From Table to Altar:
The Relationship of Home to Church
by
Rev. James R. Van Dyke, S.J..

On Monday, February 13th, Rev. James Van Dyke, a Jesuit priest in the New York archdiocese, will give a presentation entitled “From Table to Altar: The Relationship of Home to Church”at Church of St. Thomas More. It is the next in the seriesMORE Hot Topics,which examines parenting and family life in the 21st century. Rev. Van Dyke will explore the relationship of “table” and “altar” and offer some reflections on how we—broken as we are—might use the one to help the other as we seek to build both home and church.

In our day many things are called broken. Health care, the pundits say, is broken. Washington, the partisans of right and left say, is broken. The economy, says the Occupy Movement, is broken.

Church and Family are not immune to this criticism. As early as the 1960’s, some called the Church broken, pointing to the paucity of young people in the pews, the invisible confession lines on Saturday afternoon and empty churches on Sunday morning as their proof. And for years we have heard of broken families, and the breakdown of family life.

There is much truth to these criticisms, but they are not the whole story. Families are always breaking down, yet they are also always reconciling. And the Church, like the family, is called to be a place of and a community for reconciliation.

It is not a coincidence that the symbol of reconciliation at the core of each is the table— the family’s dining table and the Table of the Lord.

Rev. Van Dyke, a former rector of the St. Ignatius Loyola Jesuit Community (New York City), and an educator for many years, is currently teaching English at Fordham Preparatory School. He holds a MALA, from St. John's College (Annapolis), MDiv from Weston School of Theology, ThM from Weston School of Theology and a BA from the University of Virginia.

PARENTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Join us as we explore the roles and challenges to parents in raising Catholic children who will be citizens and leaders of strong faith and morals…

April 11, 2011 – 7:00 pm
PART I : An Overview of Parenting
“The Family as the Domestic Church”
by Sr. Kathleen Dietz, FSO
Sr. Kathleen, a theology professor at Gannon University in Erie Pennsylvania, will speak about the responsibility the family has for nurturing the faith and for preserving it and handing it on to the next generation, as well as the challenges and joys which go along with that.

May 16, 2011 – 7:00 pm
PART II : Practical Steps
“Practical Steps to Raising Children of Character”
by Barbara Falk, M.Ed
Barbara is an educator and lecturer who specializes in empowering parents to raise children of character in today’s world. Ms. Falk is a nationally known speaker who encourages parents to take an active leadership role in the home and to teach their children the importance of virtuous living within the natural setting of the family.

September 2011 – (date tbd)
PART III : The Teenage Years
“New Atheism: Who or What is Influencing your Teenager?”
by Fr. Anthony Andreassi
In this presentation, Fr. Anthony instructs and assists parents on how to have productive and intelligent conversations with their teenagers to help defuse influences by current popular atheist authors such as Christopher Hitchens.

THE ROCHESTER ROOM
of
Church of St. Thomas More
65 East 89th Street - (Between Park & Madison Avenues)
Tel: (212) 876-7719
Visit with the Speaker and Share Light Refreshments Following the Presentation
Free Will Offering Accepted
Sponsored by: The Education Committee of the Parish Council

No-Place is Everywhere:
The Infinite Limits of Thomas More's Utopia
A Presentation
By
John D. Pilsner

ST. THOMAS MORE is a man of two legacies: first, as a Catholic statesman and martyr who resisted Henry VIII's encroachments on the Church, and second, as the author of Utopia, one of the most influential and controversial narrative fictions of all time. This second legacy has become, in our modern era, a literary-political touchstone as well as an indelible mark on our popular imagination. Studied more for its consequences than in its origins, Utopia reveals the mind of a uniquely creative thinker and writer at the moment of his own political ascendancy. Yet how do we reconcile the devout Catholic statesman with the ingenious literary artist? For the annual lecture on St. Thomas More, we will take up this question, discussing also the circumstances of Utopia's composition, its literary context, some of its many interpretive possibilities, and what relevance Utopia and utopianism have for us today.

JOHN PILSNER is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is a member of the Amici Thomae Mori, an international society dedicated to the life and times of St. Thomas More. During 1995 and 1996, he studied in Angers, France, at the research center Moreanum, under the direction of Fr. Germain Marc'hadour, renowned Morean scholar and founding editor of the journal Moreana. Between 1993 and 2006, Mr. Pilsner taught Comparative Literature and Philosophy at Queens College (NY). He is currently teaching at The Montfort Academy and completing his doctoral dissertation, which treats the subject of philosophical dialectic and paradox in More's Utopia and other works.

Mr. Pilsner received a B/A/ in Drama and English from Hofstra University, and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Toronto.

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009
at 7:00 p.m.
THE ROCHESTER ROOM
of
Church of St. Thomas More
65 East 89th Street - (Between Park & Madison Avenues)
Tel: (212) 876-7719

Visit with the Speaker and Share Light Refreshments Following the Discussion
Free Will Offering Accepted
Sponsored by: The Education Committee of the Parish Council

 

Islam and the Catholic Church:
How Past History is Shaping Today's Events
A Presentation
By
Andrew Bieszad

For over 1000 years there have been efforts to forge dialogue between Moslems and Catholics, two of the world's three monotheistic religions that share the Abrahamic root. However, without a basic understanding of the foundation of the other's belief, it is almost impossible to dialogue. Are there ore beliefs that the two share? If so, what are they? If not, what can be done? Andrew Bieszad, an Islamic scholar, who has lectured extensively about Islam throughout the country, will provide and overview of Islam and its relevance to the 21st century Christianity.

Mr. Bieszad is a member of Pax Romana, an International Movement of Catholic Students and serves as their representative to the United Nations. He3 also serves as and Islam and Catholic-Moslem relations advisor to the National Catholic Students Coalition (the American branch of Pax Romana). His article, "The Secular Islam Summit Conference Report" appeared in TELOS (Summer 2007), while another article entitled "Church Honors Lebanese Civil War Martyrs" appeared in Cedar News (July 13, 2008). Additionally, Mr. Bieszad has begun production on the video series "The Church and Militant Islam: A 1000 Year Overview," based on a five-part lecture series.

Mr. Bieszad speaks Arabic-Classical, Standard, and Egyptian dialects – and is fluent in Russian and proficient in Mandarin Chinese. He is an M.A. candidate in Islamic Studies (Hartford Seminary, CT, May 2009); and has a B.A. degree with Honors in Religious Studies, with a concentration in Islam and Christianity and minors in journalism and Chinese (Central Connecticut State University, CT, May 2007).

SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2009
at 3:00 PM
THE ROCHESTER ROOM
of
Church of St. Thomas More
65 East 86th Street - (Between Park & Madison Avenues) Tel: (212) 876-7719
Visit with the Speaker and Share Light Refreshments Following the Discussion
Free Will Offering Accepted
Sponsored by: The Education Committee of the Parish Council

Other Lectures:

• STM Education Committee
• Breaking or Keeping the Natural Law
• All God's Children: Why Can't We Get Along
• The Making of BELLA: Behind-the-Scenes Stories