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June 13 - 18, 2010

Theology of the Body I: Head and Heart Immersion Course with Bill Donaghy

Quarryville, Pennsylvania

Theology of the Body I (Head and Heart Immersion Course)

This course examines the main themes of the 129 Wednesday audience addresses that comprise John Paul II’s “theology of the body.” Particular attention will be paid to themes such as creation in the imago Dei, fall and redemption, Christian ethics and ethos, freedom and person, gender and vocation.

Download information and a registration form

Click here to register online
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

THEOLOGY OF THE BODY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

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Training Christian Leaders

This Certificate Program* is designed both for personal enrichment and to train Christian educators and leaders – clergy, religious, and lay – to witness effectively to the life-transforming vision of John Paul II’s theology of the body. It provides an initial or additional credential for those who seek to teach the theology of the body formally or informally in a parish, diocesan, and/or classroom setting.

Courses are designed to accommodate the lives of working adults who would be unable to relocate for full-time study. Unless otherwise indicated, each class is taught in a 5-day (Sunday Evening-Friday) intensive format at Black Rock Retreat Center located in beautiful Southern Lancaster County, PA, easily accessible from the Philadelphia airport. Black Rock Retreat offers a perfect setting in which to study, pray, and relax.

For more information, visit http://tobinstitute.org/default.asp

Awkward Catholic Moments: Flashback Edition

Hi All. In lieu of busyness and a lack o' blog reflections, I thought I'd recycle one from May of 2007. I hope it retains its freshness.

Have you ever had an Awkward Catholic Moment (henceforth referred to as an ACM)?

- Maybe you're about to make the sign of the cross in a restaurant or a diner before a meal and there's that brief second of indecision; "Am I being showy or saintly?" (ACM)

- A friend\co-worker says "You're Catholic, right?" (you swallow hard) "So what's the big hang-up with birth control? Are you guys trying to take over the world?!" (quick answer is yes, we are. See Genesis 1:28 and Matthew 28:19)

- Maybe someone at work or school drops a bomb on the table and says "they" should just let priests get married and that would solve the "problem," and in the seconds ticking between talk, you wonder if you should speak a clarifying word from Matthew 19:12 or the Catechism? (ACM)

- or maybe you're actually a little unsure about the meaning of the whole celibacy thing yourself and don't know what to say. (ACM Deluxe Edition)

- You're walking down the aisle of a massive movie theater to grab a seat and you genuflect before you enter your row (ACM Platinum Edition... and yes, I did that once.)


Everyone has a little ribbon on their car bumper or lapel these days: Support Our Troops, Breast Cancer Awareness, Save Darfur. Imagine wearing a little I Love the Priesthood ribbon?Support Our Bishops? In light of the last few years, that ain't easy. In light of some workplace/lunchtime/water cooler gatherings, it's downright embarrassing.

But when was it ever easy to believe in an incarnational Church, a Church that professes that God Himself established and is literally working through this sinful mess of people, promising a grace and mercy that can save us, even though it may sometimes seem to be flowing over dirty hands and through clogged pipes? With the episcopal shipwreck of the last few years, and the laxity in the laity, many of us still feeling "holy stuff" is what Father does, not me, I'm just a pew potato, it can be awkward to be Catholic today. As awkward as it was for a certain crusty fisherman standing outside of a praetorium, warming himself by a charcoal fire, painfully self-conscious as his Master takes a beating behind those walls.

"Aren't you one of his disciples?"
"I've seen you with the Nazarene, aren't you one of them?"

I guess the question in our ACMs these days is the same as it was for Peter.

So what will your answer be? Do you know the Man? Will you claim allegiance to Him, even as He comes to us in the distressing disguise of a sinful Church? Will you have the eyes to see through the humanity and into the divinity, to the spotless Bride of Christ that is forever wedded to the Lamb of God? For that is Her deepest identity and our ultimate end. We will all be one. And He will wipe away every tear, and He will defend us who have been fearless in our defense of Him. And if we have fallen, He will come and seek us out, saying "Do you love me?"

And then, we can enter the unending bliss of that Wedding Feast with a simple... "I do." And that love will cover a multitude of sins....

Happy Star Wars Day!! May the 4th be with You!

Joseph

Joseph... Worker. Builder. Earthly contractor of Heaven's Plans. A man with feet planted deep in Judean dust, hands gripping tools of earth, you built a home for Heaven's Son. You made a veil to shelter the Holy of Holies with your very life, Joseph.

