The Black Madonna of Perpetual Help

WHY

For many people, the Bible has been used as a weapon: to silence women, to justify slavery and segregation, and to shut LGBTQ+ people out of the family of God. If that has been your experience, you are welcome here, and no one will ask you to leave any part of yourself at the door.

We read Scripture the way Jesus taught us to read it. On the road to Emmaus, the risen Christ opened the Scriptures to two grieving disciples and showed them how all of it spoke of him (Luke 24:27). So we read every passage as part of the greatest story ever told: the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. A verse torn out of that story can be made to say almost anything. Read within it, every page points to him.

We also read through the commandments Jesus left us. Asked which commandment is greatest, he answered, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,” and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30–31). He taught that all the law and the prophets hang on these two (Matthew 22:40). On the night before he died, he gave his disciples a new commandment: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Every other passage is read through these.

Saint Augustine taught the same: anyone who thinks they understand Scripture, but whose reading does not build up love of God and neighbor, has not yet understood it (On Christian Doctrine 1.36.40).

Within that story and those commandments, you are free to read as the Holy Spirit guides you, deep in your heart.

WHAT

Gathered study of Sacred Scripture, open to everyone, no background required.

HOW

Reading aloud, honest discussion, and prayer — the Word broken open together.

WHEN · WHERE

Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, on Zoom. Sign up below and the meeting link will appear right away.

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