Vallombrosa Programs
Catholic Church in the World Speaker Series
For the past two years, Vallombrosa Center has been sponsoring a Sunday afternoon lecture series called The Catholic Church in the World. The first year, the lectures dealt with how contemporary political, financial, and cultural trends influence the Church, and in turn how the Church exerts leadership in such affairs. The second year featured the intersection of faith and the arts. In each series, distinguished authors, professors, artists, and religious leaders shared their views with lively audiences that then joined in spirited discussions together.
In considering which topic to choose for the 2012 Catholic Church in the World, we kept coming back to the divisions in the Church, in politics, even in families today. What united all of these wide-ranging topics is the need for healing, in every aspect of our lives. So we have planned a series that will explore the promise of God’s healing power in such a way that we might learn to face the divisions in our lives and find the peace and reconciliation that we are promised as Christians.
We will start the new year with a talk on January 29 by Father Joe Chinnici, OFM, President of the Franciscan School of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He will explore the themes of his recent book, When Values Collide: The Catholic Church, Sexual Abuse, and the Challenges of Leadership. Fr. Chinnici draws on his Franciscan tradition in a call for “the creation of a new ethical space and practice” to restore “some degree of reciprocity in relationships of mutual fidelity” within the Church.
On February 26, Tom Plante, professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, will speak on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis. A leading expert on the clergy sex abuse, Dr. Plante will have just returned from a worldwide conference in the Vatican on the crisis, and will give us his ideas on how far we have come in dealing with this devastating passage in our church’s history.
On March 18, Father Patrick Labelle, O.P., former pastor at the Catholic Community at Stanford and current Prior of St. Dominic’s in San Francisco, will deliver a Lenten meditation on forgiveness based on the themes in Dr. Fred Luskin’s Forgive for Good.
The spring offerings in the series will conclude with Lisa Fullam from the Jesuit School of Theology, speaking on May 6 on “Healing in the Church, Healing of the Church.” Professor Fullam will address what is required to heal both individual and institutional wounds, drawing on her medical background as a veterinarian as well as her expertise as a theologian.
The Catholic Church in the World lectures begin at 2:00pm on Sunday afternoons and are open to the public. A donation of $20.00 per person is much appreciated.
You can get additional information about these exciting events on our Calendar of Events.
Retreats & Workshops
Vallombrosa Center opens its doors several weekends throughout the year for people to make a silent retreat beginning Friday afternoon and concluding midday Sunday. The Lenten Silent Private Retreat weekend is March 2 – 4, 2012.
If you would like more information about any of these events or if you would like to register for an event, please visit our Calendar of Events.
Liturgies
Throughout the year, Vallombrosa Center offers special events to mark the liturgical season. Join us on Sunday, February 12 to celebrate married couples at our Valentine Mass for Married Couples, on Sunday, March 25 for the Lenten Prayer Service with the Vallombrosa Choir, and on Sunday, May 13 for our annual Mother’s Day Mass and Brunch.
If you would like more information about any of these events or if you would like to register for an event, please visit our Calendar of Events.