You, Joseph, heart like a gem set deep in the Heart of God. You, a man, honored the Woman, cradled the Newborn, carried that green wood that would be weathered and one day be fit for a Cross. One day. And that day you missed... or did you?

You, Joseph, watched Him nurse at the breast of your bride.... the image of absolute beauty: a God nourished by His own creature. Humility wrapped in the alabaster arms of the humble virgin, the beloved, the dove, your beautiful one. You saw this, breathed it. Joseph. Sitting on a wooden stool whittling a wooden toy as He suckled at her breast. What thoughts moved you then? What hot tears mingling joy, awe, pain, wrapped in the swaddling clothes of your trembling humanity? Joseph...

Did you know? The sapling you carried, weak as willow wands, so supple, still a boy stretching toward Heaven, would one day be stretched by man's brutality, fixed on the very beams He helped you carry? A boy like any other, seemingly, and walking amidst others with a covered light you knew in more intimate hours that none can know until the Veil lifts: you, Joseph, bathed His tender feet, washed his little hands at day's end from the dust and dirt of His eager apprenticeship.

Those hands that shaped the universe you cradled in the callous tools of your own hands. Did you know, Joseph, the hammer He held for you, with bright eyes watching you work, would one day fall on His palms in pain unspeakable. Ah! How could you bear it? What irony! In His carrying iron nails to you with quickened pace as boys will help their fathers, did you hear the echo of the prophet's verse; "They have pierced my hands and my feet. They have numbered all my bones." How could you know, Joseph, and still work those tools, carry those beams, see that dust shimmer over wooden planks as the sun poured its golden oil over the shop at day's end? And the young Christ there, breathing, sweating, smiling up at you in those early years?

Your heart, then, not a sword must have pierced. But nails.

Heart Gallery Philadelphia

Every child deserves a loving home...

In our city, hundreds of foster children long for nothing else. Heart Gallery Philadelphia, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services is working hard to brind these children closer to that dream. To achieve that goal, professional photographers have volunteered their time and talent to create beautiful and compelling portraits of the city's foster children. Our mission - to raise adoption awareness, and what better way than by giving "voice" to the many children in need of a "forever" family. Ultimately, our hope is that loving, prospective parents will be moved to make room in their hearts and their homes for these incredible children.

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND AN EXHIBIT OF HEART GALLERY PHILADELPHIA AT

PLYMOUTH MEETING MALL

Lower Level - Boscov's Court
500 W. Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Saturday, April 24th 2010 from 6:30-8:30pm
The Exhibit will be on display until June 4th, 2010

The opening reception features professional singer, Teresa Byrons performing selections from Broadway and Disney shows and keynote speaker Ron Sider, founder of Evangelicals for Social Action. The evening will include magic and entertainment for children and refreshments, provided by mall vendors, for all.

Sponsored by Epiphany House

For more information contact:
Regina Raiford 610-812-9242 - rraiford@yahoo.com
Donna Wyche 215-683-6086 - donna.l.wyche@phila.gov

Peace and Pain

"Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” - John 20 "Peace be with you"... Peace is what we all long for, deep down. Often we imagine it lies on some white sandy shore or on the winning side of a Powerball ticket. But ironically, peace is often found not in the absence of sorrows and responsibilities but in the quiet acceptance of them. So often, it's in the still center, the eye of the storm, where there is peace. The story of Thomas above is a powerful reminder of this truth. Jesus returns. He is glorious, alive, healed. But he has scars. Good Friday cannot be separated from Easter Sunday. Incidentally, it's been said that there is only one man-made thing in Heaven: Christ's wounds. What a sobering thought. Christians are not living in a fantasy world. Dreaming up pipe dreams. Walks through rose gardens. In the immortal words of Guns 'n Roses, we know that "every rose has its thorn..." Unconditional Love, the force that Jesus unleashed upon the world by his life and death, is a curious mix of pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow. So even in the midst of that first Easter, that shockingly beautiful, scandalously incredible, dream of all dreams miracle of the Master's return from Death, there was death's reminder. Scarred hands. A pierced and open side. So let's not deceive ourselves. Love is pain. Love hurts. Peace has a price. Without this wound of Love could we ever peer in and behold the very real, beating and pleading Heart of our incarnate God?

The Coffee Song!

We had a little celebration a while back for our dear friend Fr. Kevin, who after several years as a diocesan priest in Philadelphia has heard the call within a call: he's joining the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal! Fr. Kevin's gifts are many, and this little ditty is just a taste of his talent for making the ordinary extraordinary.... the much loved "Coffee Song"!! ....But remember, you heard it here first!