Episode 4-Our Tainted Nature's Solitary Boast: Mary, the Mother of God

I. The Annunciation

II. Mary and Zion

III. The Mother of God

IV. The Immaculate Conception

V. The Assumption

VI. The Mother of the Church

VII. Mother of the New Covenant

VIII. Hopkins' The May Magnificat

Episode 3-Happy are We: The Teachings of Jesus

I. Questions about Jesus

     A. Which "version" of Jesus is true?

     B. Who was Jesus? What did he do and say?  What did he mean?

     C. The temptation of the New Age Christ

II. The Path of Joy: The teachings of Jesus

     A. Dominus Iesus and the uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth

     B. He alone is the Son and the Word of the FAther

     C. Jesus' teaching is a central part of his mission

     D. Jesus' teaching is the focus of early Christian writings

III. The Beatitudes

     A. Joy and freedom for excellence

     B. Two versions in the Gospels

          1. Luke 6:17-49

          2. Matthew 5-7

     C. Reveals the fullness of the Old Law

     D. Expresses the heart of the New Law

     E. Intimate connection between Old and New

     F. The meaning of "happy" or "blessed" is difficult, but essential

     G. The Beatitudes

     H. The Sermon should be understood in light of the Mount of Calvary

     I. The path of non-violence

IV. The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32)

     A. A parable about divine mercy (JP II)

     B. We are children of God, yet man chooses autonomy from God

     C. By rendering grace, man exiles himself from familial love and communion

     D. Desperation leads to awareness; better to be a slave than to feed pigs

     E. The father is faithful to his fatherhood and to his son

     F. The ring given by the father is marital, re-establishes right relationship

     G. The older son is no different, in the end, than his brother

     H. The heavenly Father waits for man to respond to his fatherly call

V. Matthew 25

     A. Peter Maurin, Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker

     B. Mother Teresa

     C. Metanoiate: changing the manner in which we see the world.

     D. "The Law of Gift"

Suggested reading:

The Priority of Christ by Robert Barron

And Now I see...: A Theologyof Transformation by Robert Barron

Life of Christ by Fulton Sheen

The Lord by Romano Guardini

Dominus Iesus by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Dives in Misericordia by Pope John Paul II

The Moment of Christian Witness by Hans Urs von Balthasar