COURSE DESCRIPTION
Part Bible study, part literature course, this integrated study invites high school students to seriously consider and ponder -- perhaps for the first time -- Jesus's Way of Nonviolent Love of friends and enemies. Over the course of 40 days, participants will listen to the first eight presentations in Rev. Emmanuel McCarthy's world renowned audio retreat Behold the Lamb, while reading (or listening to) the first book in Suzanne Collins' young adult trilogy, The Hunger Games. Students will walk away with a better understanding of the perennial problem of human violence, and better able to see it in the context of Church history, teaching, and tradition, and most importantly in the eternal light of the Gospels. The ultimate goal of this study is to help form the consciences of Christian teenagers and to help them grow in the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love.
COURSE SCHEDULE & LOGISTICS
Course Duration:
- Classes run January 24 - February 28, 2024
- (Parents may opt to add a month of Writing Coaching if they want Ms. Finnigan to help their student with a Final Project in the month of March)
Live Online Class Schedule:
- Fridays, 10:30-11:20 a.m. Pacific, 1:30-2:20 a.m. Eastern
- Classes run 50 minutes with 10 minutes for optional socializing at the end (Ms. Finnigan will supervise)
Teacher-Student Interaction (Weekly):
- One, 50-minute live class
- Teacher moderated discussion boards
Class Size:
- 20 student maximum, 5 minimum
Hours:
- 5-6 hours per week
Questions? Email Ms. Finnigan at
[email protected]
COURSE TEXT 1 of 3
Study Guide (hard copy)
included with course
The Study Guide will help the student:
- pace learning
- check for understanding
- reflect on the material
- engage with the study personally, spiritually, creatively
- make connections
- and prepare for group discussions.
It also includes suggestions for Final Projects and enrichment.
COURSE TEXT 2 of 3
Audio Lectures
included with course
Behold the Lamb is a professionally recorded retreat on the Nonviolent Jesus of the Gospels and His Way of Nonviolent Love of friends and enemies that was given by Emmanuel Charles McCarthy at Our Lady of Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, in March 1995. It consists of sixteen presentations, which collectively contain what is considered to be the most comprehensive and spiritually profound proclamation of Jesus’ vital Gospel message of Nonviolent Love. He takes as his central theme the Nonviolent Lamb of God and focuses on this biblical symbol and reality as the true icon and transcendental model for encountering God as revealed by Jesus, and for understanding and following the Way of God as taught by Jesus. Every Christian, every Christian Church, indeed all humanity, should ponder whether what is said here about God and God’s Way as made visible by Jesus, the Lamb of God, is THE GOOD NEWS for which each human being, consciously or subconsciously, ceaselessly yearns, whether what is said here genuinely fulfills the hopes and quenches the fears that universally reside at the deepest recesses of each human soul.
(Bread Alone covers the first eight presentations in Behold the Lamb.)
Course Text 3 of 3
The Hunger Games is not included in your purchase. Audiobook is fine, but the film will not work as a substitute for the book!
Supplemental
You can use any Bible with this study but The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is recommended. The Study Guide includes references to commentary and word studies that are very helpful. If you choose to purchase it, it will pay off for years to come!
Supplemental
The online course will provide links to all sections referenced in the Catechism, but a hard copy will come in handy and make it easier to do your own research and independent study. If you choose to purchase it, it will pay off for years to come!
Curriculum Preview
Your Teacher
Ellen Finnigan is the author of the Bread Alone Study Guide, and the creator of this course. She taught ancient Greek and Roman Literature, English Composition, and Creative Writing at Kolbe Academy Online for nine years. She founded Teach to the Text in 2023 to promote contemplative learning. In her free time, she hosts the Catholics Against Militarism podcast to discuss issues of war and peace, and on which Fr. McCarthy has been a frequent guest.
(Ms. Finnigan has read The Hunger Games. She is on Team Peeta!)
The Lecturer (via recorded audio)
Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, born October 9, 1940, is a priest of one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Byzantine-Melkite, in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. He has been a Catholic priest for over forty years, ordained on August 9, 1981, in Damascus, Syria. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree with majors in philosophy and English from the University of Notre Dame in 1962. He received his Masters Degrees in English and in Theology from the same University. He earned his Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Boston College Law School in 1967 and was soon after admitted to the Massachusetts Bar for the practice of law. The cure of his daughter was the official miracle for the canonization of St. Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, St. Edith Stein, who was killed at Auschwitz.
(He has never read The Hunger Games. The book did not exist when he recorded the Behold the Lamb retreat in 1995.)
The Author
"I don't write about adolescence. I write about war. For adolescents."
-Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games
Testimonials
"...entertaining and engrossing. A wonderful learning and spiritual experience."
- Jim Kiefer (student in live class for adults, summer 2023)
"This course could truly be life changing for a family."
- Adult student in live class, summer 2023
"My teen daughter and I took this class together. This was a great opportunity for me to meditate on the teachings of Jesus..."
-Adult learner, live class, summer 2023
"...eye-opening and informative... disturbing and provocative...in a good way..."
-Dan Tracy, age 60, Salt Lake City, student in live class, summer 2023
"Fr. McCarthy's retreat was the turning point in my conversion to Christian Nonviolence."
Fr. George Zabelka,
Catholic Chaplain to the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bomb crews
Photograph: George Zabelka, 1945
