Summer Symposium
 The 2013 Symposium will be held June 17th through 20th. It will focus on the sacraments of initiation, exploring how baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist transform us into beloved children, imitators of God (cf. Ephesians 5:1). The central theological theme of the symposium will be deification, the process of sanctification in which human beings enter into the divine life.
Why Do Catholics Give Less than Others?
 Using data from a nationally representative survey of US adults in 2010, the Catholic Social & Pastoral Research Initiative finds American Catholics are less likely than the rest of the population to report giving ten percent or more of their income to good causes. Catholics are also less likely to report giving money to the Church in the past year.
The Right to Catechetical Instruction
"The law of God entrusted to the Church is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. The faithful therefore have the right to be instructed in the divine saving precepts that purify judgment and, with grace, heal wounded human reason." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2037)
The latest issue of Church Life: A Journal for the New Evangelization (PDF file) from the Institute for Church Life offers a great article, "The Right to Catechetical Instruction." It was written by Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., Director of Theological Formation in the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University. Check it out on page 13!
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Christians Encouraged to Engage in New Media to Share the Gospel Message
In his message for World  Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Catholics to engage in new media.
Social networks are the "new 'agora,'" the pope wrote, "an open public square" where "new relationships and forms of community can come into being." Social media offers new ways for Christians to introduce the faith to others, be community and share their faith.
RSS Feeds Worth Following
Here are a few of the places that the STEP staff looks for inspiration each day:
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Growing Enrollment, Spanish Courses, and International Students
- New Record for January Courses: Last month, we offered more individual courses to more students than in any prior session at any time of year!
- El Camino de la Fe: STEP is partnering with SEPI, the Southeast Pastoral Institute, to offer online theology courses in Spanish.
- New Students in Nigeria: We are grateful to work with our brothers and sisters in Lagos. One participant had this to say about the experience:
"The STEP course was application-focused, dynamic in the issues it raised, and practical in the way it directed attention to the community of our lived experience...I was greatly challenged by the course and barely into the its third week, had to join the St Vincent de Paul Society in my Parish to take action in a social justice issue...I found the course refreshing and renewing in the way it empowered me and has helped me to get the CST down from the bookshelves into the community where it needs to drive change, grow faith and improve life here on earth."
Upcoming Courses
The following courses will begin on February 18th:
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Spend Lent "On Prayer"
Let our course On Prayer enhance your Lenten preparation. Created by Dr. Lawrence Cunningham, a Notre Dame theology professor, t  he aim of this course is to give participants a basic understanding of the place of prayer in the Catholic tradition.
Explore the personal and communal nature of prayer through the use of Scripture and Lectio divina. The course challenges students to consider what it means to see themselves as persons of prayer and to consider the relationship between prayer and action as well as prayer and social justice. Finally, the course explores the relation of prayer and theology - how does the practice of prayer help us to become people of faith who wish to come to a deeper, more reflective understanding of that faith which we profess?
Completing the Transition to Sakai
This spring, STEP will finish movin g its courses from Blackboard software to a Sakai-based system. Notre Dame's Blackboard site will disappear on June 1. If you have taken courses in the old system and wish to save any information from your experience, please do so by mid-May. We will continue to offer access to Blackboard from our Contact Us page until June 1.
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