First Saturday Series
First Saturday: A series of mornings of prayer and reflection – or mini retreats – led by renowned Catholics
The First Saturday program is a series of mornings of prayer and reflection that feature Saint Paul and his inspired writings. Each session begins with Mass at 8 a.m., continuing with Eucharistic Adoration, individual Confession, conferences at 9:30 and 11 a.m. and times designated for prayer and meditation. These “mini-retreats” will deepen participants’ appreciation for the Apostle Saint Paul and our call to the New Evangelization. There is no charge for admission.
8:00 ..........Mass
8:30 ..........Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
9:30 ..........First Conference
10:00 ........Private Confession
11:00 ........Second Conference
Noon ........Benediction
First Saturday with Bishop LeVoir, February 4
Jesus: The Perfect Image of the Father
Today there are some who struggle with authority. If someone tells them that they have to do something, the first response is to rebel and to say “no.” This is true in secular life as well as with the authority exercised within the Church. However, knowledge of our identity (we are images of God) linked with the identity of Jesus Christ (the perfect image of God) provides an authentic route to our proper mission and our fulfillment as human beings. This insight of Blessed John Paul II provides a fresh way of looking at authority exercised within the Church, and human existence and its meaning.
The Most Reverend John M. LeVoir was ordained and installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm on September 15, 2008 at as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm. Previous to this, he served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for 27 years.
First Saturday, March 3
“Carmen Christi: The Song Paul Couldn't Stop Singing ”
We don't think of the Apostle Paul as a singer-songwriter, but there are songs enough in his Letters to make us think otherwise. One of the most striking of these Pauline songs is the "Carmen Christi": the hymn to Christ in Philippians. Find out how this perfect Lenten hymn sums up Paul's preaching—and his spirituality.
A Daughter of Saint Paul for over 30 years, Sister Anne Flanagan, fsp served as catechetical author and editor for Pauline Books & Media in Boston, and is a specialist in the spirituality of the Pauline Family. Sister Anne is an enthusiastic blogger. Originally from New Orleans, Sister Anne was a member of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, and spent the Jubilee working on the Vatican's Jubilee Year website. She has been published in numerous diocesan newspapers and Catholic magazines.
(No First Saturday in April due to Holy Saturday)
First Saturday with Father Peter Cameron, O.P., May 5
“How Saint Paul Prayed the Our Father”
Like any catechumen of the Church, the newly converted Paul was taught how to pray the Lord’s Prayer. What happened when Paul was presented with “the quintessential prayer of the Church” (CCC 2776)? Paul’s growth in faith provides a pattern for our growth in holiness.
Father Peter John Cameron is a Dominican priest ordained in 1986. He is the editor-in-chief of MAGNIFICAT. He is also the artistic director of Blackfriars Repertory Theatre in New York City, and adjunct professor of homiletics at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. He is the author of eight books on Catholic spirituality, the Sunday Gospels, preaching, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Catholic devotions. Father Cameron lives at St. Mary Priory in New Haven, Connecticut.