COURSE DESCRIPTION
Over the course of 40 days, participants will read the first book in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games while listening to the first eight presentations in Fr. Emmanuel McCarthy's world-renowned audio retreat Behold the Lamb. Participants will be invited to seriously ponder Jesus's Way of nonviolent love of friends and enemies. Participants will walk away with a better appreciation for the perennial problem of violence in human society and a deeper, more profound understanding of Jesus's new commandment: "love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34). The goal of this retreat will be to educate the conscience, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church says "is a lifelong task" (CCC 1784). Through this we hope to grow in the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love this Easter season, and beyond.
Ideally, parents would do this retreat alongside their teens, but "solo" teens are welcome to enroll as are individual adults!
COURSE SCHEDULE & LOGISTICS
Course Duration:
- Teens: February 28 - April 11 (No meeting March 7)
- Adults: March 4 - April 8
Live Online Meeting Schedule:
- Teens: Fridays, 11:00 a.m. Pacific, 2:00 p.m. Eastern
- Adults: Tuesdays, 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 8:00 p.m. Eastern
- Meetings run 45 minutes
Teacher-Student Interaction:
- Six moderated meetings
- Combination of lecture, sharing, & discussion
Group Size:
- 30 maximum, 5 minimum
Hours:
- 2-3 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 Text
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 Text
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!
Your Teacher/Moderator
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.
For more information about why she created this course/retreat, scroll down for a free download called "To Reach Peace, Teach Peace."
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!)
Veteran Testimonial
"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
Testimonials
"This course could truly be life changing for a family."
- Adult learner, 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 & mother, summer 2023
"...eye-opening and informative... disturbing and provocative...in a good way..."
-Dan Tracy, age 60, Salt Lake City, summer 2023
"...entertaining and engrossing. A wonderful learning and spiritual experience."
- Jim Kiefer, adult learner, Tucson, AZ, summer 2023
The Author
"I don't write about adolescence. I write about war. For adolescents."
-Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games
