic of life should guide all Catholic engagement in political life. This Catholic ethic neither treats all issues as morally equivalent nor reduces Catholic teaching to one or two issues. It anchors the Catholic commitment to defend human life and other human rights, from conception until natural death, in the fundamental obligation to respect the dignity of every human being as a child of God.

Catholic voters should use Catholic teaching to examine candidates’ positions on issues and should consider candidates’ integrity, philosophy, and performance.

As such the bishops have highlighted seven themes from Catholic Social Teaching to illustrate the importance of keeping our focus on our common humanity and the sanctity of that humanity.

So we know what the church considers to be important - which is a broad range of issues. But where do the parties stand on these issues amongst the many others? We've heard from the pundits, the media and the folks all around us that this years election is perhaps the 'most crucial election in our lifetime.' So for our October meeting we're going to find out just that - in as much as the constraints of our meeting time allows.

In order to do this more fully, we've invited a person from the two major parties to come and speak with us.

Representing the Republican Party will be Wesley Donehue. Wesley is a political strategist and owner of Under The Power Lines a political consultancy firm. He's worked on many campaigns including the SC State Senate Republican Caucus and Sen. Jim DeMint.

• See the Republican Party platform here (it's a .pdf file)

And for the Democrats we've got Joey Oppermann. Joey is the third Vice Chairman of the Democratic party, he's a recent law school grad and is currently working on democratic campaigns in the upstate of South Carolina.

• See the Democratic Party platform here (also a .pdf file)

In the end though, as we conclude our evening's session we must remember what else the Bishops remind us to do. "We must look beyond party politics, to analyze campaign rhetoric critically, and to choose their political leaders according to principle, not party affiliation or mere self-interest” (USCCB, Living the Gospel of Life, no. 33), in our efforts to discern who we're going to vote for come November, not just for President, but all the way down ticket to dog catcher.

So we look forward to seeing you all at Delaney's in 5pnts October 8 at 6pm for some beer and food and great conversation. Until then!

~Matt

Next Meeting! Sept 10

Hey folks, this meeting we've got to special guest lined up to speak with us about Catholic Spirituality especailly as it relates to the Charismatic Movement. Rev. Jack Crocker, Deacon and Fr. Bernard Oniwe, OP will be presenting.

Remember that the meetings are from 6-8ish with the first half hour as a time to socialize, have a beer or two and order some good food.

See y'all at Delaneys!

Next Month's meeting Catholic GOTV

Who is Cathol and what are his teachings? (Part 1?)

Catholics and Catholicism are at the receiving end of a great deal of startling vituperation in contemporary America, although generally, those responsible never think of themselves as bigots... What is striking about [anti-Catholic comments] is not any individual phrase or accusation, but the completely casual way in which these views are stated, as if any normal person should be expected to share these beliefs.... Complaints about anti-Catholicism are likely to provoke counter charges of oversensitivity, much as complaints about racism or anti-Semitism did in bygone generations. As Andrew Greeley writes, anti-Catholicism is so insidious precisely because it is not acknowledged, not recognized, not explicitly and selfl-consciously rejected. The attitudes are so ingrained as to be invisible.

-Dr. Philip Jenkins,

The New Anti-Catholicism

From the above quote, it should be fairly clear to what July's meeting is about.

We live in a pluralistic society. In the market place of ideas, it's very often that the values of any one person or group are going to be debated, that sometimes toes are going to be stepped on, it's inevitable. But sometimes debate moves into derision, and for much of our history and experience Catholicism has suffered such derision albeit subtle or nuanced. It's how we handle such situations that matter most.

Unlike African Americans and the Jewish Community, two groups where such derision has come to be termed bigotry and looked down upon, Catholicism isn't an immutable quality of biology as in the case of race, and for better or worse is not a single monolithic culture as with the Jewish Community - it's a free association, though an association that carries qualities not unlike both.

As the quote above notes, because one's Catholicism isn't an immutable fact of your nature nor is Catholicism limited to a cultural minority AND because Catholics haven't, unlike African-Americans or Jews, been overtly oppressed it's considered OK to take it further than friendly debate - without any regard or deference afforded as to other groups in that very market place of ideas.

Interestingly enough as Catholics the assault is three fold, we get get chided from the Left - usually associated with Atheists, pro-Identity groups (Feminism, Gay Movement are only two examples); from the Right - from Protestant Religious Groups, the "Gun Lobby" (an umbrella term here), Capitalists, and anti-environmentalists , and then again from the inside - from the person in the pew over who may subscribe to any of the above listed ideologies and more.

Being attacked from all sides and even under friendly fire it begs the question how do we handle such situations? Since our Religion is a free association perhaps the first (two part) question to ask is -

Why am I Catholic and what does being Catholic mean to me?

After we determine the answer to that question we can then address the discourse, debate, and mud slinging that is coming from all around us. Whether it's a Pastor demeaning Roman Catholicism as the whore of Babylon, or your Protestant friend asking you if you've been saved. Whether it's a co-worker who says that Catholicism denigrates women because she won't ordain Women and is anti-abortion, or perhaps the cousin who believes that the church is anti-gay.
What about the "NeoCon" who believes the church protests too much about waging war, Or the local NRA chapter questioning why the Church cares so much about guns. The list of supposed grieved goes on and on and on.

This folks is the art of apologetics.

So we look forward to seeing you all on July 9, 6pm for drinks and discussion at Delaney's in 5 points. Cheers! ~ Matt

PS: So after all that seriousness - here's the reason for the title of the post and what made me think of the "Apologetics" theme for this meeting - Eddie Izzard "picking" on the Church of England.

"Getting to Know You"

Hi Y'all!

Our meeting on June 4 will be a Getting to Know You session where we will introduce ourselves to one another and discuss the direction that this group will take in the upcoming months. The first couple meetings have already been planned out, so that we will actually have something to discuss.

The theme is Who is Cathol and what are his teachings? (trust us the title may be irreverent but after we break bread and discuss it'll make a lot of sense!!!)

Your collective responses to these introductory gatherings will guide the direction future group meetings--Thank You Holy Spirit.¹

So, come and join us at Delaney's Pub on Saluda Ave in Five Points on June 4th from 6 to 8 PM.

The first beer is even on us!

Click on Delaney's for more information on food and beverage selection!

And for your viewing pleasure, because you know you were reminded of it with that snazzy title (thanks Matt) here's the scene from The King and I.




Matthew 18:20 - For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."