24 February 2010

Interfaith Dialogues

Dear Villagers,

Hope all is well with you! We had a massive game of Hide and Seek this past Sunday at Village, using the whole building! At your request we talked about Satan- who he is and how/why he tries to influence us for evil. We wrapped up the evening with a powerful time of Eucharistic Adoration followed by pizza and social time.

This week we're renewing our focus on being witnesses of God's love through Interfaith Dialogue. Join us this Sunday at our regular Village Meeting to get tips for discussing Catholicism with Protestant Christians, Agnostics, and fallen-away Catholics! The Catechism urges us to engage our contemporaries in meaningful dialogue about matters of faith saying, (#3) “Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the good news everywhere in the world.”

In other news, Spring Retreat is just around the corner, the weekend of March 19th-21st! Registration forms are attached and will be distributed at Village this Sunday. Sign-up by Monday, March 8th, and pay just $50 per person in addition to being entered into our Early Bird Drawing!

Our Spring Retreat theme is "Salt and Light" from Jesus' words, "You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:13-14) Jesus calls us to be different from those around us! He calls us to be witnesses of His love in the world. Join us as we discern His calling on our lives, and what it means to be His witnesses from day to day!

-No Dead Theologians Society this Thursday 2/25

-This Sunday @ Village 5-6:30pm: Interfaith Dialogues- Knowing Your Stuff

-Spring Retreat is coming soon, 3/19-3/21!

-Your Questions of the Week:
---- Is being physically attractive as bad as we say it is?
---- As a Republican I support the Death Penalty, but as a Catholic I oppose it. What should I vote for?
------------------------

The Village News

No Dead Theologians Society this Thursday

Pray for Beth, she will be away on at a Youth Ministry Conference! Join us next week for a night of prayer, we’ll discover Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

This Sunday, 2/28: Interfaith Dialogues, Knowing Your Stuff
Join us this Sunday to learn basic apologetics to equip you for dialogues with Protestant Christians, Agnostics, and other Catholics who have left the Church. The Catechism urges “those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the good news everywhere in the world.” (#3) We are called to proclaim the good news by engaging our contemporaries in meaningful discussions about faith- so they can know Jesus!

Steubenville High School Youth Conference, July 9-11th
Spaces are still available, but going fast. Cost for participation is $235, all-inclusive. Registration is due ASAP with a $70 deposit. The remaining $135 is not due until April 18th.

Spring Retreat is Coming- March 19th-21st!!

Spring Retreat is just around the corner, the weekend of March 19th-21st! Registration forms are attached and will be distributed at Village this Sunday. Sign-up by Monday, March 8th, and pay just $50 per person in addition to being entered into our Early Bird Drawing!

Join the Village @ St Thomas for a Lenten Retreat discerning God’s calling on our lives! As Catholics, Jesus calls us to be different. He calls us to be the “salt of the earth...the light of the world!” Together, we’ll discover what it means to walk closely with Jesus; how the Saints lived such holy sacramental lives; and how we can be witnesses of God’s love in the world!

Your Questions of the Week: Is being physically attractive as bad as we say it is?
Who said being physically attractive is bad? Good heavens NO! Beauty, inside and out, in people and in nature, are little pieces of heaven on earth; glimpses of Christ among us. We are God's masterpieces, the culmination of his creations. The world glorifies particular qualities, and that can impact our opinion of ourselves and how we view others. God appreciates each of our qualities just as he intended them. The difficulty with outside beauty is that it's the first thing you notice, so it's commonly objectified. Meaning, it's the ONLY thing you notice and appreciate about a person. However, as Christians, we are called to see each other as God sees us; appreciating every quality in a person, not just their physical characteristics. We were all made in the image and likeness of God.

Here’s more scripture on the goodness of beauty: "And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good."(Genesis 1:26) "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."(Psalm 139:13) “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well"(Psalm 139:14) "Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made." (Romans 1:20)

Your Questions of the Week: As a Republican I support the Death Penalty, but as a Catholic I oppose it. What should I vote for?
What the Church teaches on the Death Penalty: The Church upholds its traditional teaching that the state has the right and duty to protect general society from violent offenders, including by means of the death penalty if non-lethal means are insufficient to protect lives in an individual case. Today it is quite rare to find cases in which it would be impossible to suppress the offender in a non-lethal way; therefore the Church generally opposes the Death Penalty. Non-lethal means of suppressing criminals are in better conformity to the human dignity of the offender and prevent the state from growing callous and imprudent in its application of the death penalty. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2267)

Voting: Catholics have a moral obligation to promote the common good through the exercise of voting (Catechism #2240). But the Church goes further, saying that "a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law that contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals" (Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith 4).

The Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics lists 5 non-negotiables: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning, and homosexual marriage. Absent from the Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics is anything about capital punishment. That’s because the Church does not give a blanket condemnation of capital punishment. Whether capital punishment should be employed is a prudential determination. As Karl Keating says, “One can be a good Catholic and oppose all applications of capital punishment, and one can be a good Catholic and endorse the use of the penalty.”

Your Choice: So it seems that the Church leaves your decision up to you on this one. As with every decision, you are encouraged to practice prayerful discernment before you decide. Ask yourself, what is more important to you, being a Republican through-and-through, or being a Catholic faithful to the Lord’s revelations in Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church? As long as you can answer that one right, it doesn’t matter what you decide.

1 comment:

Jason said...

Keep up all the good work Villagers and Beth. NDTS, love it!