Faith formation from “womb to tomb” — that is, opportunities to learn more about the Catholic faith — has emerged as a priority in the Diocese of Honolulu’s strategic planning process over the last year. Several parishes already have enrichment programs that aim to improve Catholic knowledge and awareness, including AIDS education, a book club, and a spiritual writers series.

The Manoa-Punahou Catholic Community AIDS Ministry and the Office for Social Ministry is offering a program on “A Christian Response to AIDS in Hawaii” on Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa to educate parish communities about AIDS in Hawaii and worldwide and how they can support the AIDS population.

The free evening will include refreshments, fellowship, displays and prayer.

The Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa, in additional to offering a weekly Wednesday night Mass and Bible study, is also holding a monthly book club. Both are open to any Hawaii Catholic. At its first meeting on Sept. 29, the St. Theresa Book Club discussed “Walk in A Relaxed Manner” by Sister Joyce Rupp.

From October to next April, St. John the Baptist Parish in Kalihi will hold a monthly series focusing on great Catholic spiritual writers.

St. John’s pastor Father Jack Ryan said he got the idea for the series from a similar one he offered at his previous assignment at St. Michael Parish in Kona.

The widespread attention given to a new book, “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” about Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her struggles with faith, led to Father Ryan selecting her as the first spiritual writer in the series.

“Since [Mother Teresa’s book] has been in the news, we thought that would be a good beginning,” he said. “The media reaction to it really showed a lot of misunderstanding. I think one of the great gifts of Catholic spirituality is that it really looks at the whole question of looking at difficulty in life … issues like the dark night of the soul.”

“It’s a more mature look at spirituality,” Father Ryan said, in a world that promotes immediate gratification, which he feels reaches into much of the American religious experience.

Other spiritual writers in the series will include St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, Thomas Merton, and the English mystics.

Father Ryan said a few years ago he was talking with an Episcopalian who told him that his faith had been reenergized by reading St. John of the Cross. “I was thinking, here we have other people getting into some of the really great spiritual writers in the Catholic tradition and a lot of our people aren’t clued in on it,” he said.

He hopes the series will teach people “not just how to find God when everything is going OK, but how to go through the difficult moments in life and rather than lose your faith, deepen it.”

The spiritual writer’s series begins Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at St. John the Baptist with a talk by Father Ryan followed by group discussion. Handouts with recommended reading will be provided. The program is free and open to the public.