Our parish currently hosts book clubs and a bible study group.
Brooklyn Bible Explorers:
Angels in the Bible
We are starting another session of Bible study next Sunday, January 28. Fr. Bill Smith will join us to present an overview of the Gospel of Mark, which we will hear in church this year. The discussion in the following weeks will be guided by Angels in the Bible, which is available from Little Rock Scripture Study. Join us on Sundays at 5 PM via Zoom (stcharlesbklyn.org/zoom or Me
• BROOKLYN BROWNSTONE AND BEYOND
The Brooklyn Brownstone and Beyond Book Group meets on Thursday evenings from 7-8PM via Zoom. We meet weekly and focus our discussion on about 40 pages of text each week. Our next selection is Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson. From the publisher’s website: “One of our greatest novelists and thinkers presents a radiant, thrilling interpretation of the book of Genesis. … Reading Genesis, which includes the full text of the King James Version of the book, is a powerful consideration of the profound meanings and promise of God’s enduring covenant with humanity. This magisterial book radiates gratitude for the constancy and benevolence of God’s abiding faith in Creation.” We will begin our discussion of this book on Thursday, April 4.
The link to join in the discussion is: stcharlesbklyn.org/zoom (
• SASFX BOOK GROUP
Please join us on Sunday, May 19th at 10:45 am (right after the 9:30 Mass) to discuss our next selection, Women Talking, a novel by Miriam Toews. We will meet at the St. Francis Xavier Faith Formation office, accessible through the church. (Please go through the chapel, sacristy, and passageway to the office.)
"Scorching . . . a wry, freewheeling novel of ideas that touches on the nature of evil, questions of free will, collective responsibility, cultural determinism, and, above all, forgiveness." -New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
Made into a critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning movie, Women Talking is based on real-life events in which women and girls in a Mennonite community were abused and violated by several men. Most of the novel focuses on the women meeting together to decide whether they will stay in their community or leave.
Please email or text me at 917-753-2500 for questions or further information about our book selections or our group.
Looking forward to seeing you next month! Enjoy the spring weather.
Ellen
The SASFX Book Group meets once a month generally on the third Sunday (unless there is a holiday, and then we have an alternate Sunday date). Currently, we are meeting in the SASFX Faith Formation office right after the 9:30 Mass at the St. Francis Xavier church. All are welcome to drop by, and we are always happy to see new faces! Bring a friend!
If you're the kind of person who likes to mark your calendar in advance, here are our meeting dates for the 2023-2024 reading season (but not the books yet):
May 19th, 2024: Women Talking, Miriam Toews (novel)
June 23rd, 2024 (Faith Formation office closed; location TBD): Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle, James Martin (theology)
If you have any suggestions of books you'd like to read, please email them along. We'd love to have your input!
