Fr David

Le blog de la Bergerie Sharing the faith . . . in English . . . et en français!

A serie of classes on the Fathers of the Fourth Century
by Fr. David Anderson

in Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield on Thursdays 7:30 to 9 PM

For directions to Marin HS click here
Classes Dates: Sept. 15, 22, 29; Oct. 6, 13, 20; Nov. 10, 17; Dec. 1, 8 2011.
No class on Oct. 27, Nov. 3 and Nov. 24.
Donations: $150 recommended for the Fall session (10 classes)
(but no one will be turned away for lack of funds; but if you can afford to give more, please do so! we will be most grateful).
Bring checks to class, write them to "St Peter Eastern Catholic Mission" (Ukiah).
We invite everyone to come by for a free class visit.
For more information, email Mary Ann at : haeuser@sbcglobal.net or call her at 415 454-0979 or call Paul at 415-385-1720 .

Fr. David Anderson is pastor of St. Peter Eastern Catholic Church Ukiah
(190 Orr Street, Ukiah, CA 95482, tel: 707 468-4348) a Mission of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy.
Fr. David is a terrific teacher, a Scripture scholar, very familiar with both the East and West wings of the Church, and he is also a wonderful story teller.
Come to the class and deepen your faith in the process.
Recommended readings:

Athanasius: On the Incarnation. De Incarnatione Verbi Dei. Translation by Sister Penelope Lawson; Introduction by C. S. Lewis. We also, by God's grace, briefly indicated that the Word of the Father is Himself divine, that all things that are owe their being to His will and power, and that it is through Him that the Father gives order to creation, by Him that all things are moved, and through Him that they receive their being. Now, Macarius, true lover of Christ, we must take a step further in the faith of our holy religion, and consider also the Word's becoming Man and His divine Appearing in our midst. That mystery the Jews traduce, the Greeks deride, but we adore; and your own love and devotion to the Word also will be the greater, because in His Manhood He seems so little worth. For it is a fact that the more unbelievers pour scorn on Him, so much the more does He make His Godhead evident. Read more here.

All books can be found on amazon.com.

Last class was: "Fire Within" Saint Theresa of Avila & Saint John of the Cross from January 20, 2011 to April 28, 2011.

The previous class (in 2009, 2010) was on "John Henry Newman". In an effort to document Fr. David's class, I have posted my notes of the class: here
(I also put them on facebook: here). Then another student sent me her notes and another one gave me his tape of the class and I'm adding them all on the same page.
Fr. David is a terrific teacher, a scholar, with a very sound knowledge of the Fathers of the Church (East and West) and with a wonderful love of the Liturgy. His classes are always educational and inspirational, formative and challenging! Come check it out.

In the couple of years previous to this, we studied The Letters of Saint Paul (2007, 2008): Thessalonians; Galatians; Corinthians; Collossians; Ephesians; Phillipians; Titus; Romans, Hebrews. We also studied Saint John The Book of Revelation using the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.

Before this, we studied: Biblical Theology in the Old Testament (2005, 2006);
The Economy of Salvation: World Religions (2004);
Introduction to the Church Fathers (2002, 2003);
Expressions of Prayers in the East and the West (2001, 2002);
and the History of the Liturgy (but I don't remember the exact date of the class);
and there was also one class on C. S. Lewis.

To find out more about Fr. David
please see this article "Living the Joy of the Liturgy" in the "National Catholic Register"
St. Peter Eastern Catholic Mission offers nothing to attract the worldly eye. There's a small parking lot, a field of weeds, and a nondescript white-stucco building that could use a fresh coat of paint. The only outward sign to mark the latter as a church is a small golden rooftop Byzantine cross. And yet, inside this little church, the feeling is always of having stepped into another dimension. Sunlight streams through the east window. Joyful psalmody fills the air. Breathtakingly beautiful liturgy can last three to four hours"... Read more here .

Read also this article in the California Catholic Daily "Churches Worth Driving To: St. Peter Eastern Catholic Church, Ukiah" here

YouTube videos:
"Fr. David Anderson: Baptism, Sacrament of the New Creation" here
"Fr. David Anderson gives a scriptural and eastern theological study of the Eucharist" here

Divine Liturgy in St Sebastian On Saturday August 28, 2010 (on St. Augustine Feast day) at St. Sebastian Church in Marin County: The Divine Liturgy, lunch and a Talk on Saint Augustine by Fr. David Anderson.

