How to Read the Bible: A Course for Beginners and For Those Who Have Forgotten How!

Venues:
St. Joseph’s Resource Centre, Church Grounds, Boyle, Co. Roscommon
(Evening Course)

Cuan Aire Family Life Centre, Patrick St. Roscommon
(Morning Course

Number of places:
16 – 20 places at each venue.

Number of sessions:
8

Venue, Day of the Week and Times:
St. Joseph’s Resource Centre, Boyle,  8 – 9.20 pm  on Thursdays

Cuan Aire Family Centre, Patrick St., Castlerea, 10 – 11.20 am  on Thursdays

Dates:
Sept.  22nd, 29th, Oct. 6th, 13th, 20th & Nov. 10th, 17th & 24th .

Commitment required:
A willingness to participate in all eight sessions and to undertake some reading and light study (up to two hours weekly) between sessions.

Cost:
€30.00. This includes the cost of the course book and loan for the duration of the course of a Christian Community Bible (Catholic Pastoral Edition), the particular bible that will be used throughout the course (see below).

Course Book:
Brendan McConvery C.Ss.R.
How To Read The Bible: A Manual For Beginners And For Those Who Have Forgotten How, Redemptorist Communications Ireland, 2009.

bible_ book
* A copy will be made available to each participant prior to Session One.

Required Bible:
The Christian Community Bible (Catholic Pastoral Edition).

Christian_Comm_Bible

* A loan copy will be presented to each participant prior to Session One.


Session Topics:

1. Welcome & Introduction to the Course
2. ‘God made man and woman because God loves stories’
3. One Jesus – Four Portraits
4. Getting started on the Old Testament
5. Reading a whole Gospel through
6. Reading other people’s letters
7. Justice and politics: reading the prophets
8. Praying with the Bible

* Each session corresponds with a chapter of the course book.

Course Biblical Advisor:
Fr. Noel Rooney

Course Facilitators:
Justin Harkin, Fr. Gerry Hanly, Eithne Deane, Fr. John McManus, & Mary Flynn.

Additional Information
For many people reading the Bible can be a daunting task.   Where does one begin? How does one make sense of it?

To support engagement Fr. Brendan McConvery C.Ss.R., a much respected Irish Biblical Scholar who taught scripture at St. Patrick’s College Maynooth for many years, published How To Read The Bible: A Manual For Beginners And For Those Who Have Forgotten How.
This eighty page book marks a new departure in scripture study. It’s simple, user friendly style invites exploration in a non-threatening and accessible way. Through it Fr. Brendan provides the reader with the tools to unearth the richness of both the Old and New Testaments, and even to pray with them. It also lends itself nicely to group exploration, supporting course participants in widening their understanding of scripture.

How The Course Works
Homework
For each session participants will be expected to read a designated chapter of Fr. Brendan’s book and to read some of the scripture passages he recommends to us. You will also be expected to record what strikes you as you read, e.g. your key learnings, related questions etc..

The Sessions
After a brief introductory prayer service the facilitator will invite each participant to share what they have received from their engagement (notes from reading). Participants will be invited to speak for three to five minutes.

The facilitator will then initiate a conversation around what has been learned, what has been experienced as challenging and what the implications are for our future reading of scripture and listening to scripture.

Sessions will conclude with a prayerful engagement with one of the scripture passages suggested for that session, led by the spiritual director or facilitator.

Further Enquiries
Please contact:

Justin Harkin
Diocese of Elphin
Pastoral & Faith Dev. Services
Tel:  0906665491
Email: [email protected]
Mobile:  087 6171526

Bookings
Boyle venue: 
Full
Castlerea venue
:  Three places remaining but must be taken up before Thursday Oct. 6th 2016 by contacting Justin @ 087 6171526  / [email protected] .

Updated  Sept. 30th 2016