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Faith & Culture Series
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Last summer, Pope Francis wrote a letter on the importance of literature. Happily, he agreed with the Cathedral’s rector who has spent years fostering this avenue of spiritual enrichment. From the Holy Father’s letter:
“In our reading, we are enriched by what we receive from the author and this allows us in turn to grow inwardly, so that each new work we read will renew and expand our worldview…. Literature thus has to do, in one way or another, with our deepest desires in this life, for on a profound level literature engages our concrete existence, with its innate tensions, desires and meaningful experiences…. Literature helps us to reflect on the meaning of our presence in this world, to “digest” and assimilate it, and to grasp what lies beneath the surface of our experience. Literature, in a word, serves to interpret life, to discern its deeper meaning and its essential tensions…. Literature can greatly stimulate the free and humble exercise of our use of reason, a fruitful recognition of the variety of human languages, a broadening of our human sensibilities, and finally, a great spiritual openness to hearing the Voice that speaks through many voices.”
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C.S. Lewis at His Best: Till We Have Faces
Presented by John Niemann
Saturday, June 28th
9-11 am
Hayden Hall (lower level of Cathedral)
Tolkien considered this the best work that his friend Lewis ever wrote. It is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. Lewis uses it to explore the mystery of religion as well as the quest for human self-knowledge. Are the gods uncaring and unjust? Or is divine love even at the heart of man’s experience of suffering? Lewis shows how ignorance and jealousy can blind us to the truth about ourselves and about God.
A Classic of Catholic Science Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Presented by Dr. Mary Reichardt
Saturday, July 26th
9-11am
Hayden Hall (lower level of Cathedral)
Catholic Science Fiction? You bet! Walter Miller draws upon his WWII experience bombing that ancient bulwark of faith in dark times, the 6th century Abbey of Monte Cassino. In the new dark age of the post-apocalyptic 26th century, monks again attempt to preserve faith and learning even as the cyclic nature of human development and destruction moves relentlessly onward.
Carmelite Martyrs of the French Revolution: The Song at the Scaffold
Presented by Dr. Mary Reichardt
Saturday, August 16th
9-11 am
Hayden Hall (lower level of Cathedral)
Last December, Pope Francis canonized the 16 Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne. They took a vow to offer their lives in exchange for an end to the Reign of Terror, and one by one they mounted the scaffold to the guillotine singing hymns of praise. This fictional account follows one of the young nuns as she struggles with fear in the face of martyrdom, a trial that mirrors Jesus' Agony. This talk also considers the historical account provided by William Bush's To Quell the Terror.
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