Faith Winter Conference, day two
I find the morning rather leisurely, running as it does on a student-type timetable with breakfast from 8-9pm and no absolute commitment until Lauds at 9.30am. This leaves me the possibility of getting up a little later than usual and still having plenty of time for the morning meditation.
The second talk of the conference was given by Sr Andrea Fraile of the Sisters of the Gospel of Life. She spoke about the proper understanding of inter-religious dialogue and the non-negotiable claims to truth which we make of the Catholic faith. In the question session afterwards, there was an interesting discussion of the particular difficulties of working with Muslims in pro-life work. There were also one or two discussions started on the question of faith and reason.
This afternoon, it was my turn. I had the task of speaking for 45 minutes on "Some common difficulties: How can God have a Son? How can God be three in one?" To be honest, I was not too happy with it at the end. I felt that I had tried to cover too much in too short a time. However, there was some encouraging feedback over dinner from several students which cheered me up a bit. When I get back, I'll do a couple of necessary edits and post a link here to the text.
The second night always sees the Holy Hour with confessions. About 15 or so rooms are found for priests in addition to the three confessionals in the Church and we are kept busy. The evening concludes with a Ceilidh. David Kerr will be there with his kilt to call the dancing. I know the Curé of Ars might have objected but this is much more wholesome (and much more enjoyable) than the entertainment that is generally on offer for many of the youngsters here. They have a whale of a time.
The second talk of the conference was given by Sr Andrea Fraile of the Sisters of the Gospel of Life. She spoke about the proper understanding of inter-religious dialogue and the non-negotiable claims to truth which we make of the Catholic faith. In the question session afterwards, there was an interesting discussion of the particular difficulties of working with Muslims in pro-life work. There were also one or two discussions started on the question of faith and reason.
This afternoon, it was my turn. I had the task of speaking for 45 minutes on "Some common difficulties: How can God have a Son? How can God be three in one?" To be honest, I was not too happy with it at the end. I felt that I had tried to cover too much in too short a time. However, there was some encouraging feedback over dinner from several students which cheered me up a bit. When I get back, I'll do a couple of necessary edits and post a link here to the text.
The second night always sees the Holy Hour with confessions. About 15 or so rooms are found for priests in addition to the three confessionals in the Church and we are kept busy. The evening concludes with a Ceilidh. David Kerr will be there with his kilt to call the dancing. I know the Curé of Ars might have objected but this is much more wholesome (and much more enjoyable) than the entertainment that is generally on offer for many of the youngsters here. They have a whale of a time.
