Bible Study

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have become involved with the Society of St. Thomas More. Every Tuesday, they hold a Bible Study led by a student and have wine and cheese. When they found out I am a FOCUS Student Leader, they asked me to start leading them. I was both honored and excited to continue my mission from George Mason, here in Florence.

I could chose any topic or passage I wanted to, so I looked through my FOCUS books and decided to do a lesson on Moral Authority. This term is used to describe how both future and current leaders in the faith are called to set an example on what the church teaches. I think St. Anthony of Padua sums it up best, “Actions speak louder than words; let your words speak and your actions teach.” If we ourselves cannot keep the promises we ask others to make, how can we keep those promises? This passage brought up a lot of discussion when Christ says:

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor does an evil tree produce good fruit. For each and every tree is known by its fruit. For they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather the grape from the bramble bush. A good man, from the good storehouse of his heart, offers what is good. And an evil man, from the evil storehouse, offers what is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He is like a man building a house, who has dug deep and has laid the foundation upon the rock. Then when the floodwaters came, the river was rushing against that house, and it was not able to move it. For it was founded upon the rock. But whoever hears and does not do: he is like a man building his house upon the soil, without a foundation. The river rushed against it, and it soon fell down, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:43-45, 48-49)

About eight people in all came, a perfect number for good discussion. We meet in the mensa (Italian for Cafeteria), which is an apartment across from the Duomo where the priests eat. At the end, everyone complemented on how great of a discussion it was and how they haven’t had one so good in a long time! It made me so much more excited to continue leading them the rest of the semester!