Wednesday, June 30, 2010

CBS Scholarship Applications Due!

Returning students who wish to apply for a Catholic Biblical School tuition scholarship for the academic year 2010-11 should get their applications in today. You can bring it into the Office of Religious Education in Bloomfield, or fax the application to: 860-243-9690.

First-year students have until August 15 to apply.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Reunion and Fifteenth Anniversary Dinner

Tickets will go on sale this summer for $25 each. The company can’t be beat: Archbishop Mansell, NT Scholar and Yale Dean Harold Attridge, and your Biblical School classmates! Mark your calendar: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 6:00-9:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Seminary.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

CT Dept. of Higher Education Recommends CBS Application

On June 17, 2010, the CT DHE Advisory Committee on Accreditation voted unanimously to recommend approval of St. Thomas Seminary's application for licensure of a certificate program in Biblical Studies. The Connecticut Board of Governors will meet in September to consider final approval of the application.

Upon approval by the Board of Governors, students enrolled in the Catholic Biblical School will have the opportunity to participate in the Biblical School on a for-credit basis. A process is being developed to evaluate the work of current and former CBS students for undergraduate credit at St. Thomas Seminary.

By voting to recommend approval of the new Certificate of Biblical Studies at St. Thomas Seminary, the Department of Higher Education affirms the mission of the Hartford Catholic Biblical School to form adult students in understanding and interpreting the Bible for pastoral leadership.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Hartford Catholic Biblical School Class of 2010

St. Thomas Seminary - June 13, 2010
First row (front, left to right): Marie Beaulier, Martina Caspersson, Deborah Kellogg, Lynette Lindner, Jill Costa, Sr. Jewel Renna, CND (CBS faculty member), Monsignor Michael J. Motta (Director, Office of Religious Education). Second row: BJ Daly Horell (CBS Coordinator and faculty member), Natalie Biasucci, Cee Cee Johnson, Sandra Gingras, Pat Emons. Third row: Richard Irwin, Beatrice Roy, Sheila Cronin, Kate Gaudreau. Fourth row (back): Ken Foisie, Dan Cadaret, Joe Lapointe, Tom Melesky, Marion Kingsbury, Matt Galarneau, Deacon Bill Gilles, Tom McNulty, Lorraine Webster, John Webster

Not pictured: Tom Avis, Eleanor Cruess, Stella Heyl, Linda Garrity, Grace Nunes, Cecilia Stevens, Jerome Walker

Monday, June 14, 2010

Update—College Credit for CBS Students

On June 17, 2010, BJ Daly Horell will go before the Connecticut Department of Higher Education's Advisory Committee on Accreditation to move the Catholic Biblical School towards accreditation with the State of Connecticut.

If our application is approved at this meeting, the Connecticut Board of Governors will review the program in September and decide whether St. Thomas Seminary can begin admitting CBS students on a for credit basis. If our application is ultimately approved, the Catholic Biblical School will be empowered, through St. Thomas Seminary, to grant 4.5 undergraduate credits to students who complete the requirements for the seminary's new Certificate in Biblical Studies.

Students will continue to have the option of enrolling in the Catholic Biblical School on a not for credit basis. The credit option merely adds a third "track" for moving through the Catholic Biblical School program.

Currently, students may enroll in an "Enrichment Track" and a "Certificate Track." If our application is approved, students will be able to enroll as part of St. Thomas Seminary and receive college credit for their work.

If you, or someone you know, might be interested in enrolling in the Biblical School—whether for credit or on the standard, non-credit basis—kindly contact BJ Daly Horell for more information. Or check out our website at www.orehartford.org/cbs.htm.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Connecting Catholic Families with the Bible

A key to the success of any religious education program is the family – the connections families make with the parish and what happens in the home. The Center for Ministry Development will present “Connecting Catholic Families with the Bible," a workshop for parish leaders. The event is scheduled for Saturday, November 20, 8:30-3:00 at the Archdiocesan Center in Bloomfield. Leif Kehrwald is the presenter.

To download our flyer, including a registration form, click here. For more information contact BJ Daly Horell or Pat Keck.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Scholarships

Worried about the cost of attending the Catholic Biblical School? The Sr. Jewel Renna, CND Scholarship Fund is accepting applications for first-year students through August 1, 2010.  Awards are applied directly toward CBS tuition. To find out more or to apply, click here or call Ms. Jill Costa at (860) 243-9465 for an application form.

July News in Faith Formation


What's happening in the Biblical School, adult spirituality, catechist enrichment, youth ministry? It's all here in the July 2010 newsletter, ORE Connections. Click here to explore what's happening this month in faith formation in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Are You Ready to Explore the Bible with Us?

The Catholic Biblical School First-Year Opening Day is September 11, 2010 at St. Thomas Seminary. Classes begin the following week.

Enrollment involves two steps: (1) complete the application form and (2) come in for an interview with the Coordinator of the Biblical School. Application deadline is August 15, 2010.

To find out more about all that the Biblical School has to offer, check out our videos on YouTube, our website, or contact Barbara Jean (BJ) Daly Horell directly at cbs@orehartford.org or (860) 243-9465, ext. 11.

To download the application form, click here.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Throw Out Your Old Concordance!!

Catholic.Net has a Bible search tool that will save you time—whether you're looking up a Scripture passage or trying to find a text that speaks about a theme or idea you're thinking about. Their Bible search tool is the easiest online concordance for the New American Bible we've seen. Check it out at: http://www.bible.catholic.net/

And if you're wondering how a concordance or online Bible search tool will help you in studying and praying the Bible, click here.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

May "Bible Blog" Winner—by Tom Melesky

He placed the Bible down and began to ponder the meaning of what he had just read in the Book of Daniel. There emerged in his imagination, on the one hand, the great promise of salvation for those who have been faithful to God's covenant. On the other was the punishment of sinners, and with it, disturbing descriptions of catastrophe.

He first imagined what it would be like to actually see his name and the names of his loved ones written into Daniel's "Book of Salvation." He imagined the absolute elation of what it would be like to know for certain that eternal bliss awaited him and those closest to him. But then his mind drifted to the other part of what Daniel's vision imagines: the destruction of the earth. All at once, a sense of loss and sadness surprised him, and he imagined asking God:

"Lord, out of the great chaos, didn't you look upon the formless mass, grasp it, and with your potter's hands, shape it into a perfect sphere? With broad strokes of your artist's brush, didn't you paint it in radiant color? And didn't you then take the sphere gently into your hands and carefully start it on its maiden voyage, traveling forward so smoothly that never would there be felt on earth even the slightest bump or hint of turbulence as your magnificent, favored planet proceeded on its journey? And millennia later, didn't astronauts stare out in awe at the same sphere, sending back to the world a stunning picture of "the blue and white marble"?

"Is it possible, Lord that you would someday destroy this beautiful planet crafted by your own hands?

"If it is true, it must be true also that, when you contemplate destroying what you have so painstakingly and lovingly created, you must feel great sadness and regret....