The Joy of the Truth » General

Introducing From the Abbey: The Classroom

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:37:14 +0000

Do you have the desire to learn more about your faith, but don’t know where to start? Do you find yourself too busy to read a Catholic book or to work on a Catholic study? Or perhaps you have decided to dedicate the time but don’t know which one would be best? That’s what From the Abbey‘s Classroom is here for. The Classroom has now become From the Abbey‘s main initiative, and it is very exciting.

The Classroom is the newest addition to From the Abbey, and the most central to its mission. In the Classroom you can sign up for a Catholic learning plan and receive a list of recommended resources based on your choice of one of three options (simple, serious and group plans).

These resources will allow you to explore Church teachings at your own pace, but with individualized attention. Resources include:

Online Catholic classes that present Catholic teaching in a clear, engaging manner and that allow you to learn without the pressure of a formal classroom.
Study guides for Church documents, paired with helpful clarifying lectures (available as an inexpensive subscription service)
Resources drawn from other Catholic apostolates, such as Lighthouse Catholic Media, Ignatius Press, and Catholic Word. I’ll show you how to choose the right resources for you and how to get the most out of them.
Eventually, I will also offer free podcasts and possibly even some distance learning opportunities.
The Classroom offers resource centers for Catholic educators where they can download entire curricula, individual lesson plans, and/or resources to teach courses in theology or Catechesis.
The Classroom also contains an interactive learning environment where participants in live classes receive follow-up, help and further instruction.

The flagship project of From the Abbey resides in the Classroom. “Dear Brother Thomas,” a curriculum in moral theology, is a complete, semester-long curriculum that teaches about the moral law and the moral principles that are derived from it. The curriculum is targeted to high school students, but it would also be enriching for adults. The textbook is set up as a dialogue that takes place through written correspondence between a high school student and a religious brother. Christine writes about her questions, doubts and opinions to Brother Thomas and he responds with the teachings of the Church, the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, and bits of his own wisdom. The curriculum offers teachers teaching strategies and resources to help students dialogue with the concepts of the course. These resources include catechism worksheets, Scripture worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, games, and other reinforcement activities.

The “Gifts of the Holy Spirit” confirmation curriculum introduces confirmation candidates to the Seven Gifts, as they are listed in Sacred Scripture and defined by St. Thomas Aquinas. This course introduces students to the Seven Gifts, offers them a clear definition, and explores how they work in our lives. The key to this curriculum is the application exercise, which challenges students to take specific actions to prepare to receive each Gift and then to identify and cooperate with each Gift after Confirmation.

While the curricula are available by paid access, you can preview lessons from each of them in the “Course Catalog” category for free. The Church Document Study Guides are also free. These include study guide questions and educational commentary to help clarify what the Church documents are saying and to focus on what is most important.

There are two wonderful things about the Classroom

* You can always request content to be added. Do you want a study guide for a specific Church document? Put in a request! If you’re subscribing to a curriculum and you would like a resource that is not offered, just ask! Parishes and deaneries can even commission me to write curricula for them.

* No matter if you use a paid product from the Classroom or a free resource, you always have full access to me.

How many curriculum publishers offer such personalized attention? That’s what From the Abbey is here for.

What kinds of resources would you like to see built into the Classroom? What forms of self-study or parish/group study have you enjoyed? Please comment and contribute to the creation of this exciting initiative!

Introducing From the Abbey — the Cafeteria

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:43:07 +0000

Have you discovered the world of Catholic social media? If you don’t yet listen to Catholic podcasts, read Catholic blogs or participate in discussions on Catholic forums, From the Abbey’s Cafeteria is a great place to read reviews and find the best ones.

From the Abbey’s Cafeteria promotes and critiques Catholic social media. There is a growing Catholic social media culture that is very exciting to participate in.

Catholic social media is a fun way to learn about the Catholic faith and to embrace the Catholic way of life. The cool thing about social media is that it often integrates the faith with specific areas of interest – such as cooking (and eating), home brewing, gardening, etc. Cool stuff!

