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Gaudium Veritatis

Rediscover the JOY of learning and living the Catholic faith so you can grow in intimacy with God. Catholic spirituality means loving Jesus Christ and our neighbor as members of God's family. Learn how to pray. Learn how to live a well-ordered life. Discover the joy of Christian friendship. Live the adventure of Christian vocation and Christian evangelization.

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Location: Arpin, Wisconsin, United States

I hold a Master of Theological Studies from the University of Dallas' Institute for Religious and Pastoral Studies. God has called me to be a father and to teach, so I now serve through From the Abbey, my catechetical apostolate. Brother Thomas is the persona I created for the moral theology textbook Dear Brother Thomas.

Monday, August 18, 2008

The Joy of the Truth

I was reflecting on my work with From the Abbey during adoration this past Friday. I do not worry too much about the success or popularity of my efforts to educate people about morality. All I know is that God made me a teacher and invited me into the prophetic mission of Christ and His Church. I leave the success in His hands. However, I often take time in prayer to listen to the Holy Spirit and see if God has another direction He wants me to take.

This past Friday my reflections were drawn to the "motto" of my apostolate, "Gaudium Veritatis - the Joy of the Truth." Some of my favorite Biblical passages are reflections on how wonderful God's Law is.
  • When the Hebrew people received the Ten Commandments they threw a party.

  • The Psalms are filled with exclamations about how wonderful it is to reflect on God's law

  • The Hebrew people saw the reception of God's Law as an intimate revelation of the heart of God - He is the only God that tells us how to reach His heart.

  • Jesus reminds us that the Law calls us to love and He calls the Law "Beatitude" (happiness) and "Good News" - the moral law cannot be separated from Christ's act of salvation, for He is the Word, the Wisdom from which the Law flows.
The challenge that I have accepted as the mission of my apostolate is how to make the Joy of the Truth apparent on the practical level. We can accept that anything that comes from God is supposed to be good and full of joy. But when it comes down to specific moral teachings, can we really see the goodness? We can if we have eyes to see.

Many of my blog posts have been critical of thought processes that misrepresent or misunderstand the moral law and the principles derived from the moral law. These posts are fun to write and I think they are valuable for you. It is good to critically analyze claims about morality. But these posts do not show the Joy of the Truth. I will continue writing critical posts when the opportunities present themselves, but I am also going to try to write more "positive" posts that show why following the moral law leads to happiness. This should be fun!

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