The Emmaus Road Initiative
a project of the Cornerstone Forum
- a series of monthly presentations and follow-up discussions for religious educators, pastors, parents, and all those committed to fostering faith and bringing it to maturity.
Pope Benedict XVI has observed that today “theology and anthropology converge as two strains in a conversation.” In an effort to encourage that conversation and make it more fruitful, the Cornerstone Forum brings together René Girard’s anthropological insights into the uniqueness and universality of Christianity and the rich theological orthodoxy which Benedict XVI both espouses and exemplifies.
The result is an account of Christianity that is explicitly Christological, thoroughly traditional, and refreshingly original – something capable of rekindling the faith of Christians and reminding others of the cultural indispensability of Western civilization’s religious patrimony.
The Emmaus Road Initiative presentations are given – and the follow-up discussions are led – by Gil Bailie, an author, lecturer, and the founder and president of The Cornerstone Forum. At each month's E.R.I. session we will distribute complimentary CDs of the recording of the prior sessions. At the same time, we will make complimentary downloadable audio files available on our website. CDs will also be available for purchase on the website. Please sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about our work and any changes to the schedules.
For information about the venues, click on the links below - for the monthly themes click HERE
Wheaton, IL - Seattle, WA - San Diego, CA - Houston, TX - Cambridge, MA - Washington, DC
Dallas, TX - San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Wheaton, IL
GARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
224 North Main Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187
Map & Directions - For more information: Tony Asta: 630-621-0055 - Email
Monthly Sessions on Thursday evenings 7:00 to 9:00 pm.
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
Seattle, WA
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH (Winter & Spring Sessions:)
5041 9th Avenue NE, Seattle
Map & Directions - For more information: Blessed Sacrament: (206) 547-3020
*Monthly Sessions on Saturday mornings 10:00 to 11:45 am.
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
San Diego, CA
Our Mother of Confidence Catholic Church
John Paul the Great University
OUR MOTHER OF CONFIDENCE CATHOLIC CHURCH
3131 Governor Drive, San Diego, California 92122
Map & Directions - For information: Out Mother of Confidence: 858-453-0222
Monthly Sessions on Monday evenings: 7:00 to 9:00
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
JOHN PAUL THE GREAT UNIVERSITY
10174 Old Grove Road, Room 250 – San Diego, California 92131
Map & Directions - For more information: (858) 653-6740
Monthly Sessions on Tuesday evenings: 7:00 to 8:30
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
Houston, TX *Please note schedule change below.
SAINT CYRIL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
10503 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77042
Map & Directions - For information: St. Cyril’s Parish: 713-789-1250
Monthly Sessions on *Thursday evenings: 7:00PM to 8:45PM (this is a change from Saturday Mornings beginning in April)
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
This month we will have an additional meeting Thursday evening March 12th at 7:00PM
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
Cambridge, MA
*ST. PAUL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH - Note changed venue location for April
DiGiovanni Hall - 29 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA 02138
Map & Directions - For more information: Jill Fallon: (781) 777-2067
Monthly Sessions on Monday evenings 7:00 - 9:00pm.
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
Washington, DC
CATHOLIC INFORMATION CENTER
1501 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions - For more information: CIC: (202) 783-2062
Monthly Sessions on Tuesday evenings: 6:00 to 7:30
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
Return to Dallas
Return to Top
ELIZABETH ANN SETON CATHOLIC PARISH
2700 W. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas 75023
Map & Directions - For information: Parish Office: (972) 380-2100
Room 9, Activity Center
Monthly Sessions on Saturday mornings: 10:00 to Noon
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Dallas
Return to Top
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS CATHOLIC CHURCH
6306 Kenwood Avenue, Dallas 75214
Map & Directions - For information: St. Thomas Aquinas: (214) 821-3360
the St. Maron Room (located across the courtyard from the church)
Note April room change: Upper School Dance room - located across the church parking lot
Monthly Sessions on Sunday: 12:30pm to 2:30pm
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Dallas
Return to Top
SAINT JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
600 S. Jupiter Road
Richardson, Texas 75081
Map & Directions - For information: Email Jim Norris
This is a special discussion session. There will no formal presentation.
Those who attend the other Dallas area venues are especially invited,
but the session is open to anyone.