The Cafeteria is the social hub of the Abbey. This is where people can come to discuss Catholic issues, Catholic books and Catholic ideas. In the Cafeteria I am reviewing a number of Catholic social media options, including blogs, forums, podcasts, and other online Catholic communities.

From the Abbey is also starting its own online community. Joining this community gives you access to the forums in which you can discuss Catholic books and ideas. You can also follow From the Abbey on Twitter or Facebook. These social outlets will include Book Review Notes: small snippets from books I am reviewing and my running commentary on those books. The Book Review Notes come out well before the final book review is written. They promised to be very educational! Of course, you will also receive first notification when the full book review is written and posted on the blog and in the Bookstore.

Of course the most important part of the Community is the content that you provide when you join the forums and chat about the books you’re reading and the things you’re thinking about. The interactions of the customers and clients are a most valuable part of our quest to discover the joy of the truth together.

The Community is one of the latest rooms to be developed, and I’m still looking for ideas for making it useful for you. What ideas do you have for useful ways to present Catholic social media? Please leave your comments in this post!

Introducing From the Abbey: The Amphitheater

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 14:35:03 +0000

Who was a teacher in your life that really inspired you to learn? As a former school teacher, I smile at this question. It’s often used as a warm fuzzy, feel-good motivation question during teacher trainings.

However, considering this question can help us realize something very important. The Holy Spirit gives each of us certain gifts to empower us to serve the Church. These gifts are called charisms. One such gift is the charism of teaching. Teaching is the ability of making concepts that are sometimes tough and complex simpler and relevant. But it’s mostly about bringing people into a deeper relationship with He who is Truth.

Since my second year of college I knew that God was very strongly calling me to be a teacher. I also knew He was calling me to be more than a classroom teacher. Although the first part of my career was spent in the high school classroom, I also spent a lot of time giving parish programs and speaking for religious education programs. It has been amazing to see how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit given to all of us during our Baptism and Confirmation manifest themselves in our lives. Specifically, God has strengthened within me the Intellectual Gifts

Through the Gift of Knowledge – the Holy Spirit gives us a beautiful understanding of how the created world fits into the Divine Plan. this Gift aThrough the llowing me to teach about natural and supernatural temperance and true happiness in a way that really gets people excited about God’s love.
Through the Gift of Understanding, the Holy Spirit gives us deeper insight into theological truths. This Gift has made me a much better theologian than I could ever have been if I had to rely on my natural intelligence. The greatest manifestation of this Gift is the ability to find ways to make even difficult and abstract theological concepts easy to understand and relevant to people’s lives.
Through the Gift of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to see the world as God sees it. Of all the intellectual Gifts that He has strengthened in me, wisdom is the weakest. However, it is also the most sublime of the Gifts. Wisdom actually gives you the mind of God – true intimacy with Him (intimacy means to know someone and to be known by that person). The glimpse of this intimacy that I have received has been my motivation to lead others to be receptive to this Gift.
Through the Gift of Counsel the Holy Spirit gives us great insight into the moral law. Counsel is the ability to exercise the moral conscience rightly and truly, the Holy Spirit’s help to know how to apply the moral law to a specific situation. This Gift has given me the ability to answer the sticky questions raised by high school juniors.

My enumeration of these gifts is not to boast. How could anyone boast of receiving a free gift — gifts that everyone receives through the sacraments? My point is that by equipping me with this particular set of gifts, God gave me the Charism of teaching and charged me with the mission of sharing the Joy of the Truth with others.

I cooperated with these Gifts by doing what I could to become a better teacher. I received a master’s degree in theological studies from the Institute for Religious and Pastoral Studies (IRPS) out of the University of Dallas. This program has since moved to Ave Maria University and is called the Institute of Pastoral Theology (IPT). I had the honor of being trained and mentored by such theological masters as Professor Douglas Bushman, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Bishop Campbell, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Dr. Edward Peters, Dr. Timothy Herrman, Christopher Ruff and Dr. Mark Lawery. I was the valedictorian of my class and gave the commencement address.

