Description

   Our annual Summer Bible Study provides an opportunity for participants to gather with an acknowledged scripture scholar to explore a particular book or theme from the Scriptures. 
   The series for 2021 will give participants a chance to explore the role food plays in scripture.  The discussion will begin and end with the Lord’s Supper, but in between will examine the ways both Jewish tradition and the practices of an emerging Christian Church shaped New Testament teachings about meals, gatherings, and fellowship. This is a timely discussion for so many Catholics who are emerging from the isolation of the pandemic and re-engaging with the Sunday Eucharist.
   For each class, participants will read passages from scripture that help prepare them for discussions with the entire group.

Schedule

Week 1:  The Last Supper
We will begin by reading the four Gospel accounts of the last meal Jesus shared with his followers.  We will look for the themes that these writers introduced as they described the meals in ways that let them emphasize different aspects of its meaning.
Week 2:  Jewish meals
Jewish practices around food (such as dietary restrictions) and Jewish attitudes toward meals (including hospitality and symbols of joy), provide contexts for Jesus’s ministry.  We will examine accounts of Jewish meals from the Old Testament and note who Jesus was with when he shared food.
Week 3:  Meals in the Early Christian Communities
The Letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles provide important insights into how those who followed Jesus after his death remembered him and began to shape his message for their own worlds.  In those years, careful Jewish observances gave way to a new willingness to include Gentiles among the growing community of Jesus followers.
Week 4:  Food, Life, and World
In this class we will apply what we have learned to our faith today, including to our understanding of the Eucharist.  For example, we will discuss and try to understand how the Eucharist keeps many important themes from the Old Testament, Gospels, and early Church alive for us in ways that are both tangible and intangible—physical and spiritual.