Developed in partnership with the Dioceses of Evansville and Owensboro, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology offers an intensive formation opportunity to equip you for catechetical leadership in the 21st century:

• based on the four pillars of formation outlined in Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord for lay ecclesial ministers
• guided by the National Directory for Catechesis, and
• aligned with the National Certification Standards for Catechetical Leaders. The three-year cycle of five-day intensive workshops addresses intellectual, human, spiritual and pastoral formation, and provides a bridge between theory and practical applications.

For more information click here.

Registration Fee:
General registration is $630.
Participants from the Archdiocese of Louisville are eligible for financial assistance.
Contact Art Turner for information.

Mural of characters from “Where the Wild Things Are,” at a Thundercloud Subs shop in Austin, Texas

First holy Communion is celebrated in May at our parish. We’ve structured our program around a parent-centered role, honoring them, as the church does, as “the first and best” teachers of the faith. So when I suggested a book they could read with their children to help them better understand the feast to which they are welcomed, I chose a book many parents know well, one which most of us have read aloud to a child: Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.

Sendak was neither a theologian nor a Christian, but he wrote an enduring story that begins and ends with a meal and a table, a table that remains waiting for the child even when the child abandons the table in search of more exotic pleasures. He writes of a meal that is never hidden from us, of a table that is always full, always welcoming.

The book begins on the night “Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another.”

Sendak writes, “His mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said, “I’LL EAT YOU UP!”

There is nothing sweet about a wolf. No child goes to bed cuddling his stuffed wolf. Wolves are always the villains (“I’LL EAT YOU UP!”) and never the heroes. The wolf suit stands for all the ways we disguise and disfigure our humanity with sin. It separates us from ourselves and from others, in this case the most vital other, Max’s mother. “Mischief of one kind and another” is storybook language for the real damage our disfigured humanity wreaks, upon other people and upon the created world.

To continue reading click here. 

by Emily Reimer-Barry
https://catholicmoraltheology.com/

In Gaudete et Exsultate, Pope Francis reaffirms the universal call to holiness and says that he explicitly wishes to propose it “in a practical way for our own time, with all its risks, challenges, and opportunities” (2).  My colleagues David Cloutier and Matthew Shadle have already reflected on key themes of the document here and here, so I will try to avoid repeating what they have articulated so well already. I will focus on the theme of spirituality in everyday life, and especially on how the pope describes ordinary work as a path of sanctification. As a lay woman theologian who is also a working mom, my daily life combines both reflection on the reality of God and mundane tasks to keep the family going. But it would be a mistake to think that one is superior to the other in terms of bringing me closer to God.

Much of what Pope Francis writes about regarding holiness in ordinary life is not new. Ignatian spirituality has been a resource for many Christian seekers who have found encouragement to “find God in all things.” Kathleen Norris, in her 1998 Madeleva Lecture in Spirituality, “The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Women’s Work,” draws on monastic traditions and feminist theology to help readers think about how daily work can be a place for finding God. Wendy Wright, James Martin, SJ, Henri Nouwen, Gregory Boyle, SJ, and many others have written about the spiritual life and finding God in unlikely ‘everyday’ places.

Here are some of the messages I found most life-affirming in Gaudete et Exsultate:

Click here to continue reading this article.

Cardinal Cupich, others praise ‘Gaudete et Exsultate’ for addressing spiritual hunger

 Learn About Walking with Purpose Event

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Louisville, KY
Tuesday, April 24
11 am to 1 pm

Do you have a heart for other women and a desire to connect them in the parish, to encourage an authentic women’s faith sharing community, to meet women where they are and draw them closer to Christ?  If so, please attend a Learn About Walking with Purpose event this April at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Louisville.

Walking with Purpose, a women’s Catholic Bible study offering  a Scripture-based program that is approachable, relevant and focused on conversion of heart, invites women and parish leaders to attend a Learn About Walking with Purpose Event and find out about this fast-growing program.

Meeting women where they are in a personal and transformational way, Walking with Purpose offers at-home study and weekly small group discussions that link women’s everyday challenges with the solutions found in the teachings of Christ and the Catholic Church.  Walking with Purpose is currently offered in the Louisville diocese at Our Lady of Lourdes and Holy Spirit parishes.

 
Women ministry leaders and pastoral staff seeking to bring other women closer to Christ through Scripture study and fellowship are invited to learn from local WWP leaders about their experience bringing the program to their parish.  WWP national staff will explain the WWP discernment process, leadership training and mentoring support offered.

There is no charge for the event and lunch will be provided. To register or obtain more information about this Learn About Walking with Purpose Event,  please contact Beth Freeman via email at bethf@ourlourdes.org.

We have added new links to our resource page.  You can now find Pope Francis’ new apostolic exhortation, Rejoice and Be Glad.  Pope Francis explores the heights and depths of practical Christian holiness. He looks at the call to holiness in today’s world, with wit, insight, and encouraging counsel, and invites Christians to embrace the fullness of the Beatitudes.