I taught at Columbus Catholic High School in Marshfield, WI, for ten years. In that time I created a moral theology class that has been praised by teachers, parents and students alike. I even won two student-nominated teaching awards!. As a teacher, my focus was always on the thought process, on critical thinking and on discovering the Truth.

Now that I am working out of the home, I am very happily educating adults and youth as a freelance educator.

The Amphitheater describes the many different kinds of talks that I give for parishes and Catholic groups. The list is far from exhaustive, but it should give a good idea of the kind of talks that are available for parishes and other Catholic groups. You can even see the PowerPoint slides and a brief description of my most recently presented programs. I am also able to create talks on almost any subject dealing with Catholic theology. My main specialty is Catholic moral theology, but I have also done talks on Christology, ecclesiology, Church documents, and Marian theology.

Whether they are given to adults or to youth, these talks are always interactive. I used Socratic dialogue and other interactive teaching methods that encourage participants to think about the subject matter. Of course, I also present the Church’s teachings on the topic and lead the participants to the truth. Responses to this teaching style have been almost uniformly positive, even among middle school and high school students.

I am always open to new topics to offer parishes and Catholic groups. I would greatly appreciate your input. Please leave your comment!

Introducing From the Abbey: The Library

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 14:52:19 +0000

As I continue to introduce you to the work of From the Abbey, I am very excited to guide you to the Library.

Sometimes when we are hit with the desire to learn more about our faith, we find ourselves at a loss. Where do we even begin? What are the basics that I need to know in order to get more out of reading the Bible and the Catechism or listening to a lecture by Scott Hahn or Father Robert Barron? Where do I find these basics spelled out in an accessible, clear manner?

From the Abbey‘s

If you want to give it a try, fill out this form to begin the first sequence on natural law. Articles will be delivered to your in-box one at a time, about a week apart. If you decide to stop, just click on the link at the bottom of the emails to manage your subscriptions. Once the natural law sequence ends, you will have the option to continue with one of the other categories.

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So explore the Library, subscribe to the article delivery, and learn more about your faith! Hopefully it will wet your appetite for more of what From the Abbey has to offer you.

The possibilities of the Library are endless. New articles will appear there as they are written. And I take requests! What would you like to learn today? Leave your comments below.

Introducing From the Abbey: the Bookstore

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:05:34 +0000

One way From the Abbey promotes Catholic literacy and development of the interior life is to sell quality Catholic books and media through the Bookstore.

Are you a reader of good Catholic books? If not, have you considered the importance of reading to a healthy Catholic intellectual life, a deep interior life and a growing spirituality? No, reading is not the only means to these things, but it is a great tool.

If you do read, how readily available are good Catholic books and media in your area? Are you fortunate enough to have a Catholic bookstore nearby? Do you know where to look to find the best and latest offerings? All too many Catholics have to answer in the negative. Despite the vast and growing body of Catholic resources to enhance your faith, Catholic book stores are closing their doors, unable to keep up with the titans of the book industry. That means that there are fewer apostolates out there who really know the Catholic market, who can tell you what is good and what isn’t worth your precious time, who can tell you where to find resources that fit your unique needs.

The From the Abbey Bookstore answers this growing need by making the sale of Catholic books & media an integral part of its overall educational mission. The Bookstore offers Catholic books & media in a number of different venues in an attempt to reach as many people as possible.

The online Bookstore offers a secure place for customers to shop from the comfort of their own homes. Feel free to place orders on the Internet (www.fromtheabbey.net), by e-mail (sales@fromtheabbey.com) or by phone (888-470-5972)

Customers who live in Marshfield, Wisconsin, or the surrounding areas may have their orders delivered to a local parish for free. Customers outside of the Marshfield, Wisconsin, area pay a low shipping fee.

The Book Trailer gives the opportunity for customers to shop for books and media in their parish parking lot. This is an 18-foot covered cargo trailer outfitted as a walk-through bookstore (think Book Mobile). Setting up inside a church or other building is also easy.

From the Abbey also sells books at Catholic events such as fund raising programs, conferences, and educational programs. The Activity Calendar in the Abbey Office shows where the Book Trailer is scheduled to appear.

You may also sign up here to have monthly schedules sent to you by email.