Sunday evenings, 6:30 to 8:30
(we meet in the Board Room easily accessible from the Jupiter Rd. entrance)
September 21
October 26
November 23
January 25
February 22
March 22
April 26
May 24
Return to Dallas
Return to Top
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
Return to Top
THE DOMINICAN SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY
2301 Vine Street, Berkeley, California 94708
Map & Directions - For more information: DSPT Advancement Office: 510-883-2085
Monthly Sessions on Wednesday evenings: 7:00 to 8:30
PART I: “ADAM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
PART II: “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM,AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
PART III: “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
To Sign up for our Email Newsletter - click on this link
Return to Top
The Monthly Themes for the Fall, Winter, and Spring of 2008-2009
The Emmaus Road Initiative
SEPTEMBER: “The Present Time” – Its Peril and Promise
History consists – in the words of Hans Urs von Balthasar – of the mutual intensification of the Yes and the No to Christ, a view made anthropologically intelligible by René Girard’s extraordinary insights into history and culture. In this session of the E.R.I. we will situate the challenges facing contemporary Christianity within the context of this Balthasarian and Girardian view of the human predicament.
OCTOBER: Why are we here? – Creation and Fall
The Bible tells us that humans are made in the image and likeness of God, an idea regarded as naïve and ludicrous by many. In this session of the E.R.I. we will discuss how, once this biblical view is given the theological specificity it receives in Christianity – the Trinitarian nature of God – it becomes the single-most salient touchstone for understanding the origin and meaning of human existence.
NOVEMBER: What is happening in history? – History and Hope (to listen via streaming
We live in a time of extraordinary material improvements – however unequally enjoyed and fraught with unanticipated consequences they may be. Nonetheless, someone as astute as Henri de Lubac can assert that we live in a time of “deliberate barbarism” precisely to the degree that we are guilty of the “deliberate refusal of history.” In this session of the E.R.I. we will ask: What is the nature and meaning of human history?
- “I WILL PLACE MY LAW WITHIN THEM, AND WRITE IT UPON THEIR HEARTS.”
JANUARY: Why did it take the Incarnation to save us?
The Milky Way is an Intergalactic Nazareth if ever there was one, as insignificant in cosmic terms as is our solar system with it. How laughable it is to think – murmur the skeptics – that God – if there is one – would be the least bit interested in the biochemical and moral anomalies occurring in some remote region of some remote galaxy. To which we will respond in this session of the E.R.I. by asking: Why did it take the Incarnation to save us?
FEBRUARY: Why did it take the Crucifixion to save us?
René Girard’s contribution to this question is indispensable to the task which the Second Vatican Council implicitly assigned to us, namely, that of developing a theological anthropology. In this session of the E.R.I. we will look to Girard’s work and suggest some of its surprising – and surprisingly orthodox – theological implications.
MARCH: Why did it take the Resurrection to save us?
Without the bodily Resurrection of Christ, Christian faith itself slowly dissolves or degenerates into some form of Gnosticism. The antidote to this and the key to rediscovering the gigantic meaning of the Resurrection is to recognize its Trinitarian backdrop, and for that we will turn, in this session of the E.R.I., to the Holy Saturday theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar.
- “I AM THE VINE; YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.”
APRIL: From Self to Person: A Sacramental Understanding of Who We Are
“The knowledge of what it means to be a person,” wrote Romano Guardini, “is inextricably bound up with the Faith of Christianity.” The word “person” entered into the vocabulary of Western culture only after Christian theologians, in speaking of the three Persons of the Trinity, gave the word persona a philosophical profundity never before associated with it. In achieving this milestone in theological anthropology, the theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries laid the groundwork for a revolution in human self-understanding, and in this session of the E.R.I. we will explore this seminal mystery.
MAY: Easter in the “Meantime” – “Do this in remembrance of me.”
If modernity undermined our sacramental sensibilities, postmodernity is eroding our anthropological sensibilities. Without sacramental sensibilities we lose a sense of grace, and without Anthropological sensibilities we lose a sense of nature – human nature. In this session of the E.R.I. we will reflect on the need to recognize and bear witness to the relationship between nature and grace. Since the Eucharist is where the Christian both participates in this mystery and is nourished for the work of witnessing to it, we will end with a Eucharistic reflection.
Return to Monthly Themes
Return to Top