Where the fruit of the vine accompanies the fruit of Scripture

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Want to learn about Scripture in a relaxing way? Try the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center’s evening Scripture and Sips series.
 
New director Aline Harbison already has presented four, sold-out evenings delving into the “Wedding Feast at Cana,” “Jesus Walking on Water,” “Jesus Feeding the Multitude of 5,000” and the last, Feb. 16, “Dreams and Desserts,” used the Old Testament Scripture of Joseph and his brothers.

The evenings have been so well-received by adult Catholics of all ages that several of the 40 attendees each session, such as Susan and Mark Andrews, have participated in all three.

“I like the idea of the fellowship and wine sipping,” said Susan Andrews, who had never visited the retreat center before this series. “We belong to different spirituality groups, but none of them had goodies. It’s been a good mix. You get to go more in depth than the Gospel readings, and (Harbison) gives you more of a broadened perspective. It’s also nice when you go around the room and hear what others think.”

Another first-time retreat center attendee said she works during the day, so a night-time program was perfect for her schedule. After the Jan. 26 session, she said she wanted to check out other offerings such as a retreat.

“We had a great response to the first night, and people started telling their friends,” Harbison said.

New people registering
Since becoming the center’s director in mid-2021, Harbison has prayed about and received inspiration for unique programming to attract new individuals – male and female adults and teens – to the retreat center, which had formerly catered just to females.

“God started pouring all this stuff in my head, and I started typing it in my iPad and talking to people (to gauge interest),” Harbison said about Scripture and Sips. She said the theme for the first three nights along with other ideas came immediately.

“I truly believe it’s inspired,” she said.

Scripture and Sips meets a need of Catholic adults who are interested in learning about Scripture but might not feel knowledgeable enough or may be too intimidated to join a structured Bible study. The relaxed format has guests sitting at tables, eating light snacks (reflective of the Gospel) while sipping wine and beer and discussing Bible passages.

“It’s just what people need after having been cooped up the past two years due to COVID-19,” Harbison said.

Voluntarily, attendees read the night’s Scripture aloud, then Harbison gives the background on it and sets the scene while discussing how the Scripture passage – written 2,000 years ago – can apply to our lives today.

Matthew’s Gospel account about the feeding of the multitude with five loaves and two fish was read Jan. 26. Harbison explained how Matthew wrote about Jesus using ideas that his Jewish audience was familiar with to convince the Jews that Christ was the new Messiah who brought a new covenant.

In this Gospel, Jesus said the blessing, broke the loaves and gave it to his disciples who then gave the food to the crowd. These are mealtime actions for all Jewish families and reflect the Eucharist at Catholic Mass.

“This miracle is so important that it’s mentioned in every Gospel at least once, and in two Gospels twice,” Harbison said. She compares Jesus going into the desert to the Egyptians fleeing to the desert with God feeding them manna from the skies.

Harbison expressed how Catholics are to be bread for others to help them live life abundantly.

“It is our job, duty and responsibility to be Christ for others,” she said.
“We need to be broken for the sake of the body of Christ. … We have to be like Pope Francis and go outside our comfort zone – go to the periphery, because that’s where the need is.”

Once Scripture is broken down, attendees have time to let the words sink in as they sip two or three wines of which Harbison explains the tasting notes. Discussion questions are put on the table to open dialog.

Scripture and Sips will take a breather during Lent, while Harbison offers a different Scripture, “The Cenacle in Scripture” series, concentrating on the Lenten themes of prayer, fasting and sharing in March.

On Mondays, March 7, 14, 21 and 28 Harbison will explore events in Scripture that happened in the Upper Room (also called the Cenacle). The Scripture presentation can be attended at 4 p.m., before the 5:30 p.m. simple meal, or at 6:30 p.m. after the meal. Cost is $20.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans is located at 5500 St. Mary St., Metairie. Visit: https://neworleansretreats.org or call (504) 267-9604.

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