“We read to know that we are not alone.” C.S. Lewis
Faith sharing, friendship, fun, and food are what you will find at Saint Katharine Drexel’s “No Pressure” Book Group (NPBG)
Due to CoVID concerns the book club in early 2021 is meeting through Zoom.
Meetings are held in the Blessed Stanley Rother Room. The book discussion begins at 7:00 p.m. In the past we were able to enjoy a meal together then proceed to our discussion. For the Fall of 2020, face masks and 6 feet social distancing are required.
The book group does not meet over the summer (June, July, and August) or in December.
For additional information contact Sandy at middlef48@icloud.com.
September 8, 2020
Into His Likeness:
Be Transformed as a Disciple of Christ
By Dr. Edward Sri
- Into His Likeness, Dr. Edward Sri provides an approachable but in-depth exploration of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. At the outset, he emphasizes the importance of every Christian’s developing the desire to be a true disciple of Christ and gives the reader a first glimpse of what the life of a disciple looks like. As the book progresses, he unfolds what a true encounter of love with Christ entails and explores the transforming power of God’s grace. He also offers for consideration “the four habits of a disciple”: prayer, the breaking of bread (the Sacraments), fellowship, and the teaching of the Apostles. The book concludes with a powerful call to fulfill every Christian’s mission of evangelization. Into His Likeness is a down-to-earth and tremendously valuable handbook for anyone wishing to pursue Christ wholeheartedly.
October 13, 2020
Salvation: What every Catholic Should Know
by Michael Patrick Barber
At every Sunday Mass, Catholics confess that Jesus came down from heaven “for us men and for our salvation.” But what does “salvation” mean? In this robust and accessible book, Scripture scholar and theologian Michael Patrick Barber provides a thorough, deeply Catholic, and deeply biblical, answer. He deftly tackles this complex topic, unpacking what the New Testament teaches about salvation in Christ, detailing what exactly salvation is, and what it is not. In easy and readable prose, he explains what the Cross, the Church, and the Trinity have to do with salvation. While intellectually stimulating, Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know is deeply spiritual, and at its core is the salvific message that God is love, and his love is one of transformation and redemption.
November 10, 2020
Joy to the World
By Scott Hahn
What could be more familiar than the Christmas story – and yet what could be more extraordinary? The cast of characters is strange and exotic: shepherds and magicians, an emperor and a despot, angels, and a baby who is Almighty God. The strangeness calls for an explanation, and this book provides it by examining the characters and the story in light of the biblical and historical context. Best-selling author Scott Hahn who has written extensively on Scripture and the early Church, brings evidence to light, dispelling some of the mystery of the story. Yet Christmas is made familiar all over again by showing it to be a family story. Christmas, as it appears in the New Testament, is the story of a father, a mother, and a child – their relationships, their interactions, their principles, their individual lives, and their common life. To see the life of this “earthly trinity” is to gaze into heaven.
January 12, 2021
Return of the Lord: Narrative Reflections on the Apostles’ Final Moments
by Michael Creavey
Jesus’ apostles were not particularly remarkable men at first glance: fishermen, carpenters, even tax collectors! And yet he said, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain” (John 15:16). Little is known for certain about what happened to each of them following the Resurrection, yet ancient traditions abound. What were their final moments like in this life? How did each apostle summon such astounding courage to face trial, tribulation, and martyrdom? What might it have been like when the Lord returned for them as he had promised? Mike Creavey reimagines these final moments in an intimately personal way, inviting the reader into an experience of the profound love that God plants in the hearts of his closest friends.
February 9, 2021
Meet the Author, Michael Creavey
March 9, 2021
Hard Sayings; a Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties by Trent Horn
Have you ever read something in the Bible that made you just scratch your head? Has a skeptic ever challenged you to defend a seemingly scandalous verse of Scripture? You re not alone. The Bible contains more than a few hard sayings (John 6:60): ancient idioms, apparent contradictions, myth-like events and figures, and passages that seem to be embarrassingly out of step with modern culture or science. How can a Catholic reconcile such things with his own faith, and with what the Church teaches about the inspiration and inerrancy of Sacred Scripture? Don t worry. As Trent Horn (Answering Atheism) explains in Hard Sayings, God s revelation in the Bible is not something Catholics need to be ashamed of or read with a mental reservation. Trent examines dozens of the most confounding passages in Scripture and offers clear, reasonable, Catholic explanations to unlock their true meaning. He also provides basic principles for reading and interpreting Scripture that the wisdom of the Church has developed over the centuries.
We will discuss the Introduction and Part I which addresses external difficulties, the dark passages that appear to contradict scientific or historical facts known apart from the Bible (e.g. Genesis and evolution, or the historicity of the Gospels).
April 13, 2021
Hard Sayings; a Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties by Trent Horn
We will discuss Part II which addresses internal difficulties, those passages that appear to contract other parts of the Bible.
May 11, 2021
Hard Sayings; a Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties by Trent Horn
We will discuss Part III which addresses the passages that seem to contain “moral difficulties” that seems to endorse evils like chattel slavery or the slaughter of innocent women and children.
SUMMER BREAK
2021 -2022 Schedule
September 14, 2021
October 12, 2021
November 19, 2021
January 11, 2022
February 8, 2022
March 8, 2022
April 12, 2022
May 10, 2022
