Tag: Bucket List

Book Announcement!

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Today I’d like to share with you something I’m going to be working on during my sabbatical. For the longest time, my bucket list has contained an entry which reads “Write a book and get it published”. I think it’s finally time to cross off that entry…

Typwriter

The Need and the Vision

I’ve been involved with different Bible Study groups, both in the USA and back in England, for about ten years. During this time, I’ve searched for a book to help guide me in leading these different groups. Unfortunately, that book doesn’t appear to exist! In the Protestant world, I’ve found books which help with basic Biblical exegesis and personal reading, but nothing substantial on leading a group study. In the Catholic world, there are even slimmer pickings. In light of this, over the next couple of months I’m going to be writing the book that I wish I had read a decade ago!

This book is going to lead the reader through the entire process of running a Bible Study, from beginning to end. My goal is to make this book extremely practical, coving all the nitty-gritty details of setting up and running a group. It will guide the reader through a typical Bible Study meeting, providing lots of handy hints as to how to nurture the discussion and avoid common pitfalls. In the appendices I hope to have all kinds of usual material, including a modified version of my commentary on Philippians. It is my hope that, even with no prior experience, once somebody has this book in his hands he will have everything he needs to start a successful Bible Study in his parish.

You’re Involved too!

As a reader of Restless Pilgrim, this involves you! I will be blogging about the book over the coming months and asking for your feedback. This begins today! I’m currently trying to come up with a working title for this book. Please help me choose it by voting below:

I’d also like to choose a tag line or subtitle for the book:

I’m really excited about this and I’d love to hear your thoughts! What would you look for in a book like this? Is there a particular issue related to Bible study groups which you’d particularly like to see addressed?

Your advice is needed!

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SabbaticalLovely readers! I’d like your advice please!

At the end of this week things are going to change… My company just approved my request for a two-month sabbatical.

I’m going to use the time for three things. First and foremost, I’m going to use this time to discern the road ahead. Next, I’m going to take this opportunity to tick some things off my bucket list. Finally, I’m going to use the time to have a bit of a rest, a shabbat, if you will…

I’m currently planning how I’m going to structure those two months, and this is where I’d appreciate your input. I will be spending the first week of the sabbatical on retreat at a monastery at an undisclosed location in another part of the United States…

After that, what should I do? Or, put another way, if you had two months off work, how would you spend your time?

Catholic Bucket List #6: Read some CS Lewis

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Today we have something of a rather odd Catholic Bucket List item:

Catholic Bucket List #6: Read some CS Lewis

cs-lewis

This is something of an odd Bucket List item since CS Lewis isn’t, in fact, Catholic. However, he is an absolutely terrific writer. This year I have read four C.S. Lewis books and have been so impressed by his depth of thought and refined style. His insight into spiritual battle and temptation in The Screwtape letters is so insightful. His articulation of the Christian faith in Mere Christianity is just superb.

However, you don’t have to read this theological works to fulfill this bucket list item though. Lewis was a writer of some wonderful fiction. I grew up with my mother and sister reading The Chronicles of Narnia to me and they were some of the first books I read myself when I was able. In fact, I would go so far as to invite you, if you have not yet read them, to read The Chronicles of Narnia. In the past few years I have made new friends who have never read them before. When I discover this to be the case, I immediately go out and buy a set for them.

Catholic Bucket List #5: Retreat!

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The last Bucket List item was to go on pilgrimage. Today’s Bucket List item is related to the previous one:

Catholic Bucket List #5: Go on a retreat

In modern society we are surrounded by noise and we fill our days with business and it’s extremely easy for God to be squeezed out of our day. This is one of the reasons why retreats are so needed. Setting aside a day, a weekend or week to reconnect with God and spend some time with him in prayer can be so good for reestablishing a healthy life balance.

No two retreats are ever the same and there are many different kinds of retreat which one may attend. I would suggest that everyone should go on a silent retreat at least once. I know that if you have never gone on one before, the thought of spending long periods in silence is a terrifying prospect, but believe me, by the end you’ll love it!

A couple of years ago I was actively discerning the priesthood and, as part of my discernment I went on a silent Ignatian Spiritual Exercises retreat given by the Miles Christi priests:

Finding time to get away on retreat can sometimes be difficult, especially if one has children. If so, you might like to take a 3 Minute Retreat!

Catholic Bucket List #4: Go on pilgrimage

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The previous bucket list task of lighting a votive candle was rather simple. This next bucket list item is a little more involved…

Bucket List Item #4: Go on pilgrimage

The Catholic Church has an extremely rich history of pilgrimage. From the earliest times Christians have travelled to places of significance for the Christian faith. The hope in visiting such places is that the pilgrim’s faith will grow and that he would be enriched by process of the journey. The journey is itself an allegory for the Christian journey through life, a pilgrimage towards Heaven.

JP2 in Jerusalem

Pope John Paul II in Jerusalem

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Meeting Scott Hahn

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Last night I finally got to meet Dr. Scott Hahn. He was giving a talk at St. Therese’s Catholic Parish in San Diego. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to come to the talk itself, but I managed to get to the church before he left.

I got him to sign one of his books.

I asked him a question concerning one of his previous talks on Matthew’s Gospel.

He was taller than I expected.

Good times 🙂

I have come close to meeting Dr. Hahn so many times, missing him by only a few days, hours or miles. Because of this, “Meet Scott Hahn” made it onto my Bucket List several years ago. It was with a great sense of satisfaction that, when I returned to my car last night, I finally crossed that item off my list:

Meet Scott Hahn Bucket List Item