Seminar on Eucharist, Marian devotion set

THOMAS SMITH, NOTED INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER, TO CONDUCT A SEMINAR ON “ACTS: THE SPREAD OF THE KINGDOM” AND “THE BIBLICAL ROOTS OF THE MASS & MARIAN DEVOTION”

Thomas Smith, who was in Davao City in June of 2007 to conduct the Great Adventure Bible Timeline at the CAP Auditorium, and who returned last June 5, 2010 to do the one-day seminar called “Unlocking Revelation In a Day” at the CAP Grand Auditorium, is set to return to Davao next month for another seminar.

It is indeed such a great blessing for the lay faithful of Davao that Thomas Smith will be giving the seminar entitled “Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom” on February 8, a Saturday, from 8am ~ 4pm at the Social Hall of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) in Bo. Obrero, especially since it coincides with the declaration by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) of 2014 as the Year of the Laity.

It can be recalled that in its pastoral exhortation ”Filipino Catholic Laity: Called to be Saints…Sent Forth as Heroes,” the bishops emphasized the need to empower the laity in their role of transforming the world and bringing Christ’s kingdom into it. They also urged the laity to promote a continuing education towards the maturity of their faith, starting with their Christian families, and more importantly, to make their faith bear on their daily decisions and actions.

These exhortations support the call of our beloved Pope Francis, who is “inviting the whole Church to return to the boldness, the passion, the joy, and the mercy that characterized the followers of Jesus in the first century. He knows that if we are to have a New Evangelization, we have to be students of the First Evangelization. Join us as we explore the New Testament book that will help us take up the Pope’s call: The Acts of the Apostles.

During the seminar, participants will be given the opportunity to discover the sources of strength that helped the first Christians spread the Good News in three waves of joy, learn the significance, meaning, and power of Pentecost, explore the meaning of discipleship and the confidence of our call to follow Christ, and much more.” (from flyer)

In the morning of the following day, February 9, Sunday, Thomas Smith will talk about “The Biblical Roots of the Mass & Marian Devotion.” “One of the key insights from the recent Synod on the Eucharist was that if we want to revive and reinvigorate the laity we must reconnect the Mass to the story of salvation (the Scripture). Since the story of salvation is our story, it has the power to bring the Mass into our personal story, and helps us avoid the real spiritual malady of simply going through the motions.  There are dozens of scriptural stories woven into the Mass at key moments that reveal what is going on and what our interior response should be. At this time when many Catholics are leaving the Church, more than ever, we need to understand and enter into the liturgy with a fuller appreciation of the Church’s greatest treasure.

The presentation on Mary has a similar aim, which is to help participants understand the Biblical roots of our Marian devotions so we can better understand them ourselves, defend them against attacks from other sects, and truly enter into them with a deeper understanding, instead of just going through the motions.” (from Thomas Smith’s e-mail)

Tickets to this enriching and invaluable one and a half (1.5) days seminar are available for only P150.00. For ticket inquiries, please call Humberto’s Hotel at 222-3831. Participants are advised to bring their own Bibles, notebooks, and pens to the seminar. The BLD Covenant Community, Davao District, ACLAIM, the Philippine Catholic Biblical Mission Foundation, and Ascension Press are sponsoring this activity.

Thomas Smith, a 7th-generation Mormon and a former Protestant minister, was received into the Catholic Church in 1996. He brings a wealth of experience and insight on the Word of God to audiences across the U.S. He is a repeat guest on EWTN and Catholic radio, and is also a sought after parish mission and conference speaker. He is the co-author of “Adventures in Revelation: The Kingdom Yet to Come”, and an international presenter for the Great Adventure Bible Timeline. He has taught as an adjunct professor at the St. Francis School of Theology in Denver, and is the former Director of the Denver Catholic Biblical School and the Denver Catechetical School. He is a co-founder, along with Dolly Banzon and Dr. Amy Ashmann, of the Philippine Catholic Biblical Mission Foundation.