In this Issue

Profile

Romancing the Word

Scripture Comes Alive

From the Director

Signposts

The Scenic Route

Simple Steps

Signposts

In December 2007 we will be introducing a brand new study: Parables of the Kingdom, Part One. Part Two will be released in August 2008. Both studies use a commentary written by Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan. Part One emphasizes those parables that appear in Mark and are shared by Matthew. Wrap-up lectures are presented by Jerre Roberts, Cackie Upchurch and Cliff Yeary. Six sessions.

The new edition of First Corinthians will also be released in December 2007. The commentary is written by Maria A. Pascuzzi, and is part of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary series. The good news is that we have new printed resources (commentary, study guide, answer guide) but the existing recorded wrap-up lectures can still be used. 10 sessions.

The new edition of Second Corinthians will arrive in August 2008. It will use the same commentary as the new edition of First Corinthians.

Our study, Introduction to the Bible, will be available in Spanish in December 2007. See Spanish section of Stepping Stones for details.

Our little book of gospel reflections, A Year of Sundays, 2008, is now available. It's a simple tool that contains a reflection for every Sunday of the year and for Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. It's inexpensive enough to purchase for all kinds of people – catechists, lectors, family members, RCIA groups, etc. Use it for personal prayer or at the start of any parish meeting for the group's prayer time.

Top of Page

The Scenic Route

Informational and Enrichment Workshops offer clear information, hands-on experience, and practical tips for establishing and growing Bible study using LRSS materials and methods. For very little expense a diocese can arrange to host a workshop that will benefit parishes throughout the diocese. For more information, contact: Susan McCarthy, RDC, P.O. Box 7565, Little Rock, AR 72217; (501) 664-6102 or (501) 366-5691; or by e-mail at smccarthy@dolr.org.

Workshops:

Exhibits:

February 29-March 2, 2008
Los Angeles Religious Education Conference
Anaheim, CA

Top of Page

Simple Steps

Helpful Hints for Coordinators

 We say in our LRSS Workshop, “Information (what we learn though our study) plus Formation (what happens as we interact with each other) equals Transformation.” This transformation will lead us to greater love of God and others (especially those we have not known before). Perhaps you’d like to invite your Facilitators and/or participants to take some time to rate the level of transformation in your group.

Helpful Hints for Facilitators

- the ways that you have contributed to a better understanding of Scripture

- how you are building the sense of community in your small group

 - the impact on the larger community. (See Coordinators Manual, p. 20)

Weekly meetings are scheduled to include time for Conversational Prayer (10 minutes), Group Sharing (60 minutes), and a Wrap-Up Lecture (20 minutes). Gently guide your group through these stages so that you can begin and end on time.

LIttle Rock
Scripture Study

Direct editorial questions or ideas to:
Susan McCarthy, RDC
LRSS Office
P.O. Box 7565
Little Rock, AR 72217

www.littlerockscripture.org

Editor: Susan McCarthy, RDC

Managing Editor: Kris Isaacson

Contributors: Christina Delaney, Joan Koenig, Macrina Wiederkehr, Cackie Upchurch

Translators: Maria Teresa de Bourbon, RDC, Rosa Maria Icaza, CCVI.

The material in this newsletter may only be reproduced with the consent of Little Rock Scripture Study.

Little Rock Comes to Bogota

Tina Delaney
Bogota, Colombia 

Christina, Padre Alvaro, Lillian, Marion, Janet, Victoria Maria, and Margaret show off the new editions of The Acts of the Apostles.

In August of 2006, I moved with my family to Bogota, Colombia, where my husband is assigned to the American Embassy. When I had first learned of our impending move, I envisioned joining a women’s faith group, if one existed, or forming one myself, if one did not. Upon arrival in Bogota, and after settling in our new home, getting our son squared away in the international school, I set out to find activities for myself. High on my priority list was finding a faith group. There was an interdenominational group that met each Thursday morning at a woman’s house. This was a mix of nationalities and denominations, but the study was conducted in English. It was policy not to bring up individual faith affiliation, but I soon found the five Catholics in the group. (How do we spot one another?) After four months of study, I decided I felt the need to form a Catholic group, since much was lacking in our discussions, especially the sacramental aspect of our faith. I prayed and prayed that I could form a group.

