Third CCSS
Advanced Biblical Studies Class Graduates
Twenty-one Chicago
Catholic Scripture School students completed their journey through the
Bible as classes at CCSS Dominican University and CCSS Office for
Catechesis and Youth Ministry came to an end.
Over the last four
years, these dedicated students have spent 200-240 hours in class and many
more hours preparing for class. They have studied and prayed all 73 books
of the Bible under the guidance of their instructors, truly earning their
certificates in Advanced Biblical Studies.
Twelve students
participated in Mount Nebo Day, a day of review, reflection and
discernment, held at the Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry June 16,
2007. Carol Kloss, CCSS Coordinator and teacher, presented a “looking
back” overview of what they had learned in terms of history, theology,
prayer and resources for Bible study. Students then reflected on their
CCSS experience and looked ahead to what they might do with their
training.
Joanne Twomey will
lead a parish Bible study at St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish (Prospect
Heights). Virginia Sullivan, a sixth-grade catechist at Immaculate
Conception-St. Joseph (Chicago), hopes to bring each new group of “her
kids” to a love for the Bible. Cathy Judge and Jennifer Davis are
considering further theological education. Edna Montemayor is discerning
what to do in her parish, in response to her pastor’s call—literally,
a telephone call! Rita Lambert, spiritual director at Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Parish, summed up the experience of many of the students present by
describing her personal and professional life as a “love story with
Scripture.”
CCSS
Year 1 Students Visit Synagogue
Twenty-five first
year students deepened their understanding of the Pentateuch with the
fourth annual Chicago Catholic Scripture School (CCSS) visit to North
Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe on March 9, 2007.
Students from CCSS
St. Martha and CCSS Saint Xavier University joined the congregation for a
Friday night Welcoming Sabbath service and then spent an hour with Rabbi
Wendi Geffen discussing Judaism and looking at Torah scrolls.
Many students
commented on the beauty of the service and connections to prayers in the
Catholic liturgy, such as the Sanctus and the Our Father.
Rabbi Geffen talked
about the meaning of the Sabbath. She also showed students how to work
with a scroll, explained its decorative coverings and described the life
of a Torah scribe today.
"It was so
interesting to see how the scrolls were dressed in the colors and with the
decorations exactly as described in the Old Testament," said CCSS St.
Martha student Donna Swanson.
CCSS works with the
Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of
Chicago to offer this optional field trip.
