Understanding Our Catholic Faith
Introduction
At the Mass of The Lord’s Supper, we began a year of deepening our faith in Christ by heeding his words:  Do this in memory of me.  We began the year by starting with prayer and everyone, whoever you are, is asked to say a prayer for the success of this program in our parish.  A simple prayer can be:  Lord Jesus, you told us to do this in memory of me.  Help us as we continue our journey of faith.  Amen.
Some of our plans for the coming year include: publishing regular updates like this one,  holding monthly meetings,  working with our young people in Youth Cafe,  encouraging young children in the Children’s liturgy,  having weekly classes through the autumn,  helping our school children to know the changes,  using the Internet and website to stay in touch,  preaching at Mass about the new translation,  taking away days with our ministers  joining in deanery and diocesan events,  forming a new bespoke choir and,  singing our way to improved liturgy.
Our basic plan is to have monthly ‘themes’ as we consider various aspects of the Mass.  April – was to begin praying for the success of the year. May – is to start with an overview and an introduction. Sept: Introductory Rites, Oct: Liturgy of the Word, Nov: Liturgy of the Eucharist, Dec: Mission, Jan: Eucharistic Prayer I, Feb: Eucharistic Prayer II, Mar: Eucharistic Prayer III, April: Eucharistic Prayer IV
Homily of the Mass of Lord’s Supper – April, 2011. Fr Paul Johnson pdf
Useful links  Bishops Conference: missal.org.uk  Vatican: vatican.va US Bishops: usccb.org
Reminding Ourselves of The Mass’ Uniqueness and Beauty
Time: 7pm on the following Dates. All Welcome

Advertised list of talks pdf
0. Introduction pdf
1. Overview of the Mass Tuesday 17th May or Friday 27 May/7.30 pdf  pdf
2. Summarising the Nature of the Changes in the New Translation of the Mass Tuesday 14 June  or Friday 24 June/7.30 pdf   pdf
3. The Mass as a Prayer of Penance Wednesday 7th September pdf
4. Introductory Rite of the Mass 14 September. No handout.
5. The Mass as a Prayer of Petition 21 September  4.pdf
6. The Liturgy of the Word 28 September. No handout.
7. The Mass as a Prayer of Praise  5 October 5.pdf
8. The Liturgy of the Eucharist 12 October. No handout.
9. The Mass as a Prayer of Thanksgiving Wednesday 19 October 6.pdf
10. The Concluding  Rite of the Mass Wednesday 2 November No handout.
11. The Mass as a Holy Sacrifice Wednesday 9 November 7.pdf
12. The Mass and the Sacred Banquet of Holy Communion Wednesday 16 November 8.pdf

N.B. From January 2012 There Will Also Be Talks Covering the Four Principal Eucharistic Prayers

© 2011 Fr Paul Johnson & A P Janew

2010/2011 Understanding the Bible and Our Faith
Understanding Our Catholic Faith.
A series of talks on Prayer and Spirituality
by Tony Janew in the Library on Wednesday evenings at 7pm