In December, I proposed the idea to some English-speaking Catholic women who seemed very excited about it. I met with a few of them to discuss what subject we should begin to study. After more prayer, I decided on Little Rock Scripture Study: Acts of the Apostles, since that was the history of the beginning of our church, and we were forming a new community ourselves. We had our first meeting at my place on January 9, 2007. The group grew from six members to thirteen, just by word of mouth. And, it includes four Americans, two South Africans, one Ecuadorian, one Canadian, and five Colombians.

Every week, someone tells me how much they look forward to Tuesday mornings at the “Catholic Women’s Group of Bogota,” as we call ourselves. Many times, they comment on how it is the highlight of their week, and how our group discussions lead to a more peaceful behavior in their lives at home. The Colombian women tell me that nothing like this exists in Colombia, and how this has filled a void in their lives.

We meet for coffee and socialize for fifteen minutes, then begin our meetings with a quiet song, then prayer. The group’s dynamics have changed in just a few months. At first, we did not know each other well, and no one would engage in conversational prayer. I would try to lead the prayer toward sharing, but the only voice I heard for weeks was mine! So, we decided to write down prayer intentions on slips of paper, put them in a basket, and pass them around. Each member would take an intention to pray for (aloud) during our prayer time. We would put the slip of paper in our pockets, and pray for that person’s intention during the week. We have since done away with the papers and basket, for the group is now comfortable to spontaneously pray together for intentions, as we are drawn closer to Christ.

The Little Rock Scripture Study structure is just perfect for our group. It is clearly presented, and the questions in the study guide provide great reflection on the material covered. They also lead to great discussions among my fellow sisters in Christ. I thank you for providing us with this study. We are currently studying the Gospel of Matthew, and plan to continue with even more studies in the years to come.

We concluded the Acts of the Apostles study with a visit from a Colombian priest friend, Padre Alavaro Javier, who was visiting my home. We invited him to share his thoughts on Acts. Since he is not comfortable speaking English, he gave us his views in Spanish, and those of us who speak Spanish helped translate into English.

Top of Page

Summoned to Be More than We Are at the Moment

A reflection on Luke 10:25-37

Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

This parable of compassion and hospitality begins with a lawyer questioning Jesus about what can be done to attain eternal life. The lawyer, of course, is a stand-in for each of us. Isn’t it true that living alongside all our questions, there is a genuine longing in our hearts for a life that is unending, a life that is not dimmed by daily difficulties—a life that we call eternal?

For some people this eternal life is something we inherit only after arriving in heaven. For others, our present life already has hints of a divine life that begins here on earth and is carried with us into eternity. No matter which idea we ascribe to, surely it is true that most of us experience something of the divine always summoning us to be more than we are at the moment. The challenge is for us to stop and listen to the call.

Jesus highlights this special invitation, which is also the great commandment of loving God, neighbor, and self as a pathway to finding eternal life. This path of love is not as impossible to attain as we sometimes believe. In the book of Deuteronomy 30:14 it is explained to us that that the Word we seek is already deeply buried in the ground of our being.

We have heard the story of the Good Samaritan so often it is easy to miss the universality of it. Certainly it is a story for all times. There are unwritten rules in our hearts that tell us who is worthy of our service. There are unwritten rules that tell us what our obligations are. The Good Samaritan story uproots these unwritten rules and offers us a Gospel in which Jesus aligns himself with the outcast. The neighbor in the story as well as the command to love are both incarnational metaphors of God’s very own self.

Faith is a relationship with God, self and others

Faith is infinitely more than just answering the questions correctly. It is a relationship with God, self, and others. Indeed it is a relationship with the whole world. True faith usually shows its face in loving actions. So often in the gospels Jesus instructs us by means of a story. The story told here is about a person in need of loving kindness. Surprisingly, it is not the religious people of the establishment that stop to help the one in need. The one who reaches out in loving service is a stranger, an undesirable one at that; one whose people are at odds with the injured man’s people.

