Denver Catholic

9 DENVER CATHOLIC | AUGUST 22-SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 MUSIC Talk to Us Today! It's Time for Back to School We Offer a Variety of Loans that can Help! *With approved credit; certain restrictions may apply. CREDIT CARD Auto Loans* – See us before you seal the deal. Home Equity Line-of-Credit (HELOC)* – Put your home's equity to use for tuition, new uniforms, computer, or sports equipment. Credit Cards* – Living in a time when you have so many plastic card choices to choose from, it's nice to know that we can help you find the right card to help with those unexpected school expenses. Personal Loans* – Can be used for almost anything you want! From school supplies or a once in a lifetime school trip — whatever the need. Call: 303.424.5037 Click: www.nufcu.com or Come by one of our convenient locations. Your savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government National Credit Union Administration, a U.S. Government Agency NCUA GIVE, WALK, HELP. 8 th Annual Friends of The Poor Walk Saturday, September 26th 8:30AM Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church 18000 E. Arapahoe Road Aurora, CO 80016 Go to PoorWalk.SVDPden.org for Walk details. Lace up your Tennies and Help Us Help the Poor. Help the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Denver Metro Council Feed, Clothe and Shelter the Poor. Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church 18000 E. Arapahoe Road 18000 E. Arapahoe Road Aurora, CO 80016 Aurora, CO 80016 O ur Lady of the Mountains Parish in Estes Park is o£ ering a new back-to-basics course titled "Catholic 101." Seminarian Daniel Eusterman is at the parish for the summer. He said he and his pastor were discussing what he could do and realized they needed to minister to the regular parishioners. Eusterman decided to do an adult catechesis based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "A lot of people here do know the faith, but it's always good to revisit it," Euster- man said. Eusterman developed a four-week pro- gram in which he and the parishioners would study the catechism in depth. He devoted one week to each of the cate- chism's main pillars: The Apostle's Creed, the sacraments, life in Christ, and prayer. Eusterman said he chose to go over the catechism because he believes it's the best collection of the basics of the faith. It also gave him a means to decide which information to teach—namely, the four pillars. "It's a treasure. It's a library of our 2,000-year-old history compressed into one book," Eusterman said. "I was actu- ally getting frustrated, but I literally don't have the ability to teach everything I have, and everything I want to. But one of the things the pastor reminded me of is that a lot of people haven't really looked at the creed." Each class is an hour and 15 minutes. Eusterman lectures, and then opens the fl oor for questions and discussion. He said he chose this set up, because participants can go straight from Catholicism 101 to Mass, and hopefully see what they just discussed in the liturgy. Eusterman said that the goal isn't to walk away with a new collection of Catholic facts, but to have an impact their lives. He also said that his own spiritual life has benefi tted from teaching the course. "I think a lot of what it's becoming is trying to spark a little bit of fi re about what we believe. It's not just a class, it's a way to make the faith come more alive," Eusterman said. Eusterman tried to use beauty and familiar objects to make the connection easier. For example, when discussing the Trinity, he used Andrei Rublev's famous "Contemplating the Trinity" icon. "One of things people remembered the most from that week was the icon," Eus- terman said. He said he also used pictures of the church's stained glass windows to help explain the sacraments. "They installed new stained glass win- dows here, and the artist focused on the seven sacraments. None of the windows have words explaining them, but they each have a symbol that we associate with that sacrament." He said the parishioners have responded well to the program. Forty-fi ve people showed up for the fi rst week, which he said is good for such a small- town church. However, Eusterman said teaching the class has been helpful to him, as well. "In order to teach it, you have to go over it in a lot more depth," Eusterman said. "I've really grown in my knowledge and love of the Church. When you love some- thing or love someone, you want to share them. That's where this came from—this desire to share this love." Seminarian, parishioners rediscover basics of the faith BY MELISSA KEATING 303-715-3123 melissa.keating@archden.org www.twitter.com/mkeats42 Rublev's "Contemplating the Trinity" is one of the art pieces seminarian Daniel Eusterman and parishioners at Our Lady of the Mountains Parish are using to study the catechism. SOURCE: WIKICOMMONS

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