Mondays, September 16-November 25, 6-7:30 pm, In-Person Carondelet Center and Online

New Testament scholar Amos Wilder calls the early Christian house churches “workshops of the word.” In post-Easter gatherings to hear Jesus’ teachings and to break bread as Jesus asked, disciples shape their experiences of Jesus’ words and actions into literary forms–sayings, dialogues, miracles, the passion narrative they can remember and hand on. In this process whole cycles of oral traditions form as Christians draw insights from the Jewish scriptures, witnesses add their testimony, believers ask, their own questions. Join the course to explore two theological themes in Mark’s gospel: the Son of Man sayings and Jesus’ insistence in miracle stories not to tell (the messianic secret).

Marian Diaz will explore the image of the New Jerusalem and its metaphoric relationship to creation in Genesis 2, to prophecy of Ezekiel during Israel’s exile in Babylon, to the struggles of the seven early Christian churches in Revelation, and the meaning as the New Jerusalem, a city for all that is in our world, that is us.

Joan Mitchell, CSJ has dedicated her life to the study and teaching of scripture. She has published religious education materials for more than 40 years with the majority of her work being lectionary-based with the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies, Spirit for teens, and Sunday by Sunday for Adults.

Andrea Pearson Tande, MA, is Hedgerow Coordinator and Co-Director of Consociate Services with the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet, St Paul Province. She has a MA in Theology and the Arts from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and is currently pursuing a DMin from Fordham University.