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From the Abbey offers parishes and schools the chance to promote Catholic books & media among students and parents through on-site book fairs.

I have partnered with Lighthouse Catholic Media and Ignatius Press to offer catalog book and media fairs for both children and adults.

So, as you can see, there is a lot of effort to promote Catholic learning through books and media.

Books sold in the Bookstore are carefully selected from trusted publishers or reviewed before they’re put on the shelf. Customers also have the opportunity to review books through the Bookstore Community.

The money raised through the Bookstore goes to support the educational work of From the Abbey, and makes it possible to give books and media to parishes and Catholic groups at great discounts, or even for free. Profits from the Bookstore also make it possible to offer customers frequent discounts.

The main purpose of the Bookstore is to get quality Catholic materials into the hands of Catholics so that they can learn about their faith. It is also meant to promote reading among Catholics in general, and therefore to promote the development of the interior life.

You can participate in the mission of From the Abbey by

buying and using Catholic books and media yourself, and therefore learning about your faith so that you can teach it to others.

buying books and media for others and encouraging them to read and learn and think about their faith.

sharing your love of reading and thinking and learning with others and sending them to the Bookstore.

becoming an affiliate for From the Abbey and earning money and other benefits by promoting Catholic literacy and spreading the word about the apostolate.

sharing your ideas for making the Bookstore more relevant and useful to Catholics

You can do that last one right now by leaving a comment in this post!

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Introducing From the Abbey: The Study

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:22:43 +0000

What thoughts come to your mind when you hear the words “Catholic intellectual life”? I think most people have a reaction like, “Oh, that stuffy intellectualism stuff isn’t for me. I’d rather focus on love and justice than on all of that book learning.” Have you ever thought that the Catholic intellectual tradition could be exciting and fulfilling? Have you ever considered that all Catholics are called by Jesus to learn more about Him, His Church and the life He calls us to as His disciples?

Figuring large in the tradition of the Catholic intellectual life is the Dominican motto, “meditate and share the fruits of your meditation.” As Mary models for us in her Visitation to Elizabeth, knowing Jesus also drives us to action – especially to service toward others.

The Joy of the Truth blog, found in The Study, is about both dimensions of the Catholic intellectual life. The articles in this blog are about thinking with the mind of Jesus, in the tradition of His Church. They are also about living the life that Jesus calls His disciples to.

The articles are quick reads, but full of value. They translate the ancient thoughts of the Church into modern language, easy to understand and sure to get you thinking. The Catholic intellectual life is dynamic, active, fruitful and fulfilling. The Joy of the Truth blog can help you discover it for yourself!

You can also subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed or you can sign up to receive e-mails whenever a new article is added to the blog. You can do that in the top block of the right column of the blog.

I am always open to ideas for articles to write. What would you like to learn about? Leave your requests in the comments for this article!

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Introduction to From the Abbey: Where is the Abbey?

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:46:43 +0000

From the Abbey is founded on a love for the Catholic intellectual life. While learning is not the center of a relationship with Jesus Christ, Saint Thomas Aquinas reminds us that we cannot love what we don’t know. Learning the Truth about our faith is really to grow in intimacy with God. True intimacy means knowing another person deeply. From the Abbey exists to help Catholics nurture the internal life necessary for intimacy with God through reading, thinking and dialogue.

One question I often get is “where is the abbey?” The abbey is actually in my imagination. Let me explain. When I was looking for a name for my apostolate, I wanted to find one that would reflect its mission to promote the internal life of thought and prayer. At first I looked for a name that would reflect the patron saint of this apostolate, Saint Thomas Aquinas. However, as a begging, mendicant monk without a monastery to call home, St. Thomas did not have many ideas to offer that people could relate to. However, St. Benedict stepped in to offer his help. I realized that St. Benedict’s focus on work, study and prayer was really a formula for developing the internal life. So I adopted the abbey as a symbol of the inner life and “hired” a friend to do some artwork for me. She drew Brother Martin first, and the concept of the Abbey solidified. She next drew the beautiful Abbey that has become the central symbol for the apostolate’s mission. You can see her artwork at www.fromtheabbey.com.

