“I Shall Pour Out Water upon the Parched Land” (Isa 44:3): Second Isaiah as Story and Promise.

Isaiah 40-55 (Second Isaiah) is an exquisitely beautiful book of biblical poetry. Portions of this book occupy prominent places in both the Advent and Lenten liturgies. During these five sessions, we will read representative portions of the book to better understand Second Isaiah’s narrative, his message, and his role as a prophet towards the end of the Babylonian exile.

Instructor: Paul D. Sansone

Tuesdays, February 28 – March 28, 2023
12:00-1:00 pm
On  Zoom

Fee: $50.00

Catholicism 101: The Gospel of St. Matthew

During this course, we will be studying in depth the Gospel of Matthew. Themes we will study will include:

• For whom was the Gospel of Matthew written?
• What special issues may Matthew’s church have been facing when this gospel was written? 
• What is Matthew’s theology of who Jesus is? (Christology) 
• What does it mean to follow Jesus in Matthew’s gospel? (Discipleship)
• What is the relationship between Judaism and Christianity in Matthew’s gospel? 

This course is offered for both new students as well as people already accustomed to studying the bible. Inquirers and neophytes from the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults are encouraged to attend. It will also be an excellent course for catechists, lectors, deacons, and priests who want a refresher course as we journey through Cycle A this liturgical year, and anyone interested in learning more about the Christian faith.

Instructor: Joseph Nuzzi, M.A.

Wednesdays Feb 8 to April 12 (no class Feb. 22 or April 5)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
(the evening session will be offered in person and on zoom)
Clare Room

Fee:  $80.00

A Deeper Look at Catherine of Siena: Her Dialogue, Prayers, Spirituality, and Life

This course continues on past coursework where the life and works of Catherine of Siena were introduced. Here, we take a deeper look at understanding her theology and spirituality through careful reading and analysis of common concepts and threads that intersect the various areas of her thought and life. The dynamic vibrancy of the seraphic virgin comes through to set us on fire with the Spirit of God in our own day, as once her inner fire lit up the world of her own age with her holiness.

Saturday March 11, 2023
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
On Zoom

Fee: $ 30.00

due to low registrations, this course has been cancelled.

Elizabeth of the Trinity: Her Life, Letters, and Spirituality

This course explores the life and spirituality of this Carmelite mystic through various sources of her writings. This incredible woman with a love for music and a lively secular life entered a Dijon Carmel and explored the depths and heights of the inner life. She also gave very practical spiritual advice, particularly through her retreats. She found her fulfillment in being a praise of glory and living the indwelling of the trinity. She also promised to assist souls in the inner life from heaven.

Instructor: Mary J. Gennuso, PhD

Saturday March 11, 2023
1:00 pm-4:00 pm
On Zoom

Fee: $ 30.00

Great Music Inspired by the Old Testament

Stories in the Old Testament that have inspired great composers through the ages. Using the oratorios of Handel as a basis for the course, we will also feature the music of Rossini, Saint-Saens, Verdi and others.

Instructor: Charles Powell

Tuesday February 28th until April 4th
12 noon until 1.30 PM
2^nd Floor Conference Room, Francis House

Fee: $60.00

Reconsiderations: Three Novels of the Bronte Sisters

Sometimes called “the first family of literature,” the Bronte sisters nurtured one another’s creativity from early childhood. Using male pen names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, the sisters published a book of poems in 1846. Maintaining their pseudonyms, each published her first novel in 1847. We will read the works in order of publication: Jane Eyre, a coming-of-age story; Wuthering Heights, a gothic and psychological masterpiece; and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the story of a woman living as a single mother of a young son in order to escape an abusive marriage. Besides considering the characters’ struggles for personal identity and meaningful relationships in a rigid caste and class system, we will consider how the critical reception of these works has changed since their publication

Instructor:  Sr. Fran McManus, RSM

Feb. 23 – Apr. 13 No class Ap. 6th (Holy Thursday)
(Please Note: the starting date for this course is incorrectly listed as “Feb. 2” in the printed brochure)
Thursday 12:30-1:30
On Zoom

Fee: $60.00

Affirming the Light: The Poetry of Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo’s poetry is descriptive and rhythmic, drawing on her connection to the land, her Muscogee heritage, her deep listening to the voices of history, promises broken and fulfilled and the hope of forming a collective and unifying story. We will spend the first hour and a half of each class discussing Harjo’s poems. The last half hour will be spent writing a poem in light of the themes and techniques of Harjo’s poems. The last half hour is optional; all students are welcome to participate.

Required Texts: Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years. Published in hardcover in November, 2022, the collection shows the range and development of Harjo’s work and contains extensive notes on the poems. The text is available in electronic form and hard copy and can be purchased as a new or used item through Amazon.

Instructor:  Sr. Fran McManus, RSM

Feb. 27 – Apr. 17 (no class April 10th)
Mondays 6-8PM
On Zoom

Fee: $60.00

Three Diverse and Remarkable Women in Church History

This seminar will present the lives of three diverse women from different time periods and spanning three continents. Venerable Mary Ward was born in 1585 during the late Tudor period in West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She was a pioneer in women’s education and is linked with the history of the Bar Convent in York, England’s oldest surviving Catholic convent established in 1686.

Saint Josephine Bakhita, born in Darfur, Sudan in 1869, was captured by slave traders as a child. Years later she was able to escape and arrived in Italy where she became involved with the Canossian Sisters in Venice.

Venerable Satoko Kitahara was born in Tokyo, Japan in the year 1929. An aristocrat who was descended from Samurai warriors, she became a different kind of warrior dedicating her life in service to the orphaned, sick, and poor who were suffering from the damage inflicted during World War II in a riverside area known as Ants Village.

Instructor: Denise De Vito, M.S. Ed, M.S.

Friday, October 28, 2022
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Clare Room

Fee: $50.00

Liturgical Music after Vatican II

In this five-week course will explore the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and how the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy was implemented over the past 60 years. Participants will listen to the music from various traditions and cultures, and seek paths forward with expressions of today’s idioms while still celebrating the Church’s sacred musical treasury.

Instructor:  William Mulligan, M.Mus.

October 16 – November 13, 2022
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Clare Room
Fee: $50.00

The Dublin of Joyce and Yeats

James Joyce is considered one oof the greatest writers of the modern period, and W. B. Yeats, the 1923 Nobel Laureate, is according to T. S. Eliot, the “greatest poet of the 20^th century.”  This course will focus on Joyce’s stories in The Dubliners, followed by Yeats’ early love poems, such as Maude Gonne, and his political poems, like Easter 1916.  John Huston’s film, The Dead, will supplement the readings.

Instructor:  Edward Kent, OSF, M.A.
Mondays, October 17 – November 21, 2022
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM; Classroom 1B

Fee: $60.00