September 29, 2024

• TASTE EVENTS

• • LAST WEEK — TASTE opened its 18th season as our Spiritual Director Fr. Larry Swink gave a talk entitled "What to Do When God Seems Distant: A Summary of the Book of Esther." Fr. Swink used the book of Esther as a means to help us navigate the difficult times we are in, especially when God appears distant from us. The books of the Bible are the thoughts of God and the words of men. Curiously, the only book of the Bible that contains no mention of God is the book of Esther, and yet God is ever present to Esther and the Jewish people at that time. We can look to see what Esther and this book of the Bible teach us about how to live and act when we feel God distant in our present age. God is there even though we cannot see Him, even though He seems distant, even though it seems the world does not want to speak about Him. God is present among us if we are willing to surrender to His will. If it were not for our faith, what would we do in times of despair? This talk consisted of a Bible study on the book of Esther interspersed with questions and insights for us in the present age.  MORE

• • NEW TALK — This week, we welcome back Fr. Virginus Osuagwu as he gives a talk entitled "Deepening Our Faith in Troubled TImes."

• • THIS WEEK'S DISCUSSION — We will discuss Fr. Larry Swink's talk entitled "What to Do When God Seems Distant: A Summary of the Book of Esther." The audio, video, reflection questions and other related material can be found HERE. The Zoom small group meets on the following Tuesday morning. Details on how to join can be found in a link at the bottom of this message.

• OTHER EVENTS

• • OCTOBER CONFERENCE — Fr. Virginus is hosting "The Woman" Project International Conference 2024 from October 17th-19th at Resurrection Church in Burtonsville, MD.  Conference registration is $45.  See LINK.

• • OCT / NOV EVANGELIZATION DRAMA — "Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk" is an engaging and inspiring "evangelization drama" to help teach the Catholic faith about the "Last Things" including teachings on the Communion of Saints, the angels, and the three great virtues: faith, hope and charity, at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine in Emmitsburg. Tickets are still available for Oct 24th and Nov 2nd.  See LINK.

• • NOVEMBER CONFERENCE — St. Mark's Church in Catonsville is hosting a Maryland Catholic Women's Conference called "Joyful Journey — Exploring the Beatitudes" on Saturday, November 9th from 8:30 am - 4:00 pm. See FLYER.

• PRAYER REQUESTS

• • Please continue to pray for our TASTE program and our speakers. This week, please pray for: 1) Mike Frentz (our founder Marian Frentz's husband) as he still needs our prayers post stem cell transplant, 2) Fr. Larry Swink for healing, 3) Susan Conroy as she continues to have medical issues, 4) Kate Christianson for eradication of her cancer and overall health improvement, 5) Andrew, Larissa Cymerman's brother-in-law for healing from blood cancer, 6) God's complete physical and spiritual healing for Helen Griffith's brother-in-law Rod, 7) Terry Mark's nephew Peter, his wife Jennifer, and 2 young daughters as their house was devastated by a massive fire, and 8) Peace and comfort to the families of each of the people mentioned above.   New prayer requests can be sent to Joy Parker at joyparker73@gmail.com.

• Blessings,

  Joy, Michele, Karen, and Helen

  Jesus, I trust in You!