AOTM host director of Courage Fr. Paul Check March 11

Clarity and Charity: Toward a Clearer Understanding of the Church's Teaching on Homosexuality:

From the Pope's recent "who am I to judge?" comment to local and national initiatives to redefine marriage, the issue of homosexuality and "gay rights" have been much discussed in Catholic circles as well as the mainstream media. We are instructed by Jesus himself to love our neighbor and as regards judgment, he without sin cast the first stone. But what about those sins crying to heaven for vengeance? How are we as Catholics to understand the Church's position and how should it shape our conscience and our response to recent events indicating a revolutionary overhaul of the family and consequently the very basis of society?

Join us on March 11 as we host Fr. Paul Check, director of Courage, an apostolate of the Catholic Church ministering to persons with same-sex attractions and their loved ones. Fr. Check will present a talk entitled "Clarity and Charity: Toward a Clearer Understanding of the Church's Teaching on Homosexuality".

details at Argument of the Month

This will be a good one. 

Side note, did you know that Fr. Paul Check is Christopher Check's brother?

HT MT

Courage conference at Mundelein July 25th - 28th, Bp. LeVoir of New Ulm, MN speaking

Speakers:

Bishop John M. LeVoir, Bishop of New Ulm, Minnesota was ordained and installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm on September 15, 2008, at the New Ulm Civic Center, New Ulm, MN. He served as Courage chaplain for the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis for several years. On January 20, 2011, Bishop LeVoir was awarded the Pilgrim Shell by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and on November 1, 2012, he received the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award from The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. His publications include Covenant of Love: Pope John Paul II on Sexuality, Marriage and the Family, Faith for Today: Pope John Paul II’s Catechetical Teachings, and Image of God Religion Series, for which he served as theological consultant and author.

J. Budziszewski (Ph.D. Yale, 1981), is a professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin. A former atheist and a convert to Catholicism, he is a specialist on natural law, on the basic moral principles that St. Paul described as “written on the heart,” and he has written especially about the suppression of conscience -- what happens when we tell ourselves that we don’t know what we really do. He is the author of a number of books, including, most recently, On the Meaning of Sex (www.isibooks.org).

Fr. Paul N. Check has served as the Executive Director of Courage International since 2008.  He was ordained for the Diocese of Bridgeport in 1997, and he holds an STB from the Gregorian University, an STL from the University of the Holy Cross, and a BA from Rice University.  He has served as a high school chaplain, parish priest, and chaplain to the Missionaries of Charity and the Sisters of Life.  Fr. Check teaches fundamental moral theology and sexual and medical ethics to seminarians, permanent deacon candidates, and religious.

Dr. Bill Consiglio, M.S.W., M.Div., D.Min. is founder and director of HOPE Ministries. His many years of university teaching, counseling, and pastoral work have provided a rich foundation for his internet ministry. He received his M.S.W. from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry in pastoral counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary. He was for 27 years Associate Professor of Clinical Social Work, SC State University and a part-time Christian Psychotherapist, specializing in the area of Sexual Orientation Resolution Therapy (SORT).

Dawn Eden is the author of My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints (Ave Maria Press, 2012) and The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On (Thomas Nelson, 2012). At age 31, she experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity that ultimately led her to enter the Catholic Church. Dawn offers a Catholic spirituality of healing for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse. She holds a master’s degree in theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and is currently continuing her studies toward a doctorate.

Fr. Paul Scalia is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Courage apostolate. He founded the Courage chapter in the Diocese of Arlington, VA, and still assists with that chapter.  He is the Bishop’s Delegate for Clergy for the Diocese of Arlington.

Fr. Emmerich Vogt, O.P. is a Dominican priest of the Western Dominican Province. Educated by the Dominican Order at its seminary in California, Fr. Emmerich went on to receive a M.A. degree in Theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a graduate degree in Near Eastern Religions from the University of California. Fr. Vogt is the editor of THE 12 STEP REVIEW: Christian Friends in Recovery, a publication of the Western Dominican Province. He is also author of the book The Freedom to Love: Recovery and the Seven Deadly Sins.

Sister Marysia Weber, R.S.M., D.O., a religious Sr. of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, is a physician certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She completed her residency and a fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1989 and practices in her religious institute’s multidisciplinary medical clinic, Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center. Her primary work includes assessing and treating seminary candidates, priests, and religious. She has also offered numerous formation workshops on a variety of formation issues for U.S. Bishops and vocation directors. 

Details at Courage

ht Doughboy

Big names at this year's COURAGE conference at Mundelein

I am pleased to send you the brochure for this year’s annual conference, returning to Mundelein on August 4-7. We will dedicate our time together to the memory of Fr. John Harvey, OSFS, in gratitude for his spiritual fatherhood. I have asked several of our speakers to share their reflections on Fr. Harvey’s influence in their lives and his role in leading Courage and EnCourage for almost three decades.

As you will see, we are blessed with a wonderful lineup of speakers and participants. His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, will offer the opening Mass, and he will give the opening talk that evening. The Cardinal was a close friend of Father Harvey, going back to the days prior to his being made Bishop of La Crosse, WI. His Eminence is one of Courage’s most faithful and strongest promoters among the Church’s shepherds.

Four other prelates will also join us. Bishop Thomas Olmstead of Phoenix will offer Mass on Friday and give a talk that morning. Longtime former Courage chaplain Bishop John LeVoir of New Ulm, MN will offer Mass on Saturday, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL will offer the closing Mass on Sunday. Longtime former Courage chaplain Bishop Mark Seitz, auxiliary bishop of Dallas, will also join us on Thursday and Friday. Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons will also be with us.

We have worked hard to keep the cost of the conference as low as possible: $350. If you need a scholarship, please apply for consideration by writing a letter to the main office. If you would like to provide a scholarship, please let me know or simply send your gift to the office. May God reward your generosity.

Also a few promising notes on the COURAGE apostolate.

I also want to thank Michelle Willis for her great work with our new website. We have many plans to continue to expand its content. And though he did not make the move to the new office in CT, Angelo continues to be an invaluable help as a part-time contractor. I cannot imagine not relying on his experience and expertise. Also, he and Jerry work closely together on many tasks.

Please think back for a moment to the day before you heard about Courage or EnCourage. You were very likely searching for answers, understanding, compassion, guidance and help…in short, the pastoral charity of the Church. Sadly, we know that many people are not aware of Courage and EnCourage, for a variety of reasons. To address that challenge, we are undertaking two projects.

• First, EWTN has invited Courage to produce a 5 part series (30 minute segments) covering material very similar to what we present at a clergy study day, and to include EnCourage.
• The second project, which I believe holds considerable promise for reaching many people, is a documentary film. We are still considering the form and scope of this work, and in time I will be grateful for suggestions and assistance, as I desire that the finished product reflect a lived-experience of Courage and EnCourage members that will offer hope for many other people. We want as wide an audience as possible.

 HT Father Z