Later, I read the novel Citadel on the Hill by Robert de Wohl, and the appropriateness of an abbey as a symbol for the apostolate was strengthened even more. In this novel, St. Benedict’s abbey stands as a fortress against the chaos of the falling Roman Empire. Within this fortress, various characters of the novel find solace in reading, thinking and praying. I want From the Abbey to nurture within each heart the same solace in the midst of a chaotic culture that almost extols busyness as a virtue. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I don’t have time to read”? We need to stop the chaos and take the time to grow in intimacy with God.

From the Abbey attempts to fulfill its mission in a number of ways:

Through selling quality Catholic books and media

By creating an online learning system (the Catholic Learning Plan) to not only help Catholic adults learn about their faith, but to train them to transform their lives and to become self-directed learners.

By training adult educators within the parish to set up systems to make education more readily accessible and more attractive to all Catholics (the Parish Education Plan).

Future articles will explain some of these methods in greater detail.

Finally, a question I am often asked is who makes up the apostolate? Well, officially the apostolate is pretty much me. I am the writer, educator and salesman. I have tried to recruit other talented people, but everyone I have asked has been called to other works. However, nobody does work like this alone. I have my own community of friends who offer me ideas, assistance and contributions. I also rely on you, my clients and customers, to participate in this mission. Of course, the main contributor to this apostolate is God. From the Abbey is the way I am currently answering Jesus’ call to participate in His prophetic mission (to teach, catechize and evangelize). The Holy Spirit has inspired this work at every step of the way. It is all designed to give glory to God the Father. It is amazing how much God has blessed this apostolate. It is now on the verge of great growth. I hope you will come along for the ride to see where God takes us!

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Movies to Watch

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 20:22:00 +0000

This article from the Catholic Educators’ Resource Center was eye opening. It also gives a great list of movies with Christian themes to add to your “to watch” list. The only movie on this list I would disagree with (I haven’t seen them all) would be The Apostle. While the movie definitely showed a Christian in all his complexity, I thought it made him out to ultimately be a hypocrite, and unredeemed in the end. Check out this great article, and the movies on the list!

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Pope Benedict is liberal – no wait conservative. . .

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Fri, 27 May 2005 22:24:00 +0000

Summary: If “conservatives” don’t like Pope Benedict XVI, neither do liberals. This is a good thing! Click below to read this article:

I took the following quotes from Karl Keating’s weekly letter. He got them from the editorial page of National Catholic Reporter:

1. Mike Coverdale of Nevada, Iowa:

“I turned the TV on just before noon, at the very moment Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was announced as Pope Benedict XVI. ‘No!’ I screamed from the depths of my soul. I hit the speed dial to my wife’s cell phone. ‘They not only shut the doors with this guy, they locked them!’ I shouted. ‘I don’t know what to do now,’ I cried, feeling physically ill.”

2. Mark Summit of Portland, Oregon:

“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy, so much so that I sat outside the Portland cathedral the afternoon of the ‘Mass of the Holy Spirit,’ holding a sign that said ‘The Spirit Was Asleep.’”

3. Michaeleen Swanson of Lakeville, Minnesota:

“The morning headlines may as well have read instead: ‘Cardinals to Catholic Women: Go to Hell.’ We Catholic women have been told for so many years, just hang in there, we are only one death away from change. Well, some of us have hung in there, but every day the handhold is slipping.”

4. Pierre LaPlante of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

“Since Cardinal Ratzinger has been elected pope, I guess I won’t be returning to the Catholic Church too soon. This man is the most undesirable of all the candidates and a reinforcement of all I would have hoped could have been modified.”

Why don’t liberals like our new pope? When Pope John Paul II died, all the buzz was: “Now maybe we’ll have women priests. Now maybe contraception will be allowed. Now maybe the Church will become more modern in its view of abortion.” It was as if Pope John Paul II was an arch-conservative, holding the Church back. Of course, JPII was hated by the traditionalists as much as Pope Benedict is.

