UPDATE: ALL CBS Class Cancelled Today

Tuesday, December 10, 2013: ALL CBS classes are cancelled TODAY due to inclement weather.

Students should complete homework due Dec. 10 AND Dec. 17. Next week you should hand in two homework assignments. Your instructor will discuss how the missed class will be made up.

Stay safe and warm!

Wave of Prayer to End World Hunger

"On Tuesday, December 10, 2013, Pope Francis will help launch a worldwide campaign to end hunger through prayer and action.

"At noon local time, a global wave of prayer will begin in Samoa and will sweep across the world for 24 hours, covering over 164 countries."

Here is the prayer:

 O God, you entrusted to us the fruits of all creation so that we might care for the earth and be nourished with its bounty.

You sent us your Son to share our very flesh and blood and  to teach us your Law of Love. Through His death and resurrection, we have been formed into one human family.

Jesus showed great concern for those who had no food – even transforming five loaves and two fish into a banquet that served five thousand and many more.

We come before you, O God, conscious of our faults and failures, but full of hope, to share food with all members in this global family.

Through your wisdom, inspire leaders of government and of business, as well as all the world’s citizens, to find just, and charitable solutions to end hunger by assuring that all people enjoy the right to food.

Thus we pray, O God, that when we present ourselves for Divine Judgment, we can proclaim ourselves as “One Human Family” with “Food for All”. AMEN.

For more information, click here.

http://www.caritas.org/

Weekly Bible Study - Matthew 3:1-12

8 December 2013
Second Sunday of Advent     

John must have had something of a celebrity status to draw so large an audience. Why else would “Jerusalem, all of Judea and the region around the Jordan” come out to see the Baptizer? The crowds were certainly eager to listen to him, but would they be encouraged – or disappointed by his message? And how do we react?

We celebrate Advent each year at this time. We often keep this holy season wrapped in a package of twinkling lights and adoring angels, of serene images of virgin and babe. But the more gentle and joyous aspects of the season must wait for the weeks nearer to Christmas. First we must deal with today's message.

Advent belongs to the ones who can hear and accept a brazen message cried out in the stark desert: Repent!

We probably won't find John's message printed on a pretty Christmas card – but, then, the mission of Jesus was not always pretty either! John the Baptist’s call to repentance reminds us that we are preparing for the coming of the One who will be scorned and rejected, who will associate with sinners and prostitutes, and who will suffer and die as the most despised of criminals. The challenge of Jesus is only pretty from our post-resurrection perspective, from which perspective we can see that the seemingly ugly picture of Jesus' fate is also a beautiful picture of the gift of salvation.

Advent is a bittersweet season.This December, as we open cards and gaze upon the face of innocence in Mother and Child, may we must never lose sight of the face of the Suffering Servant of God.

As we joyously sing, “Let every heart prepare him room,” will we ask ourselves: What sacrifice did Christ make when he came to pitch his tent with us? And what sacrifices are we willing to make for the sake of Christ's message and the love of our neighbor?

Of what must we repent this Advent, if Christ is to dwell more fully in our hearts on Christmas Day?

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.

Weekly Bible Study - Romans 13:11-14

1 December 2013
1st Sunday of Advent

Do we know what time it is? The words in the opening lines of today’s passage from Romans give a sense of chronology: hour, now, day, night. But do these time words point us in the right direction to understand Paul's point? Perhaps the deeper meaning in these verses has more to do with the word “know.”

To Know Our God

"Knowledge" in the Bible was both intimate and dynamic. It had more to do with the heart than the mind; it was experiential rather than intellectual.

Then as now, biblical knowing requires a response in faith and love and includes a call to action. One who really knows Yahweh, according to the Old Testament, loves God and acts on God's teaching. One who really knows Christ, according to the New Testament, lives and journeys with him and acts on his commandment to love one another.

If we look at the biblical implications of what it means to know God, we get to the heart of Paul’s message. He says that “our salvation is closer now than when we first believed.” Could Paul actually be saying that we move closer to salvation not by our chronological life but through coming to know Christ more intimately? “When we first believed” suggests a less developed, immature understanding of Christ. As we grow in an intimate and dynamic knowledge of the Lord we “put on Christ,” as Paul says. Putting on Christ and abandoning the works of darkness is a lifetime process requiring daily effort and commitment. (And Paul minces no words in describing where our darkness lies!)

So, what time is it? Is it time to wake up from sleepy spiritual inertia and to come to know Christ more fully? Is it time to abandon the works of darkness that betray our ignorance of Christ? Is it time to embrace our salvation more intimately by walking with Jesus more truly?

I know one thing. Advent is the time to know our Savior, "putting on" Christ like a custom-made garment.

Let us pray: Come Lord Jesus, dispel the darkness of our lives and help us to see you walking with us in your light.

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, The Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.