The Present is Gift link jpeg  pdf
Prayer and Spirituality pdf
1. What Do We Mean By Prayer and Spirituality? Sept. 15 pdf
2. Prayer and Spirituality in the Old Testament - An Overview Sept. 22 pdf
3. The Prayer of Moses, of Hanna, and God’s Own Prayer of Blessing pdf
4. Prayer in the Book of Tobit Oct. 6 pdf
5. Prayer in the Books of Judith and Esther Oct. 13 pdf
6. The Magnificent Prayers of the Book of Daniel Oct. 20 pdf
The Present is Gift link jpeg  pdf
7. The Spirituality of the New Testament - Jesus as the Messiah Nov. 3 pdf
8. The Special Prayer Jesus Taught Us - The Importance of the Our Father Nov. 10 pdf
9. What Did Jesus Teach about Prayer? - When We Ask Will It Really Be Given? Nov. 17 pdf
10. Psalm 51- Recognising Our Sinfulness & Dependence on God Nov. 24 pdf
11. Psalm 139 - God Knows Our Heart and Judges Accordingly Dec. 1 pdf
12.* The Prayers of Zachary, Mary and Simeon Dec. 8
13.* Franciscan Spirituality and the Christmas Crib Dec. 15 pdf
14. Spirituality and Prayer in the Christian Era Jan. 5 pdf
15. Guigo and Scripture-Prayer – Lectio Divina Jan. 12 pdf
St. Dominic and Bodily Pray – The Nine Ways
16.* The Carmelite Contemplative Tradition Jan. 19
17.* Carmelite Spirituality - The Spirituality of the Third Order Jan. 26
18.* Ignatian Spirituality - The Jesuit Spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola Feb. 2
19. The Cloud of Unknowing – A Classic of English Mysticism Feb. 9 pdf
20. Thomas A Kempis – The Imitation of Christ Feb. 16 pdf
21. St., Francis De Sales – Creating a Spirituality for Lay People Mar. 2 pdf
22. The Suffering Servant of Isaiah - A New Messiah, a New Prayer Mar. 16 pdf
23. Jesus’ Prayer to the Father in St. John’s Gospel Mar. 23 pdf
24.* The Prayer of the Stations of the Cross Mar. 30
25. The Prayer of the Mass - Our Greatest Prayer Apr. 6 pdf
26. Jesus is Divine - The Prayer of Philippians and Colossians Apr. 13 pdf
© 2010 A P Janew

2009/2010  Understanding the Bible and Our Faith
The Non-Pauline Letters                                                                       
1 The Three Letters of St. John   9 September pdf
2 The Two Letters of St. Peter and The Letter of St. Jude 16 September pdf
3 The Letter of St. James 23 September pdf
4 The Letter to the Hebrews 30 September pdf
The Revelation to St. John
5    The Nature of Apocalypse and the Structure and Symbolism of the Book of Revelation 7 Octoberpdf
6.   Interpreting, and Trying to Interpret, the Book of Revelation 14 October pdf
Biblical Themes
7   A Brief Outline of Old Testament History and Theology - Putting O.T. Books in perspective 21 October pdf
8.   The Birth of a Child is a Sign of God’s Love - A Blessed Gift 4 November pdf
9.   An Introduction to the Book of Psalms - Singing to God 11 November pdf
10. Sin, Temptation, Goodness - What Do These Really Mean? 18 November pdf
11. Original Sin - How Should we Really Understand This Difficult Truth of Faith 25 November pdf
12. Salvation Through Jesus 1 - From What and How? 2 December pdf
13. Salvation Through Jesus 2 - A New Life in Christ 9 December pdf
14. Salvation Through Jesus 3 - Our Response Must Be Love 13 January 2010 pdf
Catholic Theology
15. Jesus Christ True God and True Man - Outlining the Development of This Truth of Faith 20 January   pdf                                            
16. The Holy Trinity - The Great Truth and Mystery of Our Faith 27 January pdf
The Sacraments
17. The Holy Trinity as the Essence of the Catholic Church- A Forgotten Sacramental Reality? 3 February  pdf      
18. Why the Sacraments are so Special - The Pinnacles of Grace   10 February pdf
19. The Sacrament of Baptism - First Sacrament of Initiation into the Church 24 February pdf
20. The Sacrament of the Eucharist - Supreme Sacrament, Source of the Sacramental Life and Cornerstone of Initiation 3 March pdf
21. The Sacrament of Confirmation - Sacrament of Initiation into the World 10 March pdf
22. The Sacrament of Penance & Reconciliation - Bringing Us back to God 17 March pdf
23. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick - Not Just A Sacrament For the Dying 24 March pdf
24. The Sacrament of Holy Orders - Three Levels of Ordained Ministry 21 April pdf
25. The Sacrament of Marriage - A Truly Holy Dimension for Personal Commitment 28 April pdf
© 2009 A P Janew

