Later this month I will be in Phoenix, Arizona for the Eastern Catholic Bible Conference. There are going to be some great speakers, including Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo and his brother Fr. Sebastian, whom I’ve mentioned before in relation to one of my favourite apostolates, the Institute Of Catholic Culture.
The conference is good value, costing $30 to attend, but even if you can’t make it to Phoenix, you can participate online, simply by paying $7.
If you’re coming in person, make sure you bring your Bible, because I can guarantee that Fr. Hezekias will be performing spot checks…
A couple of months ago I found myself back around my old stomping ground of Washington DC. It was great to return to one of my favourite US cities, catching up with friends and re-visiting all my favourite places.
Since writing that earlier blog post, I visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska and did a double-take when I saw an office with his name on it! Clearly this guy gets around! his brother’s name on it!
Anyway, during this “Year of Faith”, the CIC has been hosting a series of lectures on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and I just so happened to be in town for Deacon Carnazzo’s lecture on Orientalium Ecclesiarum, the Decree concerning the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, a subject close to my heart.
No, I’m not a Roman Catholic…
Deacon Carnazzo is himself an Eastern-Rite Catholic and during his talk he explained the origin of the Eastern Churches and gave a brief introduction to life as an Eastern Catholic. In his talk he encouraged all Western Catholics to become familiar with the Eastern Church. How is this to be done? Well, if you want to get to know someone, you share a meal with them. For Catholics, this means sharing in the Eucharistic feast.
So, in the spirit of this, I have set up a Facebook event and invited my friends to come with me to celebrate the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul at the end of the month at my local Byzantine parish. If you’re in town and you’d like to come, feel free to shoot me an email.
Today I would like to draw your attention to one of the best online sources for Catholic education, the Institute of Catholic Culture.
The Institute was founded by Rev. Franklyn McAfee and Deacon Sabatino Carnazzo. The activities of the institute are centered on the east coast of America, not too far away from where I used to live in Washington DC. However, their work and reach is extended through the magic of the Internet. Their website hosts a huge library of lectures on theology, philosophy, history, Scripture and many other topics. In fact, the website recently underwent a redesign and it is now even possible to watch the lectures live.
I think I first encountered the Institute through Joe Heschmeyer, Catholic blogger extraordinaire and recent Kansas City seminarian. After he once mentioned the Institute I immediately began consuming all their talks, especially those on Sacred Scripture and the Early Church Fathers. So much great stuff! Here have been some of my favourite talks:
Anyone who has attended the JP2 Group within the last two years will certainly be familiar with the Institute since I have mentioned them frequently and distributed many of their talks on CD.
The topics are varied, the content is solid and the speakers are engaging. So, if you wish to gain a better understanding of the Catholic faith and experience more of its riches, I would thoroughly recommend that you check out the Institute of Catholic Culture.
