The theme, “explore through unity and go forth,” was inspired by a homily the pontiff gave last May around Pentecost, said Oriana Bertucci, director of Chaplaincy at Ryerson University’s Catholic chaplaincy.
There are three parts to the theme. The first part is to explore the New Evangelization in depth and from new perspectives.
With regards to part two, the concept of unity, “our Church in a sense is like an orchestra; we each play different roles,” said Bertucci. “How do we take what we’ve explored, elements of our faith and recognize the strength we have as a Church.”
The third focus, to go forth, means “we are missioned,” she said.
“As we learn, as we recognize the strength of what we have as we grow in our faith, that’s not for us to keep, but to take out and share with others. And usually through that, a form of transformation happens within ourselves and within the community. So looking at those three elements, we wanted to basically host a monthly guest speaker that could speak to those different topics.”
As a result, each guest speaker has been carefully chosen. The first will be John Pridmore, a former gangster turned Catholic evangelist, who will speak on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Pridmore, who was raised in the east end of London, England, experienced his conversion after the night he thought he almost killed a man.
“What he brings to the table is a very honest and relatable experience of faith,” she said.
The next Tuesday Talk on Nov. 12 will host a guest speaker from Scarboro Missions, a society of Canadian Catholics, both priests and laity, that mission domestically and overseas in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Their expertise in a sense is not just the idea of mission, but also working within the greater Church, taking the Christian message and sharing it kind of on the extremities with people of other cultures, of other faith traditions, but also different cultural experiences,” said Bertucci, adding Scarboro Missions has also been exploring a long- and short-term missions for young people.
She hopes students will begin to think about how they can serve and the opportunities to do so locally, nationally and internationally.
The Tuesday Talk series will have an audience primarily of students, but as a campus ministry, Ryerson Catholics reaches out to staff and faculty.
“Wherever you are in life, this is something that can be attractive to you,” Bertucci said, hoping that audience members walk away with “a greater insight into their own faith journey” and how they can take what they heard and put it into action.
Bertucci hopes that the series will attract diverse speakers, ranging in age, experience and background, “realizing that there’s no set way to explore your faith, to be united in our faith and then to go out and share our faith.”
The series of speakers extends throughout the academic year ending in April. For more information, visit www.ryersoncatholic.ca.