2008/2009 Talks on St  Paul and Understanding the Bible and Our Faith
1 A short Biography of St. Paul .pdf
2 An Outline of the Journeys of St.Paul .pdf
3 An introduction to the letters of St Paul .pdf
4 An Outline of the Theology of St. Paul .pdf
5 Understanding the Bible and Our Faith .pdf
6 What are the Gospels? .pdf
7 Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels .pdf
8 Introduction to St. John’s Gospel .pdf
9 Jesus and John the Baptist .pdf
10 Jesus Chooses his Close Disciples .pdf
11 Jesus’ Healing Miracles .pdf
12 Jesus’ Non-Healing miracles .pdf
13 Jesus’ Moral Teaching .pdf
14 The Nativity Story in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke .pdf
15 The Parables of Jesus .pdf
16 The Kingdom in the Gospels .pdf
17 Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees .pdf
18 The Significance of the Transfiguration .pdf
19 Jesus’ Creation of the Church .pdf
20 Women in the Gospels .pdf
21 The Importance of Palm Sunday .pdf
22 The Eucharist in the Gospels .pdf
23 The Passion Narrative in the Synoptic Gospels .pdf
24 The Passion Narrative in St. John’s Gospel  .pdf
25 The Resurrection of Jesus .pdf
26 The Gospels Evangelisation Faith and Belief .pdf
© 2008 A P Janew

2007/2008 Understanding the Bible and Our Faith

Foundation Study Themes
1 God Revelation and Scripture What do we really mean when we use these words? .pdf
2 The Word of God or the Words of People? Understanding the seme in which the Bible contains both God's Word and Man's .pdf
3 Not a Book, More a Series of Books Understanding how the Bible came to its present form .pdf
Biblical Themes - Old Testament
4 Evolution or Creation? Did we evolve or were we uniquely created? .pdf
5 Original Sin- Really a Sin? Was there really an Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? .pdf
6 What's Abraham's Covenant Got to do with Jesus? The meaning and importance of Covenant. .pdf
7 What is God's Law? Recognising different types of Biblical law. .pdf
8 What Do Prophets Do? The prophetic role in the Bible .pdf
9 Who is the Suffering Servant? The most remarkable passages in the Old Testament? .pdf
10 What is the Messiah? Examining the background to Messianism .pdf
11 Why Do the Good Suffer? Biblical attitudes, with particular reference to the Book of Job .pdf
Biblical Themes - New Testament
12 Fulfilment of Prophecies How New Testament authors used Old Testament Prophecies .pdf
13 Can Prayer Bribe God? Examining the role of prayer .pdf
14 Jesus and the Eucharist Examining the sense in which Jesus can truly be in the Eucharist .pdf
15 Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross? Re-examining what is meant by Salvation, Redemption, Sacrifice .pdf
16 What is More Important for Our Salvation, Our Faith or Our Deeds? Examining what is meant by Justification by Faith .pdf
17 What is Meant by Grace? Looking at the Biblical view and later problems .pdf
18 The Prime Place of Love The central place of lave in the New Testament .pdf
19 A Revitalised Role For Women? Examining the role played by women in the New Testament .pdf
20 Difficult Sayings of Jesus How Jesus taught and why he said controversial things .pdf
21 Death - Where is thy Sting? Reflections on death, judgement, resurrection and afterlife .pdf
© 2007 A P Janew

2006/2007 Our Faith

1 Being a catholic - what does it mean  .pdf
2 Revelation  .pdf
3 Fatherhood of God  .pdf
4 Jesus    .pdf
5 The Bible: God's word  .pdf
6 Birth of the Church  .pdf
7 Peter and the Church  .pdf
8 Prayer  .pdf
9 Mary Mother of the Church  .pdf
10 Sacraments & Faith .pdf
11 Baptism & Confirmation  .pdf
12 Eucharist .pdf
13 Marriage  .pdf
14 Annointong of The Sick  .pdf
15 Forgiveness  .pdf
16 The Church: God's People  .pdf
17 Priesthood  .pdf              
Additional handouts
Ministry of Every Christian  .pdf
Justice and Peace  .pdf
© 2006 A P Janew