HOMEPAGE for this issue: January 12, 2011 Download PDF Version

One-day ‘Noah’s Ark’ conference to reach out to single Catholics

A Workshop at St. Mary Parish in Littleton to feature local author Mary Beth Bonacci

By Julie Filby

On Jan. 22 internationally known speaker and author Mary Beth Bonacci will lead a day of talks, discussion and reflection on living single in a couple-centric world at “It’s a Noah’s Ark World, and I’m Stuck on the Shore in the Rain” at St. Mary Parish in Littleton.

“The world—and especially the parish community—is often organized around couples which brings to mind the Noah’s ark analogy of animals boarding the ship two-by-two,” said Bonacci. “Single adults often feel like outsiders, like they’re ‘stuck on the shore in the rain’ as the ark sails off without them.

“This image makes them laugh, which is important,” she explained. “I want people to know that this event will be a mixture of real, serious discussion and lighthearted fun!”

The one-day conference is for never-married, divorced and widowed Catholics of all ages. It will include a series of eight 30-minute talks based on Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body. Each talk will be followed by group discussion.

“Singles tend to believe that theology of the body is primarily about marriage, and thus isn’t about them,” said Bonacci, who writes a column for the popular Catholic singles’ site CatholicMatch.com. “But John Paul II actually wrote a great deal about the issues at the heart of the struggles of unmarried Catholics.”
Session topics will include isolation and community, dating and relationships, and prayer and purpose.

“There are a lot of singles’ events in the Church, but they rarely get to the heart of the issues that single Catholics really struggle with: isolation, building and maintaining community, dating as a Catholic adult, finding meaning, and finding God,” she said. “We’re going to go to the heart of those issues to help single Catholics ‘go deeper’ and live more fulfilling lives.”

The presentations will be drawn from a parish-based DVD/workbook program for single Catholics that Bonacci is developing with Ascension Press. Participants will have an opportunity to provide feedback that will impact the final product.

“There’s nothing like it on the market: a plug-and-play program that parishes can use to develop their singles ministry,” she said. “It will be marketed to parishes throughout the country.”

Bonacci, who serves as the director of evangelization, catechesis and family life at St. Mary’s, is the author of “Real Love: Answers to Your Questions on Dating, Marriage and the Real Meaning of Sex” and “We’re On a Mission from God: The Generation X Guide to John Paul II, The Catholic Church and the Real Meaning of Life.” She has developed numerous educational videos including the award-winning “Sex and Love: What’s a Teenager to Do?”

“Nearly half of all American adults are unmarried according to census data yet Catholic singles often have a difficult time finding their place in a parish structure that’s built primarily around families,” she said. “I hope this conference helps them find their relationship with God and their place within their own parishes.”

The conference will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude with 4:30 p.m. Mass. Interested participants are invited to dine together after Mass. The registration fee—$15 before Jan. 15 or $25 at the door—covers lunch and materials. Registration is available at www.blacktie-colorado.com/rsvp, event code “noahsark.” For more information, visit www.reallove.net or contact Linda Sherman at 720-283-4730 or lsherman@stmarylittleton.org. St. Mary Parish is located at 6853 S. Prince St. in Littleton.