Theology on Tap Kicks off Summer Schedule

Sister Mary Kathleen Burns will help launch the summer season of Theology on Tap (TOT) with her talk tomorrow evening on “Building Your Prayer Tool Box.”

“Theology on Tap is meant to reach young people on the margins, to make them feel comfortable in a relaxed setting with a bit of theology thrown in,” Sister Mary Kathleen said.

The information below is excerpted from the official website of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

TOT is open to all young adults, ages 18 to 39, singles and couples, regardless of religious affiliation, who want to explore the role of faith in their daily lives. Created in 1981, TOT is a nationally recognized speaker and fellowship program that has brought young adults to the church for more than 30 years. In this casual atmosphere, you’ll hear straight talk and honest answers to your deepest questions about faith, love, work and other real life experiences. TOT provides an opportunity to learn about the Catholic faith, meet like-minded people and make new friends.

Details regarding Sister Mary Kathleen’s talk are below. Check out the Archdiocese of Los Angeles website for a full list of TOT’s happening this summer. You can also subscribe to TOT’s newsletter or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

July 9: Theology on Tap @ St. Cornelius, Long Beach

5500 E. Wardlow Rod., Long Beach, 90808

Doors open at 7pm; program starts at 7:30pm

Sr. Kathleen Burns, SND: Building your Prayer Tool Box

Theology on Tap

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Late-Summer Retreat for Ages 18-40

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Notre Dame Academy gathers for Foundation Day service

Photo by Raynelle Duronslet

On Monday, September 30th, students, staff and faculty at Notre Dame Academy in West Los Angeles celebrated Foundation Day with a beautiful service and the following student-led prayer:

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Heavenly Father, this week we will drop our books and open our hearts to the hungry, the homeless, the forgotten, the invisible.
As we make prayer cards and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we ask that you bless the work of our hands, and strengthen those who will receive our gifts, nourish them in body and soul.
Fill us with a spirit of joy and sisterhood as we work together in our religion classes.
Help us as we learn more about the young woman who founded the Sisters of Notre Dame, Hilligonde Wolbring, who later chose the name Sr. Maria Aloyisia when she entered religious life.
Guide us as we grow in understanding of the foundress of our Sisters of Notre Dame, and their congregation, their story, their friendships, their love of God and the poor.
Be with us and our sisters here at Notre Dame Academy as we celebrate your goodness and grace.  Amen.

For more information on how the Sisters of Notre Dame were founded, visit http://www.sndeducation.org/foundation-day/.

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On Marinating…

"A Surrendered Heart" by Chip Coates

Last year I spent two happy months at Providence House, our place for formation for new Sisters. Not having cooked in about 30 years, I observed my co-Sisters preparing delicious meals. Part of their culinary secrets seemed to be the marinade. Somehow the marinade and the barbeque would transform the menu into something really delectable.

After watching this for a week or two, I volunteered to make the evening supper. The menu: hot dogs! These were not ordinary hot dogs, mind you; I had marinated them in Greek seasoning and anything else that looked interesting in the spice cupboard. Of course, when this was discovered the “real chefs” really got a good laugh, although personally I thought the hot dogs were acceptable!

This week I am reading Tatoos on the Heart by Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., the priest who works with thousands of gang members in East L.A. This anecdote about letting things marinate in your heart really touched me.

“Rascal is not one to take advice. He can be recalcitrant, defensive, and primed for the fight. Well into his thirties, he’s a survivor. His truck gets filled with scrap metal and with this, somehow, he feeds his kids and manages to stay on this side of eviction. To his credit, he bid prison time and gang-banging good-bye a long time ago. Rascal sometimes hits me up for funds, and I oblige if I have it AND if his attitude doesn’t foul my mood too much. But you can’t tell him anything—except this one day he actually listens. I am going on about something-can’t remember what but I can see he’s listening. When I’m done he simply says, “You know, I’m gonna take that advice, and I’m going to let it marinate,'”pointing at his heart, “right here”.

Perhaps we should all marinate in the intimacy of God. Genesis, I suppose, got it right–“In the beginning, God.” Ignatius of Loyola spoke about the task if marinating in “the God who is always greater.”

Ignatius writes, “Take care always to keep before your eyes, first, God.” The secret of course, of the ministry of Jesus was that God was at the center of it. Jesus chose to marinate in the God who is always greater than our tiny conception, the God who “loves without measure and without regret.” To anchor yourself in this, to keep before your eyes this God is to choose to be intoxicated, marinated in the fullness of God. An Algerian Trappist, before his martyrdom, spoke to this fullness: “When you fill my heart, my eyes overflow.”

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A Reminder

Tomorrow, Wednesday June 16th, is the last of our Upper Room series with Sr. Kathleen Burns SND at St. Cornelius Church in Long Beach. This last class is on the Beatitudes and it’s going to be a good one (well, they’ve all been good IMHO), so if you can make it, please join us!

St. Cornelius Catholic Church / Large Hall

5500 Wardlow Ave. Long Beach, CA 90808

7:30 pm

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