The first Sunday of Advent this year (and of the new liturgical year) is December 3. It’s not a bad idea to start getting ready for Advent right now!
Lest we forget, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church” reminds us, there is a twofold purpose to Advent. During the four weeks of Advent we are, of course, preparing for the birth of Our Lord. But as CCC 524 says, we also renew our “ardent desire for his second coming.”
For this reason, Advent is often called “the Little Lent, as it begins by recalling that Christ will come at the end of the world as Judge, a reminder of the holiness with which we should be prepared to greet the Lord. Thus, although not strictly a penitential season, the faithful should turn their hearts toward Jesus in prayer, almsgiving, and sacrifice.”
A Free Course
Sacred Heart Major Seminary is offering a free, four-week, self-paced online course this year to help the faithful prepare for and experience a more fruitful Advent. The course is entitled “Isaiah in the Light of Christ.” It begins on Sunday November 19 and concludes on Saturday, December 16.
During the four weeks of the course, Dr. Peter Williamson, Adam Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, will explore “the writings of the prophet Isaiah in the Light of Christ.”
As the webpage for the course explains, “The Old Testament is full of prophecies foreshadowing the coming of Christ Jesus, which is arguably most evident in the prophet Isaiah, read by the Church during the high points of the liturgical year.”
The course consists of four self-paced modules:
#1: A Remarkable Prophecy in an Unlikely Context
#2: A Virgin Shall Conceive
#3: To Us a Child Is Born
#4: The Branch from Jesse’s Roots; the Beginning of a New World
As Dr. Williamson remarks in the video on the course webpage, “[Isaiah] is the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. One calculation says that there are 419 quotations from Isaiah in the New Testament.
“Isaiah reveals God’s Plan for Israel and for all nations. And it reveals more about God and what He’s like than any other book before the Incarnation of Christ.”
The Church reads four or five prophecies in the first part of Isaiah during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Dr. Williamson will explain the meanings of these verses in their original context and then what they mean in the Light of Christ. Then he will examine them in as they apply to our lives today.
How It Works
The course is being offered online using the seminary’s learning management system, Canvas.
As the webpage for the course states:
“Upon signing up for the course, students receive a username and password for accessing the online class. Return users can use the same credentials.
“The class will be conducted online giving students the freedom to engage with the material and complete course tasks around their own schedule. The class will consist of four modules which can be completed according to the individual’s own pace.
“Each module will be hosted by Dr. Peter Williamson, Adam Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
“Each module will include:
- Lecture Video (~20 minutes)
- Lectio Divina Exercise (~10 minutes)
- Personal Assessment Quiz (~5 minutes)
-Supplemental Reading Material
“The goal of the course is not to deliver a high level of rigor or stress but instead to engage Catholics who want to learn more about their faith.”
Course participants can also take part in an online discussion board for the course if they so desire.
About Dr. Williamson
Dr. Peter S. Williamson occupies the Adam Cardinal Maida Chair in Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. He received his M.A. in Theology from Sacred Heart in 1995 and his S.T.D. in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian University in 2001.
Dr. Williamson, a convert to the Catholic Church in 1972, is a married layman who has been involved for over 40 years in evangelization and pastoral ministry in the United States and abroad. He is the author of Revelation (2015) and Ephesians (2009) in the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture and coeditor of the series along with Dr. Mary Healy and Kevin Perrotta.
Dr. Williamson is also author of Catholic Principles for Interpreting Scripture: A Study of the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church” (Loyola Press, 2002) and coeditor with Ralph Martin of John Paul II and the New Evangelization (revised edition, St. Anthony Messenger, 2006).
To access the course webpage for more information and/or to register for the course, click on this Link.
