Making Our Way To Shore: A Celebration Of Hebrew Naming And Baptism - Softcover

O'Farrell, Eileen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589395492 ISBN 13: 9781589395497

Publisher: Virtual Bookworm.Com Pub Inc, 2004

Synopsis

Since 1991, members of the Jewish Catholic Couples Dialogue Group in Chicago have celebrated a combination Hebrew Baby Naming and Baptism ceremony as they welcome their children into the world, with the support and participation of a Catholic Priest and Reform Rabbi. These ceremonies are spiritual moments, created in the spirit of finding new pathways for interfaith families to share in their religious traditions. For some couples, their ceremony makes a statement about the religious identity of their child, either in one tradition or another. For others, it is an expression of thanks to God for new life and the wish to ask for God's blessing on their family. In either case, the celebration is an authentic manifestation of a Divine presence in their new family. In addition to the ceremony, this text includes an overview of the current literature regarding Catholic/Jewish families; a review of Hebrew Rites of Initiation as well as a short course on Catholic sacramentality and Baptism; commonly asked questions and answers facing Catholic Jewish couples; a lively conversation between a Rabbi and a Priest regarding rites of initiation; a resource section of books and websites and a closing chapter on topics of family faith formation

About this title

About the Author:

Eileen O'Farrell Smith was born into an Irish Catholic family and grew up on Long Island, New York. After receiving a Bachelor of Science/Pre-Med from Duquesne University, she joined the Peace Corps, teaching science in Zaire, Africa. Upon returning home, she joined the VISTA program where she taught math and reading to Job Corps participants in Cave City, Kentucky. Subsequently, she entered the University of Illinois School of Public Health, where she completed a Master's Degree. In 1986, she married Stephen Smith, a Jewish man from Boston. After giving birth to three children, she became intrigued by the question of how religious faith is formed in children with a Catholic and a Jewish parent. In 1995, she was awarded a 4-year grant from Lilly Endowment to conduct research on that topic, using children ages 7-11 in a Catholic/Jewish Sunday School. This manuscript is a result of that work and of her involvement in the Jewish Catholic Couples Group in Chicago. She lives on the north side of Chicago with her husband Stephen and their children Nora 16, Bennett 15 and Liliana 12. They are proud to be members of Old St. Patrick's Church and Chicago Sinai Congregation.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virtual Bookworm.Com Pub Inc
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1589395492
• ISBN 13: 9781589395497
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 172