God’s Suffering Messiah: An Introduction to the Gospel of Mark

The Gospel of Mark is the second Gospel in the New Testament collection. It tells the story of Jesus from his baptism to the resurrection and concentrates on the last week of his life. It presents Jesus as a teacher, healer, miracle worker and uses titles such as Son of Man, Son of God and Christ. Mark so emphasizes the suffering of Jesus that the Gospel has been described as a passion narrative with a short introduction. This short course will examine Mark’s portrait and theology of Jesus, God’s Suffering Messiah.

Jesus’ Galilee: This mini-course will offer a presentation of the natural and archaeological features of the Galilee, with a view to understanding its impact on the life and ministry of Jesus.

15th – 20th January 2012

Fr Ciaran O’Callaghan CSsR

Learning from Experience: An Introduction to Israel’s Later Writings

The first two sections of the Hebrew Bible Law and Prophets consist of God’s direct revelation to Israel. Its third section, the Writings, represent Israel’s efforts to understand God, based on human experience and the observation of everyday life. This short course will offer a brief survey of the Wisdom Literature of Ancient Israel, with some selected readings from the Books of Proverbs, Job, and Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes).

Love, Passion (and God) in the Song of Songs: This mini-course will offer an introduction to the love poetry of the Song of Songs exploring some of its key texts and theological insights.

22nd January – 27th January 2012

Fr Ciaran O’Callaghan CSsR

A Human Journey – A Spiritual Destination

What is being a Human all about? This course will explore the biological and psychological processes that shape who we are and the extraordinary potential for lifelong, developmental change that lies within them. Being human challenges us to develop in certain areas, in certain ways, particularly as we grow older. Achieving our human potential calls us to live our lives just as Christ.

29th January – 3rd February and 29th April – 4th May 2012

Dr Stephanie Thornton

Stress Management

Everyone is subject to stress. This course focuses on stress and burnout that can affect the quality of life. We will pay attention to the signals our bodies give us, and we will look at the tools to help us develop a healthy lifestyle.

Prayer is the very foundation of a living relationship with God. The Eucharist celebrates the Paschal Mystery, the mystery of dying and rising at the heart of our new life with Christ. During these sessions we will reflect upon these two vital themes at the heart of the Mystery of Salvation.

5th – 9th February 2012

Mr Patrick Strong

The Spirituality of True Self Esteem

Our attitude to ourselves is shaped and formed by our spirituality, and self-acceptance or self-rejection is the fruit of that spirituality. A healthy spirituality is vital for our personal happiness and well being. The spirituality of true self esteem is based on the Word of God and is our response to God’s life affirming word to us and within us, to have a high regard for ourselves and to live accordingly.

19th – 24th February and 8th – 13th July 2012

Fr Jim McManus CSsR

Life’s Continuing Journey

An exploration into our continuing life’s journey: our humanity; our sexuality, and the different stage of our growth and development. Our exploration will be done through lectures and working sessions. Exploring how family life can be a pathway to holiness and can be regarded as fostering an authentic spirituality.

26th February – 1st March 2012

Fr Ronnie McAinsh CSsR

Issues Facing the Church

Throughout its history the Church has always been faced with new and challenging questions, the answers to which can define its future and missionary effectiveness in the changing world. What are the new challenges

11th – 16th March 2012

The Beginning of the Gospels

Reflections on our Baptismal responsibility…exploring the Biblical foundations of Mission and discipleship, looking at the Pastoral strategy of Jesus and the many faces of discipleship. Reflecting on the on-going call to conversion.

6th – 11th May 2012

Fr Denis McBride CSsR

Called to Discipleship: Sent in Mission

Where does the Jesus Story Begin? Each of the evangelists celebrates a different beginning for the Jesus story and each sets that story in a different frame. We look at the different beginnings and the different frames as a key to opening the Gospels.

13th – 18th May 2012

Fr Anthony Gittins CSSp

Living Pathways / Prayer & Eucharist

Our faith can be easily divorced from our everyday life-experience and locked into a box called ‘sacred’. We will explore how to re-discover God in the minutes and days of our daily living. What does it mean to walk the pathways of our personal experience as companions of the Lord.; to fully embrace the call to discipleship? The course will introduce some practical tools and methods of prayer to help us to engage with the call to be Kingdom-builders in the actual circumstances of our lives, and through change or transition.

Prayer is the very foundation of a living relationship with God. The Eucharist celebrates the Paschal Mystery, the mystery of dying and rising at the heart of our new life with Christ. During these sessions we will reflect upon these two vital themes at the heart of the Mystery of Salvation.

20th – 25th May 2012

Mrs Margaret Silf / Fr Maurice O’Mahony CSsR

The Beginning of the Public Ministry of Jesus

All four Gospels agree that Jesus begins his public ministry ‘after John’. We look at this key relationship; we reflect on the beginnings of discipleship; we look at what makes Jesus’ ministry differ from those around him: his table-fellowship.

17th – 22nd June 2012

Fr Denis McBride CSsR

Prophecy in Ancient Israel & its relevance in the 21st C

This course will examine the origin, nature and scope of classical biblical prophecy and its literature (8th -5th Centuries BCE). Selected texts from books of Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah will be studied among others. Each book will be presented in its historical context, along with an overview and theological perspectives. The course will conclude with an examination of prophetic social teaching under the title “YHWH’s care for the poor”

24th – 29th June 2012

Fr Ciaran O’Callaghan CSsR

Spirituality and Sexuality

This course explores some of the ways in which our sexuality is central to our lives as men and women open to the power of the Spirit. Using imaginary first-person stories to create a “safe space” for personally effective small group discussion, it also provides some input on patters of psychosexual development, as well as exploring problems that might be experienced.

1st – 6th July 2012

Fr Brendan Callaghan SJ