What must I do to inherit eternal life?

~Questions of Moral Living~

Summer School 22nd - 25th August 2016

 ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ is the question of a rich young man in St Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 19:16).  In his answer, Christ reminds the young man of the Ten Commandments. This scene was the focus of the meditations on Catholic living with which St John Paul II begins his encyclical Veritatis Splendor (1994). That great encyclical reminds Catholics and the entire world of the age-old Catholic moral vision, arising from Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Church’s magisterial teaching on moral life from across the centuries.

In our ‘postmodern’ society in the western world today we seem to be drifting ever further away from that moral vision, which is a vision of the true dignity of the human person and human community, with the family at its basis, as created by God. Everyone who has eyes to see knows that the world’s vision today is not the ‘liberation’ many have advocated now for some decades, but a path to sorrow, pain, loneliness, conflict and social disintegration. The Catholic faith is the message of joy and true happiness in the new life in Christ.

In this summer course we want to address some of the crucial moral questions and challenges of our day as these regard ethical perspectives on sexual relationships and the biomedical issues necessarily connected with them. The stress is upon the positive vision of human dignity, as created and redeemed by the Triune God, and we will examine both the ethical issues and the concrete way of living these out to which Christ calls us.

The course will present in an integrated fashion the beauty of Catholic teaching on life issues and interpersonal and sexual morality in a way that helps participants to deepen their own appreciation of this true way to human happiness and integrity, at the same time helping them to offer attractive and convincing answers to those they meet in our culture today who have little understanding of what the Church really teaches, but who themselves want, in reality, to find meaning and fulfilment in life and relationships.

Among the areas which will feature in the lectures and discussions in the course will be:

1. The dignity of the human person and of human relationships upon which family life and procreation are based.
2. The challenges to individuals, marriage and society posed by contraception, abortion and IVF.
3. The beauty and wisdom of the Church’s teaching in Humane Vitae and in the magisterial teaching of St John Paul II; theology of the body and complementarity.
4. The great value of personal self-control and chastity in all areas of life.
5. The culture of life as redeeming a culture of death, and the ‘throw away’ culture condemned by Pope Francis.
6. God’s call to the sacrament of marriage: ‘Three to get married’; openness to life; NFP.

Cost: The costs for 2016 is £345. There is also a £20 application fee payable upon application. For those who wish to only attend the classes, there is a day rate of £80.

Cancellation Rights:

You have a 14 day cooling off period which starts from the date of application.

The summer school begins at 5.30pm on the first day and finishes at lunch time on the last day.  The weekend is designed to include lectures and seminars in the context of experiencing the rhythm of daily prayer of the resident Benedictine monastic community.

An application form will be available to download soon.

To apply online please click here.