Dear Class Member,  Pope Francis recently made it okay with the Catholic Church for priests to bless people in same-sex relationships without changing the church's stance that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The ruling gives us an opportunity to consider how church teachings evolve over time and what doctrines, by contrast, should never change. So we are using our next class on January 7 to explore this topic and consider what it means for people of faith.  If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, here is the lesson.  With New Ruling, Vatican Permits Priests to Bless Same-Sex Couples, but Not Their Unions  In the News  On December 18, Pope Francis officially signed a policy that allows Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples. While the move is not the same as approving same-sex unions or marriages within the church, it is nonetheless a radical change in Roman Catholic policy, which has historically considered -- and still does con...

Dear Class Member,  This week we take the opportunity to think about the sacred aspects of living an "ordinary" life that is faithful to God. What’s an Ordinary Christian Life will be the topic of our next class on Sunday, December 3 at 9:00 am.   If you wish to start thinking about our topic in advance, here is the lesson.  What's an 'Ordinary Christian Life'?  In the News  Because The Wired Word is a news-driven discussion guide, we frequently build lessons on major news, especially when it occurs in the United States. But some weeks, U.S. news that is truly major seems scarce (especially when, for the most part, we don't address political stories, which many TWW subscribers tell us they prefer not to use). A scarcity of major news seems to be the case at the time of this writing.  That could all change in a moment, of course, but for this moment, the flow of news seems to be fairly ordinary. You know that major news is in short supply when the leading s...