Stay-at-Home Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic
Advent Spiritual Classics: Advent Meditations from Prison
As we look towards Advent and Christmas and prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, join the Lifelong Learning & Adult Faith Formation Committee for a three-week series on the Advent meditations of Father Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest who was imprisoned and executed by the Nazi regime.
Discussions will be held online over Zoom on Tuesdays, December 7, 14, and 21 at 7:30 pm. The discussions will include the 1944 readings of the Gospels for the weeks of Advent, selected passages of the meditations written from prison and smuggled out through Father Delp’s laundry, and time for sharing our reflections as we contemplate the mystery of the incarnation. The meditations are short and a pdf copy will be provided to participants who register. The book is also available for purchase.
These discussions will be led by Jeff Wood, who chairs the Lifelong Learning & Adult Faith Formation Committee at Ascension.
Registration is required. To participate, just send an email to llaffc@ascensionoakpark.com with Advent Meditations in the subject line. You’ll receive a return email before the discussion with PDF copies of the Meditations and a link for the Zoom meetings.
At the time of his arrest, Father Delp was the Rector of St. Georg Church in Munich, and had a reputation for being a gripping, dynamic preacher, and one who was an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime. He was an important figure in the Resistance movement against Nazism. Accused of conspiring against the Nazi government, he was arrested in 1944, tortured, imprisoned, and executed on Feb 2, 1945.
His approach to Advent, the season that prepares us for Christmas, is what Father Delp called an advent of the heart. More than just preparing us for Christmas, it is a spiritual program, a way of life. He proclaimed that our personal, social and historical circumstances, even suffering, offer us entry into the true Advent, our personal journey toward a meeting and dialogue with God. Indeed, his own life, and great sufferings, illustrated the true Advent he preached and wrote about.
If you wish to obtain your own copy of the meditations, readings, and homilies, electronic and paper copies are available at Ignatius Press, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon. Free pdf copies of the Advent meditations are available at Perlego with a free trial.
Video Recordings of The Foundations and Future of Ministry
Here are video links for the recordings of three programs on The Foundations and Future of Ministry, provided by Father Bob Hutmacher and Vicky Tufano on April 22, 29, and May 6.
The first session reviews scriptural foundations for service to God’s people and provides a broad understanding of ministry. The next two sessions address the future of ministry and offer new, revitalized ways to view service in ministry. As we begin a process of transformation through Renew My Church and think about new ways of being the Church, we consider the past, present, and future of ministry in service to God’s people. How can we best revitalize ministry today for the Church of tomorrow?
Father Bob Hutmacher, OFM, has been part of the Ascension community since 2012. He is a liturgist, composer, and guardian of the Franciscan community at St. Peter’s in the Loop. Vicky Tufano previously served as pastoral associate and director of liturgy at Ascension. She is a frequent writer and speaker on liturgy and Christian initiation.
Thursday, April 22 – Scriptural Foundations of Church and Ministry
Thursday, April 29 – Ministry in our Post-Covid Church
Thursday, May 6 – Revitalizing Liturgical Ministries