Where do liberal critics go wrong? They fail to realize that the crushed wishes expressed in the quote above could never have been realized. Unlike the issue of ecumenism (see yesterday’s post), the male priesthood, contraception, and abortion are matters of faith and morals, and are therefore infallibly taught by the Magisterium of the Church. No pope would have the power to change these teachings.

The fact that traditionalists and liberals both hate Pope Benedict XVI is actually a good thing. Both of these groups represent misunderstandings of the Catholic faith. The Truth does not fit into neat categories such as “liberal” and “conservative.” It transcends these human-defined pigeon-holes. In fact, Truth is usually a paradox that holds two apparently contradicting ideas in tension (is Jesus God or Man? – he is both). Heresy is usually the embracing of one or the other of those ideas to the exclusion of the other. Pope Benedict XVI is in safe water.

In the love of Christ,

Brother Thomas

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Pope Benedict is conservative- no wait liberal . . .

Jeffrey S. Arrowood, MTS — Thu, 26 May 2005 21:34:00 +0000

Summary: Is Pope Benedict XVI a liberal or a conservative? It seems that people cannot make up their minds. If you ask “liberal” Catholics, they’ll tell you that he’s conservative. On the other hand, if you ask “conservative” Catholics, they’ll claim that he is a raging ecumenical liberal. Don’t take my word for it . . .
Click below to read this article:

From “Traditionalmass.org” – the conservative side

Question: Is it accurate to say, then, that Ratzinger is a conservative?

Answer: No. From the point of view of the Catholic Faith, Ratzinger is not even a Catholic. He is a public heretic just like Wojtyla. He could be styled a conservative Novus Ordite, inasmuch as he is not in favor of women priests, contraception, abortion, sodomy, etc. He also has said a few things in favor of the traditional liturgy. But in comparison to Catholic popes, such as Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI or Pius XII, he is not even a Catholic.

Question: Why do you say that Ratzinger is not even a Catholic?
Answer: Because he is an ecumenical maniac, more ecumenical, I think, than even Wojtyla, if that is possible. But ecumenism is contrary to our holy Faith. It was condemned in no uncertain terms by Pope Pius XI in 1928, as being equivalent to the “abandonment of the religion revealed by God.” Ecumenism is the heart and soul of Vatican II. All of the liturgical, doctrinal, and disciplinary changes of Vatican II were made in the name of ecumenism. Ratzinger assured the cardinals in his very first speech that he would continue the reforms of Vatican II and continue to reach out to other religions through ecumenism. Our faithful must understand that ecumenism is the central problem. Ecumenism and Catholicism cannot get along. If Ratzinger is ecumenical — and he is — then he is no good, and no pope.

Where does this line of thinking go wrong?

The assumption that ecumenism is contrary to our holy Faith. Since when has dialoguing with people in search of the truth contrary to the Faith? I think the assumption that some traditionalists make is that ecumenism means compromising the truth of the Faith. Rather, ecumenism means exploring the elements of truth that lie in every Christian denomination and world religion, and then leading non-Catholics and non-Christians down that path of truth to fuller truth. Pope Pius XI rightly condemned sacrificing the truth of faith in the name of ecumenism – and he condemned the ecumenism of his time because it was doing just that. However, the conversion of those in error has always been a focus of the Church. The ecumenism of Vatican II is simply forging relationships with people of other faiths so that we can lead them to conversion and to the fullness of truth.

To claim that all of the changes of Vatican II were made in the name of ecumenism is an erroneous statement. The main purpose of Vatican II, according to Pope Paul VI, was to lead the Church in exploration of what Christ intended the Church to be. It wanted to get rid of errors (that have been condemned in the Church throughout history) such as legalism and clericalism, and to reinvigorate everyone to live out their roles in the Church.

The last sentence quoted above is ridiculous. Whether or not a pope is truly a pope does not depend on his personal beliefs. It depends on whether or not he was chosen by a proper council of Cardinals. We have had popes that have believed in and practiced great evils, but they have never made their personal errors part of official Church teachings.

In the love of Christ,

Brother Thomas

Tomorrow: we’ll hear from the “liberal” sides.

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