The Good Samaritan, of course, is you and me. It is us. Somewhere underneath all our prejudices, our fears, cautions, and suspicions, way down beneath our reluctance to love, there is another face waiting to be resurrected. Each of us possesses a face of compassion and hospitality that can rise up out of the rubble of our lives and perform the one thing necessary, the virtuous deed. If we can find the wisdom to pause and look more deeply into these frightened hearts of ours we may discover that we already have the eternal life for which we long.

Underneath all of our fears lives the very Christ who is also in the person we are serving. It takes practice seeing Christ in one another. We all have within us the qualities needed to be compassionate. This truth is vividly seen in the movie Crash, a difficult film to view but one in which most of the characters walk by the afflicted one eventually, and in some small way wake up and see a person to be cared for rather than an object to be feared and hated. Who is your neighbor? Look a little deeper.

We are called to be oil and wine for the wounds of others

The Samaritan in this Gospel is truly the healing Word of God. And we, no less, are called to be that loving word made visible in the lives of those who are in greatest need. Today more than ever, perhaps, we must open our eyes and be ready for the challenge to be oil and wine for the wounds of others. Our nation once again is becoming a nation of immigrants. Our neighbors are growing in number and we often find ourselves called to be a neighbor to people who were not on our original list.

Hospitality is surely a virtue for our times, crying to become a part of our lives. Let us take a little time this week to ask ourselves if anyone near or far needs the oil of our kindness, the wine of our compassion. With our newly opened ears, eyes, heart, and mind, perhaps we too can hear Jesus’ response to the lawyer seeking eternal life.

Go and do likewise.

Your next Word to romance is Psalm 40.

Top of Page

Scripture Comes Alive

Joan Koenig

Parishioners present the stories of Old Testament women.

Armed with our knowledge from having completed both Women in the Old Testament and Women in the New Testament from the Little Rock series, we set about the task.

Since our young people were to be included in the audience, we were a little wary of some of the more colorful Old Testament characters who had used womanly wiles to accomplish their purposes. We thought some of the other choices might be too obvious, with too much already known about them. That was not found to be true, though, with almost all characters unfortunately little known to a typical Catholic audience.

The final choices fell on Miriam and Ruth in the Old Testament and Mary Magdalene and Prisca in the New Testament. Then we pondered, “How do we present these stories?” Someone came up with the idea of being the women we wanted to talk about. Thus the picture we have included.

One of our male members gave an introduction naming some of the many women who appear in the Bible stories and explained that we are unfamiliar with them because so few women appear in the Sunday lectionary. Each of the main characters performed a monologue of about five minutes. An interim narration between the characters connected them to one another in history. A final narrator explained the importance of women in the early church and picked out some churchwomen who have been standout personages throughout modern history. The entire presentation, entitled “Women of Faith from the Bible,” lasted about 37 minutes.

Without our Little Rock background, we would have had difficulty in presenting such a program, and our parishioners would not have made the acquaintance of some prominent Biblical figures we had come to know so well.

Top of Page

From The Director

Cackie Upchurch 

By now, readers in the United States are filled to the brim with political news, reports of scandals, speeches that bring hope and speeches that disappoint. It's time to exercise our right of determination by casting our vote. People of prayer know to take this right seriously. It's an opportunity to examine our values and the source of those values. It's an opportunity to acknowledge the complexity of our world and our responsibility in it. Ironically, it's also a time to acknowledge that while we live and work and enjoy the freedoms of our culture, we also belong to a kingdom that is unlike anything that a political party can generate or guarantee. Ultimately, we are citizens of God's kingdom, a kingdom that is already present in our midst but struggles to come to fullness. Please vote – but don’t stop there. Find new ways to engage in this world, to respond to real needs, so that God's kingdom will become more and more visible.

Top of Page