Have you ever sat in church on Sunday listening to a reading from one of the Gospels and thought that you’d like to know more about what that reading meant? Or how it fits in with other passages from the same text?
You might even want to know more about the Gospels in general, and how to interpret them.
If that’s the case, you will get a lot out of an upcoming series of short seminars on how to read the Bible, being put on by the Diocese of Parramatta’s Mission Enhancement Team (MET).
Called FaithLIFE Scripture Short Course, the three two-hour group sessions are being run by Scripture scholar Dr Michele Connolly rsj, a lecturer in New Testament studies at the Catholic Institute of Sydney.
Over the three sessions, Dr Connolly will explain in general what makes a Gospel a “Gospel”. In particular, she will explore the Gospel of Luke, which is the feature Gospel in 2025.
The three sessions don’t require any prior knowledge about the Bible. Image: Supplied
She will also delve into the symbolism and meaning behind words, and the different ways to apply that in everyday life, says MET facilitator Donnie Velasco.
“The idea is that you come away from the Scripture short course with the tools and your own agency to trust your interpretation of it,” he said.
“But also your interpretation can benefit from sharing that in a community, whereas the isolated experience of checking out something online is a bit of an echo room.
“Michele Connolly brings something of a wider, informed, robust approach to explaining the Gospels.”
He said her approach is to speak in a language that is easy to understand, and while participants do not need to have any prior Biblical knowledge, the only prerequisite is a curiosity about “Jesus, God and Christianity”.
“It’s accessible from day one, so it doesn’t presume any prior reading,” Donnie said.
Each session starts with Dr Connolly discussing different aspects of Scripture, then she invites participants to reflect on certain questions before giving everyone the chance to discuss those questions with the group, Donnie said.
“That’s one of the benefits, you’re being challenged about your own biases of what you’re looking for,” he said.
The short course is one of a number of events run by MET that encourage faith formation across the Diocese – one of the resolutions to come from the recent Diocesan Pastoral Plan.
The FaithLIFE Scripture Short Course runs over three Wednesday evenings – February 12, 19 and 26, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, at the Bishop Bede Heather Centre, in Blacktown. It is free, open to adults of all ages and registration is through the Diocese of Parramatta website.
