April 3, 2013
Hello Friends in the Verbum Dei Community,
I am extremely excited to play a small part in helping bring the Word to others who either can not attend or have the potential to attend. Very few of us that regularly attend the School of the Word have perfect attendance. Many of us know people who could benefit from attending SOW yet don't know how to sell them on giving up their time for "Bible Class". I should know because I used to be one of those people who fought having to attend a SOW session.
If you are not going to learn what is the use of going? I always take notes. I would be lying if I told you I review them religiously at home. What I do find though is the fact that I am taking notes gives my mind less of an excuse to wander in other unrelated directions and focus on the matter I am taking notes on.
The basic premise of the School of the Word is to prepare yourself for the mass this coming Sunday. The common theme in the readings that is not always obvious. How the content of the readings relates to other parts of the Bible. The context in which the stories are happening.
I have read the Gospel story of Doubting Thomas many times just by going to mass over the years. See what I learned yesterday which can be heard in the current podcast.:
- Apostles were very flawed but in the end it works to their advantage when they built the Church.
- Significance of the ladies bringing ointment to the tomb.
- The origin of the sacrament of Penance
- concept of practical atheist vs. nominal atheist.
I will never forget Fr Gerson in my first SOW. Mentioned two two things. 1) Jesus is endlessly fascinating. 2) The Bible is not naive. Sometimes all you are looking for in life is someone who means what they say, Who backs up what they say. Glad to say Fr. Gerson in a year and a half has always come through on his claims. For more of my thoughts on my experience with Verbum Dei you can click here.
The idea only hit me April 2 to ask Father about converting his usual talk to us into a podcast. I told him all he has to do is do what he normally does and clip on the mp3 recorder. "Wear a wire " in Mafia/ Police lingo. I told him I will take care of the rest. I have been taking notes since I first attended SOW. I doubt my notes on their own would inspire anyone. I have some friends who I have been sending my School of the Word notes to over the last month. They have never been to a session. It dawned on me I can convey more of the spirit of SOW with audio than just the notes. The beauty of the podcast format though is it captures what I love about going to SOW better than almost anything can. I find the spirit combined with the intellectual substance keeps me coming back. The audio may not be the equivalent of actually attending a session and interacting with everybody but I still find it impactful in its own way. Specially if the alternative was nothing.
In case you have never listened to a podcast before it is simply an audio file usually composed of talk. Many of them coming out at regular intervals. Many many people who have a cell phone have the capability to podcasts right on the phone. Forgive me that although Fr.Gerson is quite clear in the audio, the podcast does not have studio quality sound. I edited out people asking questions or sharing. Father had the recorder and they did not so they were hard to hear. Even more reason to come in person to the School of the Word.
I find the potential for this format in the context of what Verbum Dei's goals endless.
1) regulars who miss a session
2) SOW experience while exercising, commuting.
3) recruiting tool for potential new members.
4) eventual audio library of topics and possible cross referencing.
5) chance for regular SOW members to hear different facilitators on same topic. For example I am a Father Gerson regular. I can read Father James take on the doubting Thomas Gospel in his book But if there was a podcast that was available from one of SOWs that Father James did then I would have the opportunity to find out.
6) regulars who may be travelling.
7) Aid for religion teachers/ parents
8) supplement for Sunday homilies.
With the technology being what it is, I now invite you to be a prophet. You can be a prophet for the Word by spreading the podcast.Hopefully we can fan the flame of interest in the Word of God. You can spread the link/ url in your Facebook or in your email. Try to have the podcast in your hard drive or flash drive and offer it people should they ever need a file transfer. Sneak in the file. Tweet the link. Hopefully with the podcast we can lead other people to "water". It is still up to them to drink. Everybody else is taking advantage of digital technology why not Verbum Dei?
Ed Lopez
co admin of Verbum Dei QC Blogspot.
You may email me here.
Downloads for April 2 2013
1. SOW April 2 2013 with Father Gerson Ortiz Part 1 (45 MB) -
Click
2. SOW April 2 2013 with Father Gerson Ortiz Part 2 - (25 MB)
Click
3. SOW April 2 2013 - Notes (text only) (4k)
Click
