Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010
Week of September 15, 2008
Speakers to stir reflection in Nothing More Beautiful
Catechists, witness to spur evangelization
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Lea Singh
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By WCR Staff
Edmonton
Eight speakers, both local and international, will play a key role in the first year of the Edmonton Archdiocese's Nothing More Beautiful evangelization process.
Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith and Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput will be the catechists at two of the four sessions slated for the 2008-09 year.
The other catechists will be Sister Timothy Prokes, a theology professor in Washington, and Bishop John Corriveau of Nelson, B.C.
Smith announced the five-year evangelization process on Pentecost Sunday, a process he hopes will inspire local Catholics to embrace the call to spread the Gospel "with joy and enthusiasm."
Each year will focus on some aspect of the Catholic faith. The first year will address the theme of the Mystery of the Human Person, created by God and saved in Jesus Christ.
Smith will give the first catechesis on Dec. 12, accompanied by a "witness" - Lea Singh, assistant director of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family. The topic of Smith's address is In the Image and Likeness of God.
Singh was raised in Edmonton, attended Harvard Law School, and worked in a major New York law firm before going to work for the Ottawa-based COLF.
All the sessions will be held at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph Basilica. Each will include music, prayer, a keynote catechist and a lay witness.
"It is my hope that you come from each experience thinking about your own relationship with Christ and how it might change your daily life," the archbishop said in a note accompanying the announcement of the speakers.
Prokes will lead the second session Feb. 12 on the Human Body in God's Creative Design. The author of Towards a Theology of the Body and Mutuality, she has taught at several universities in Canada and the United States.
Accompanying her at the Feb. 12 session are witnesses Michael and Terese Ferri of Pembroke, Ont. Michael is a psychiatrist and medical chief of staff at Pembroke General Hospital. Terese practises family law.
They will speak of how Pope John Paul II's theology of the body has inspired them in their personal and family lives.
Chaput will lead the third session on April 30, speaking on Our New Life in Jesus Christ.
In his book, Render Unto Caesar, Chaput urges Catholics to deepen their commitment to the Church's teaching on abortion, the death penalty, immigration, poverty and other matters of social justice.
Mary Rose Bacani, a producer with Salt + Light television, will be the witness at Chaput's presentation. Bacani will speak about three transitional moments in her life.
Corriveau, a Capuchin Franciscan, will address a May 21 session on Towards a Culture of Life.
Patrick Stewart, director of Edmonton's Marian Centre, will be the witness at Corriveau's presentation, speaking on how he overcame the shallowness of his personal life and the emptiness in his heart.
The next four years of Nothing More Beautiful will focus on the following themes:
- New Proclamation of Jesus.
- Mystery of the Church.
- Life of Grace.
- Mission of the Church.
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