(Here are my own quick abbreviated notes of the talk) Augustine refused to learn Greek in school and as a result, was "distanced" from the main body of the Church's teachings and theologians. He was an intellectual dilettante. He regarded Scriptures as "substandard". He was most attracted by a particular sect: the Manicheans. He is known to have been attracted to "the flesh". Not only he had a mistress and a son out of wedlock but he had a "spiritual mistress" as well (his attachment to Manichaeism), the dual notion that sources of good and evil are equal, that there is a God of good and a God of evil, and that what is material is evil. … Augustine, when he was a Manicheans, justified getting into evil ways since "they don't really matter". The goal of the Christian life is what happens to us, as a person. …. Augustine became a believer in Christ through the dissatisfaction of the intellectual system he had embraced. It did not answer the longing of his heart... Augustine referred to God as "that which is beautiful" . …There is a reality to our body which is permanent. The centrality of the resurrection, the realization that only in that day, there will be true completion, will our restlessness come to an end. To rest in the Lord is to share the same glory that the Body of Christ … Fr. David spoke of original sin, in St Augustine, the differences in the East and the West. He spoke of The theology of the Trinity: the Father the lover, the Son the beloved and the love the HS. He also told us that The City of God was written by Augustine in a time which was very much like our own, with the whole fabric of the classical world falling apart. … The question is: of which City are we citizen? The world is not our home. The City of God is the one which is eternal. A sense of homelessness, of being a pilgrim. Our goal, our destiny is the City of God. God has done everything for us to get there. He has done so much, he sent his only Son….Ecclesia means to be called out. We are called out, we are on a journey of conversion and purification toward the union with God... Fr. David spoke of knowledge, which is much more than just pieces of information… God has intimate knowledge of every bit of his creation. (Then we had Q and A).

Fr. David is a terrific speaker, a great teacher, a Scripture scholar, extremely knowledgeable on the Fathers of the Church, both in the East and the West, on the History of the Church and the development of the Liturgy.

"St. Augustine of Hippo" (354-430): Christian Neoplatonist, North African Bishop, Doctor of the Catholic Church. One of the decisive developments in the western philosophical tradition was the eventually widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Augustine is one of the main figures through and by whom this merging was accomplished. He is, as well, one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought came to exert a pervasive and enduring influence well into the modern period…with his subtle accounts of belief and authority, knowledge and illumination, his emphasis upon the importance and centrality of the will, and his focus upon a new way of conceptualizing the phenomena of human history. (Excerpts from Mendelson Michael, "Saint Augustine", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Addressing all people on their "walk" on Earth, the Holy Father called on Wednesday for a continued search for the "profound truth," after the example of St. Augustine. Referring to the example of this Church Father, he said that no one should be afraid to encounter the Truth, which could "find us, get hold of us and change our lives." (Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 25, 2010 CNA/EWTN News)

On Saturday July 25, 2009,
in St. Sebastian Church in Greenbrae, Marin County, we gathered for the Divine Liturgy, a brunch and a Talk on:
Reflections on the Priesthood from Scriptures and the Early Fathers
by Father David Anderson, Pastor of St. Peter Eastern Catholic Church, Ukiah.

San Sebastian slide1
First we had the Divine Liturgy in the Church, with the Choir from Ukiah, a real feast for our souls,

then we gathered in the Church hall for brunch (quite a feast in itself)
and listen to the Talk on the Priesthood (one more feast for our minds and our hearts!).

San Sebastian slide1

We are very thankful to Fr Mark and the San Sebastian parish community for allowing us to use their beautiful Church and hall.

On Saturday September 15, 2007,
we were blessed with the Divine Liturgy at Saint Sebastian Church. It was a wonderful moment of worship and we are very thankful to Fr. David and to all the members of his parish who came down with him, all the way from Ukiah. See pictures below. (Although the pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the chanting and the reverence of the worship). Afterwards, we gathered downstairs in the Church Hall where Fr. Ken Westray had cooked a delicious breakfast of eggs and sausages, little muffins and croissants and fruit salad.Thank you for your hospitality, Fr. Ken. We ate and talked and also had the opportunity to ask Fr. David questions about the Byzantine rite or about the upcoming Study Course on Saint Paul. Many thanks to all who came and for the ones who could not be there, know that you were in our prayers.

Le blog de la Bergerie Home Site Map Articles Prayers Cooking Photos Books FAQ Links Contact Us