Do you struggle with prayer? Are you so overwhelmed with the distractions of your daily life that you barely even think about God during your day? Do you find yourself committing the same sins over and over, wondering when your heart will finally experience true conversion? Do you feel like you're not growing closer to God?

The purpose of From the Abbey is to help Catholic laity create a spiritual discipline that fits their vocation and state of life. It's the perfect place for beginners in the spiritual life.

We use the metaphor of "Rebuilding Your Inner Abbey" to describe the process of building your spirituality from the ground up. Your "Inner Abbey" is the place in your heart where you can shut out the distractions of the world for a time and focus on your relationship with God.

You can overcome the overwhelm by joining us each month for our spiritual project. This is a great place to start deepening your relationship with God.

This Month's Spiritual Project: Discern Your Mission!

It's September!  After three months of summer fun, relaxation and rejuvenation it's time to go back to school, to make ready for winter, to get back to work.

That makes September a great month to consider how God is calling you to serve the Kingdom of God!

The Courtyard - Mission

This month our Spiritual Project focuses on the Public Courtyard of your Inner Abbey. The Public Courtyard is where you prepare to take your relationship with Jesus out FROM THE ABBEY and into the world. It is also where you participate in the Divine Life by participating in the 3-fold mission of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit equips each of us with spiritual gifts and gently invites us to use those gifts, along with our natural talents, to participate in the 3-fold mission of Jesus. Every Christian is called to participate in all 3 dimensions of Jesus' mission: to pray for others, to share the Gospel (evangelize), and to serve others in love. But each of us is also empowered and called to a specific way of serving the Kingdom of God. This unique call usually falls under one of the three mission, making it an emphasis in our spiritual lives.

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Special Offers!

Anyone who registers to join this month's spiritual project will also get 2 very special offers!

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Bookstore Discount on the "Spiritual Gifts & Mission" Category

I will send a coupon to you by email for 20% any bookstore resources in the "Spiritual Gifts & Mission" category.

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Free Course: "Who Are the Early Church Fathers"

I am very happy to announce that the online class series "Fathers of Our Faith" is now complete! And I'll show anyone who registers for one of our monthly spiritual projects how to get the first class in that series, "Who Are the Early Church Fathers," for FREE!

Join this Month's Spiritual Project to Get All of These Benefits Now!

What is Gospel Rap?

Gospel music has been increasing in popularity for quite some time. Christian music has a wide range and reaches many people. There are many subgenres of Christian music, including Gospel music and Christian hip hop. There was a time when Christian hip hop was once referred to as Gospel rap or Christian rap. This type…

Could Practicing the Virtue of Prudence Give You More Time In Your Day?

First Key to Spiritual Growth: Taking Control of Your Life through the Virtue of Prudence In the last two articles we explored the need to take control of our lives. We saw how we can make simple choices that slowly build up our inner sanctuary. Then we looked at the importance of embracing change in…

My Inner Abbey Episode 1: It’s All About Relationship Transcript

Introduction Hey everyone, this is Jeff Arrowood, founder of the Catholic educational apostolate From the Abbey. And this is the first episode of a new webcast called “My Inner Abbey.” In this episode we’re going to pretty much discuss what this broadcast is all about. We also have an awesome question about Heaven and whether…

Catholic Prayer – 3 Mistakes Most Catholics Make When They Try To Create a Habit of Prayer

Watch the SlideShare Presentation 3 mistakes most catholics make when they try to create a habit of prayer from Jeffrey Arrowood Read the Full Article on EzineArticles.com Click here – to go there Outline 1. By Jeffrey S Arrowood! Catholic Prayer – 3 Mistakes Most Catholics Make When They Try To Create a Habit of…

Catholic Spiritual Growth – Overcoming Inertia to Establish a Habit of Prayer

Catholic spiritual growth is not easy. Even just establishing a habit of prayer means fighting against the inertia of our habits. There is a right way to overcome this inertia and there is a wrong way Let’s talk about some of your barriers to establishing a daily prayer habit. Then we’ll find out the right…

Spiritual Growth – 3 Dangerous Myths That Zap Motivation to Grow in Faith (And the Truth About Them)

Watch the Slideshare Presentation Read the Full Article Outline 1. SPIRITUAL GROWTH – 3 DANGEROUS MYTHS THAT ZAP MOTIVATION TO GROW IN FAITH (And the Truth About Them) 2. Introduction By any indicator, interest in Catholic spiritual growth is at an all-time low. Why is this? Wouldn’t you think that every Catholic would be hungry…

Catholic Spiritual Growth – 3 Mistakes Most Catholics Make When They Try To Create a Habit of Prayer

Establishing a habit of daily prayer is vital for anyone who really wants a relationship with God. But it’s hard to do, isn’t it? A habit of prayer requires a lot of self-discipline. And self-discipline takes time to develop. But there are some mistakes that you can avoid to make the process easier. In fact,…

Why Catholic Prayer Depends on an Accurate Vision of Heaven

The goal of all Catholic spirituality is to get to Heaven. But if we have a messed up view of Heaven, how are we supposed to know how to get there? An inaccurate view of Heaven can seriously interfere with your prayer life because to misunderstand Heaven is to misunderstand your relationship with God. You…

Growing in the Theological Virtues – Avoid Four Deadly Foundational Errors of Faith

Sometimes the best way to think about growing in a virtue, including the theological virtues, is to consider the vices that oppose it. You do want to want a deep relationship with God, don’t you? Then make sure to root out any of these errors of faith in your life! The vices against the theological…

Growing in the Theological Virtues – The Virtue of Hope Gives You Peace

The theological virtues are the foundation of a good relationship with God. Since any human relationship starts with trust, that’s the way that God starts us out on the path to having a deeper relationship with him. The theological virtue of hope means to trust that God will be true to his promises. Truly trusting…