Christianity is “an encounter with a Person,” Jesus Christ.
The St. Columba Office of Religious Education has put together a variety of ways in which you can engage with your Faith. These sessions are designed for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the fundamentals of the Catholic Church and the Christian Faith.
- Weekly bulletin column: Q’s from the Pews where parishioner questions relating to the Church or Christian Faith are answered.
- Monthly Sunday Infusions of Faith: Short topic presentations offered periodically on Sundays between the 8am and 10:30 Masses. No prep needed, just come and learn.
- Quarterly Exploring your Faith Courses: These are offered three times a year and cover a topic area in more depth. Sessions are weekly over 5-6 six weeks, and offered in both at AM or PM times. Included in these interactive discussions are a book, reference material and PowerPoints/ videos. The PPT and videos are posted on our website here after the course for continued self-study.
- Online short educational videos and Power Points. Our YouTube channel is regularly updated with videos to inspire and educate you on your journey of faith! Here is a link to the Catholic Faith Journey videos playlist.
If you would like to attend a course, register via the website. If you have any questions, please contact James Gregory, DRE@saintcolumbachurch.org
INFUSION of Faith Presenters needed: Do you have a particular passion for an aspect of faith life that you would like to share with your fellow parishioners. The office of Religious Education would like to hear from you. Contact Jim via email at DRE@saintcolumbachurch.org or call (570) 784-0801 x4
Classes: Mondays 8:00AM or 6:30 PM
St. Columba Parish Center 342 Iron St. Bloomsburg, PA
Upcoming Classes:
Advent 2025: The Gospel of St. John
Register here – Gospel of St. John
This six-week course will focus on the only non-synoptic Gospel. The synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke share common sources and therefore present similar accounts of the teaching and life of Jesus. Written well after the synoptics, John’s Gospel expects the reader to have been exposed to these prior writings. St John’s theology recapitulates creation in Jesus as well as accentuating his Divinity. St. John seeks to take us deeper into the mystery of Jesus.
11/10/2025 thru 12/15/2025, moderated by Joe Mullen
Mondays 8:00AM, repeated 6:30 PM
Lent 2026
02/16/2026 thru 03/23/2026, moderated by Jim Gregory
Exploring your Spiritual Life
Lenten Exploring your Faith Class
During this Six-week Lenten period we will explore how to expand the spiritual life. We will begin by exploring where each of us are in our faith through Pope St. John Paul II’s stages of conversion, then delve into the discernment of spirits and how this affects our spiritual life. Following this we will spend time with various forms of spirituality: Meditative/Ignatian/Contemplative and Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Each session will cover a different aspect of your spiritual life and include a formal time for reflection done in front of the Blessed Sacrament, offering you six times for adoration during Lent.
Presented by James Gregory, MATHEM
Mondays 08:30 – 10:00 am and 6:30 –8:00 pm Feb 16 thru March 23
Week One: Stages of conversion by Pope Saint JPII
Week Two: Discernment of Spirits
Week Three: Mediative Prayer – Lectio methods
Week Four: Ignatian Spirituality- St. Ignatius
Week Five: Contemplative Prayer (John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila)
Week Six: Appointment with God – Fr. Scanlon (Franciscan University)
Summer 2026
Theology of the Body
Pope St. John Paul II began work on what would become known as his Theology of the body while still a Bishop. During this 9-week course we will dive into the depth of this Saint’s teachings. We will see how reflection on the seemingly simple line from Genesis “Let us make man in our image and likeness” defines the entirety of man’s meaning and existence. In this class we will unlock the extraordinary beauty of TOB revealed by JPII through concepts such as Original Innocence, Original Solitude and the Gift of Self.
August 10-31: September 14-28, & Oct 5-12, 2026
Moderated by Jim Gregory
